''Trigga'' is the sixth studio album by American singer

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

. It was released on July 1, 2014, by Songbook and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The album serves as the follow-up to the singer's fifth studio album ''

Chapter V Chapter Five refers to a fifth Chapter (books), chapter in a book. Chapter Five, Chapter 5, or Chapter V may also refer to: Albums * ''Chapter 5: Letter'', a 2002 album by g.o.d. * ''Chapter V: Underrated'', a Syleena Johnson album, 2011 * Chapter ...

'' (2012). Trey Songz enlisted a variety of

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

s such as

DJ Mustard A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

Mike Will Made It Michael Len Williams II (born March 23, 1989), known professionally as Mike Will Made It (often stylized as Mike WiLL Made-It) or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hi ...

, Da Internz,

Soundz Kenneth Charles Coby (born August 1, 1983), known professionally as Soundz, is an American record producer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been credited with production work on commercially successful recordings in hip hop and R&B, often in co ...

Dun Deal David Maximillian Cunningham (born August 19, 1986), known professionally as Dun Deal, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for producing A$AP Mob's hit single " RAF", Young Thug's single " Stoner" and Migos' s ...

, The Featherstones,

D'Mile Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II (born January 24, 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City. He received his first production credits on Rihanna's 2005 album ''Music of the Sun'', as well as Mary J. Blige's '' The ...

and The Insomniakz, among others. Musically, ''Trigga'' is a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

-influenced R&B album that focuses on themes of

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

and

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

. The album was met with positive reviews from critics, who praised ''Trigga's'' musicality and brazenness. The album fared well commercially, debuting at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album was supported by six official

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s: " Na Na", "

SmartPhones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as mult ...

", "

Foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

", "Change Your Mind", "What's Best for You", and " Touchin, Lovin" featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

. ''Trigga'' has been available in a repackaged version, titled ''

Trigga Reloaded ''Trigga'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Trey Songz. It was released on July 1, 2014, by Songbook and Atlantic Records. The album serves as the follow-up to the singer's fifth studio album ''Chapter V'' (2012). Trey Songz enlisted ...

'', as of June 2015.

Background

On February 15, 2014, Trey Songz announced that the title to his sixth studio album would be called ''Trigga'' and announced it would be released on June 30, 2014. Talking about the album the singer said: "My album is very unapologetic, but at the same time, it’s real. And when I do speak about love, you feel the emotion there, whether I’m joyous about it or not, it’s still emotion. And I think that’s what music is, is emotion". When asked about ''Triggas lyrical content being different from the average R&B album in regards to love, he stated:

Music and lyrics

''Trigga'' is a

-influenced R&B album. According to Iyana Robertson of ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', the album finds the singer "in the most brash musical space of his career". Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that the persona portrayed by Songz on ''Trigga'' "relishes his playboy status more than ever, boasting about a multitude of behavioral stunts". ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

s reviewer Anupa Mistry said that the album succeeded into representing sonically and lyrically the merge of R&B and hip hop that was happening during that period, that was carried by other artists such as

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

Singles

On January 21, 2014, Songz released a song, titled " Na Na" as the album's first official

. The music video for "Na Na" was released on March 12. The song peaked at number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On April 1, 2014, Songz released a song, called "

" as the album's second official single. The music video for "SmartPhones" was released on May 10. "

" and "Change Your Mind" were released as the album's third and fourth singles respectively on May 13, 2014. The music video for "Foreign" was released on June 16. The music video for "Change Your Mind" was released on June 24. "What's Best for You" was released as the album's fifth single on June 2, 2014. On August 19, 2014, the music video was released for "What's Best For You". The song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Adult R&B Songs, number 21 on the ''Billboard'' R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Songs charts. " Touchin, Lovin", featuring

, was sent to US urban radio as the album's sixth single on September 9, 2014. On January 5, 2015, the music video was released for "Touchin Lovin" featuring Nicki Minaj. "Ordinary", featuring

Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for ...

, was previously released as a promo-only single on April 22, 2014, but did not appear on the album.

Critical reception

''Trigga'' was met with positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 68, which indicates "generally positive reviews", based on 9 reviews. Andy Kellman of

said, "This is, no doubt, one of the most flagrantly lecherous commercial R&B albums of its time. It also has sharp hooks and slick productions to spare." Anupa Mistry of ''

'' stated, "''Trigga'' ... sa sublime, soulful convergence of the sonic minimalism and oil-slicked synths of today's hip-hop and R&B (courtesy, mostly, of Young Thug and Migos-famous producer Dun Deal), and its sound provides a charismatic contrast to its almost anhedonic pursuit of pleasure." Paul MacInnes of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said, "It might all feel a little mechanical, but ''Trigga'' does hang together, and has a seductive power that (one presumes) is befitting of the man himself." Matt Fruchtman of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' stated, "At times, Songz's lyrics venture into personal territory: "Y.A.S. (You Ain't Shit)" displays both genuine self-loathing and anger that's a stark contrast to the arrogant persona featured throughout the bulk of the album. This kind of vulnerability is refreshing, but ''Trigga'' is otherwise designed like a Hollywood blockbuster: squandered talent, obvious themes, and fleeting moments of creative excellence that stick among the clichés." Martín Caballero of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' said, "Trey Songz's engaging sixth album, ''Trigga'', is a statement of intent — not of a bold new direction, but rather of the singer's determination to solidify the hitmaker's pedigree he's worked hard to earn." Julia LeConte of ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' stated, "''Trigga'' is smooth and singable, with its share of gems. "Change Your Mind" is the most initially catchy (in that vanilla, Jason Derülo way) and "Foreign (Remix)" begs for repeat spins." Erin Lowers of '' XXL'' said, "Filled with lust, desire and sexual journeys, Trey Songz reaches an expected level of mainstream success with ''Trigga'', and while safe is always encouraged during sexual acts, perhaps Trey could’ve taken a few more risks with this album." Marcus Dowling of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' found his vocal performance on the record "irrepressibly pleasing", stating that "his delivery makes the simplistic and direct tone of his songwriting stand out".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, with first-week sales of 105,000 copies in the United States. The album spent an additional two weeks in the chart's top ten. As of October 2014, the album had sold 264,000 copies. The release of ''

'' prompted the album's return to the album chart at number 23 for the week of July 11, 2015 with 17,000

equivalent album units The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of songs streamed and songs downloaded equal to one traditional album sale. The album-equivalent unit ...

; it sold 8,000 copies that week, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

activity and track sales. The album made its chart debut in the United Kingdom where it debuted at number seventeen on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and number one on the

UK R&B Albums Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

. In July 2016, the album was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over a million units in the United States. In 2014, ''Trigga'' was ranked as the 58th most popular album of the year on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

''Trigga Reloaded''

''Trigga Reloaded'' is the reissue of American singer and songwriter

' sixth studio album, ''Trigga''. It was released on June 23, 2015, by Songbook and

. Released eleven months after the original, ''Trigga Reloaded'' features five newly recorded songs. Preceding the reissue's release was the lead

, "

Slow Motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...

"; which reached number 26 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. To push the album further, Songz performed and appeared at several high-profile events across the United States. The second single, " About You"; was then released on May 18, 2015. During the following week of the re-release, ''Trigga'' rose to number 23 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 17,000 copies.

Background

Shortly after releasing ''Trigga'', the singer continued to create music that he felt maintained the "vibe" of his previous work. Rather than developing a completely new project, he aimed to "incorporate it into the experience" of the ''Trigga'' album. This led to the release of an updated version titled ''Trigga Reloaded''. Songz announced the reissue's release in February 2015 with an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post.

Singles

The

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from the reissued album, "

" was released on January 20, 2015. The production on the song was handled by

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his cover (music), song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record labe ...

and Geoffro Cause. The song has reached at number 26 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single from the reissued album, " About You" was released on May 18, 2015. It was written and produced by Mark Nilan, Jr., alongside the productions to this song by 21 Music.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Trey Songz albums Albums produced by D'Mile Albums produced by Da Internz Albums produced by Mustard (record producer) Albums produced by Mike Free Albums produced by Mike Will Made It

Background

Music and lyrics

Singles

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

''Trigga Reloaded''

Background

Singles

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References