Trey Songz is something of an underdog in the R&B world. The music industry seems to look over Songz because he’s a relative newcomer to this R&B thing.

With that said, please don’t sleep on “Trey Day,” Songz sophomore effort off of Atlantic Records. “Trey Day” reminds me a lot of R&B newcomer Lloyd who also dropped his second album that included amazing production and arrangement.

“Trey Day” is an amazingly cohesive album that just flows and with the way that R&B is going thee days that is really saying a lot. He goes from upbeat, cool tracks such as “Long Gone Missing” to smooth, downbeat tracks like “Last Time.”

In terms of his vocal ability, people tend to kick Songz by the wayside, but this guy is soulful and has a lot of range although the Johnta Austin-written song “Can’t Help But Wait” borders on annoying. OK, Trey we get it, no one can see you on vibrato but try to tone it down. It gets a little comical by the break down.

And while we’re talking about “Can’t Help But Wait,” is anyone else surprised about the success this single has seen? It had a slow start but it picked up a great deal of air play and according to Billboard.com, it’s number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, a great song indeed. It’s just a shame that “Wonder Woman” didn’t see the same success.

As organized as Songz second effort is, there is just one song that the album could have done without and that is “Grub On.” Songz uses some strange and hilarious euphemisms for sexual acts. He keeps the laughs coming with lyrics such as “Now gimme that rootie-tootie that fresh & fruity that, that, that big ol’ booty. Now come and do me.” It feels dirty just to type those lyrics and what’s this I hear about R-Kelly producing this track? Now it all makes perfect sense.

It’s going to be difficult giving Songz praise if he keeps putting out music like this, with that said if he wants to keep the “good” momentum going, it would be wise to release “Long Gone Missin” with it’s strong taste of percussion and strings or at least try and re-release “Wonder Woman” with more featured artists to try and give it some steam.

In the modern times of ringtone R&B, it’s hard to set yourself apart as a true artist and Songz is no exception because although “Trey Day” is a solid effort, in the future, he’s going to have to come with more of a distinct sound to make his mark on R&B. It’s apparent that he can sing but does he have the showmanship of Usher, the dance moves of Chris Brown, the songwriting and production ability of Ne-Yo, or dare I say the powerhouse vocals of R. Kelly?

Only time will tell in this case but for the sake of R&B, I hope Songz is around to stay because R&B needs fresh faces.

Oneika Richardson can be reached at [email protected]