Trey Songz:
I Gotta Make It

Release Date: 05 September 2005

Reviewed By: Alfie Pomells

1. Message From Aretha

2. Gotta Make It - Trey Songz & Twista

3. Cheat On You

4. Gotta Go

5. Ooo

6. All The Ifs

7. Ur Behind

8. From A Woman's Hand

9. Kinda Lovin'

10. Comin' For You

11. Just Wanna Cut

12. Just Wanna Cut

13. In The Middle

14. Make Love Tonight

15. Hatin' Love

16. Gotta Go

17. Gotta Make It - Trey Songz & Aretha Franklin/Juvenile

Tupac - Loyal To The Game
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In the 90s, Troy Taylor was best known as a swing beat artist, a contemporary of Teddy Riley and Gene Griffin. And his pedigree has served him well as he’s added the young Trey Songz to his ever-growing list of talented recipients. At 20-years-old, Trey has already become somewhat of a mix-tape specialist, providing the R&B sounds to some of Hip Hop’s finest, including Twista, Lil’ Kim, Juvenile and Snoop. This influence is readily apparent, as there is more than a hint of Hip Hop in most of the tracks.  

The production team have been busy on this one, digging through a variety of dusty crates to pull out samples from classic soul tracks from bygone years, and there are lots of them. Part of the appeal is the familiar old skool sound that he manages to generate, but a lot of credit needs to go to the original artists.  

The feature track on the album has to be the single release ‘Gotta Make It’ featuring Twista. The track is sublime not just for the well-sung lyrics, but more so for the intelligent sampling of The Ebony’s ‘It’s Forever’. As usual, Twista somehow manages to wrap his tongue around a lot more words in a few seconds than is safe to do for normal people. ‘Cheat On You’ is a very fine steppers track which makes ample use of Con-Funk-Shun’s ‘(Let Me Put) Love On Your Mind’. At the ideal 83bpm, it’s perfect grooving music even if the content may not be necessarily for lovers. ‘Gotta Go’ keeps it stepping and even has an R. Kelly type “welcome to the track” style intro. And in true R. Kelly style, the track is well-crafted and uses 21st Century’s ‘Child’ to wonderful effect. A throwback to the days of old skool soul, this is a real after-dark track.  

‘Ooo’ tries to take Trey Songz into club-banger territory, but lacks the sort of presence that Omarion or Mario manage to generate. Everything Scott Storch touches seems to turn to gold of late, but not even his influence on ‘All The Ifs’ can take it from nice to something a bit more substantial. It will probably be a very popular radio track, but will need a lot more “oomph” to kick it on the floors. Any song that is a testimony to a woman’s derriere is usually an instant hit in most cases, but ‘Ur Behind’ is a laid-back track that uses intense beats and rumbling bass to give it the edge that the lyrics lack. The Ludacris-type rap almost took it to a nasty point, but stopped short of giving it what it really needs.  

‘Just Wanna Cut’ is true dance material. Crunky in parts, the bounce is addictive and the lyrics edgy enough to make it appealing to the more adult audience. As there’s no ‘Parental Advisory’ on the album, the nasty is often hinted at, but never really delivered. Almost all of the other tracks drift around in that laid-back, mid-tempo limbo that can be the graveyard for many albums, as the slower a tune gets, the better it has to be, and these are capable but not necessarily memorable. The notable exception to the list is the breathtaking ‘Make Love Tonight’. The beats are strong and it unashamedly retraces the steps of those rare groove tracks that drag people onto the dance floor. It’s probably one of the best steppin’ tunes around at the moment and is an essential for any DJ who needs to beef up the steppin’ collection with a bit of quality.

This album’s  ‘Gotta Make It’ into your collection.

Rating: 4 out of 5 

Top Three Tracks:

Gotta Make It
Make Love Tonight
Cheat On You

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