Passion, Pain, & Pleasure

(originally posted here) <3



With only six years in the game, Trey Songz has made quite a name for himself. Best known for his provocative lyrics, seductive videos, and sexy performances, he seems to have the magic to make the ladies melt and the fellas take notes (think: “I Invented Sex” video). Just over a year after releasing his Grammy-nominated album Ready, the self-proclaimed “Prince of Virginia” is back with a new album to test just how deep our love for him goes. I’ll admit it: Trey stepped up his vocal skills on Passion, Pain, & Pleasure, but will that be enough to counter claims that he’s an updated version of an oversexed teenage boy?

Raymond v. Raymond

(The original review is HERE, but I added the videos in this post!)



Five-time Grammy winner and multi-platinum recording artist Usher Raymond is best known for topping the charts and giving us albums with the perfect mixture of songs:

* 1 part club banger,
* 2 parts ballad (both the loving and the depressing kind), and
* 1 part baby-makin’ music.

Citing the late Michael Jackson as his greatest influence, it seems Usher has been on the ride of his life, releasing hit after hit. Since MJ’s death, even Jay-Z himself said Usher would become the next King of Pop.

So with his long list of hits and the five-month build up, it would be safe to expect his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond, would deserve pretty high marks, right? 4 stars? A B+?