Songz Celebrates 'Trey Day'

BMI/Atlantic Records hosted the R&B Live New York showcase at Spotlight Live last night (Oct. 2), and Jaded Insider was down for the get down. R&B singer Trey Songz, whose sophomore effort, “Trey Day,” dropped yesterday, was the night’s headliner, while Ray Lavender, Jaiden and Corte Ellis opened the show. BET’s Rocsi, Terrence and Alesha Renee hosted star-studded event.

Hot 97’s Ebro Darden, Angie Martinez and DJ Enuff, BET’s Steven Hill and Bob Johnson, Chrisette Michele, Songz, Wanna Blow’s Nige and Tone, Diddy and Ray Lavender were some of the many with table reservations at the front of the full-house. Yours truly had the honor of sitting at Chris Hicks’ table, Senior Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records. And, though the event got off to a late start as coordinators ran around like chickens without their heads trying to seat guests like Jaheim, Terrence Howard, Gabrielle Union and Zab Judah, among others, J.I. thinks it was definitely one worth attending.

The first act, Corte – who’s written for Beyonce and Britney Spears – took the stage at about 9 PM (the event was set to commence at 8) and performed three tracks, including a very entertaining rendition of Biggie’s “Big Poppa.” J.I. must say, for a newcomer, Corte has great stage presence. And his back-up singers need to be looking for solo deals. Their voices were amazing!

The next performer was a young man named Jaiden, who’s worked with Alicia Keys in the past. Jaiden performed a short three-song set, bringing another budding (female) singer named Jayms Madison to the stage for a sexy duet.

Ray Lavender, Mr. “My Girl Gotta Girlfriend” himself, took the stage after. The Atlanta-bred singer performed tracks from his upcoming Konvict Muzik/Geffen debut, including “Girlfriend” and “Donkey Kong.” Though J.I. enjoyed his performance, Ray L. was, say, feeling himself? Dunno. Maybe seeing all the top execs in the room got him excited. He was energetic nonetheless, which J.I. can appreciate. Plus, we heard some tracks from his upcoming album and we think we likes!

Finally, Trey Songz hit the stage and ran through tracks like “I Gotta Go,” “Cheat On You,” “Wonder Woman” and his latest, “Can’t Help But Wait.” Trey’s tenor was on point, as usual, as the women in the crowd sang along to the tracks.

Rumors had it Def Jam's The-Dream was set to perform as well, and, as much as J.I. wanted to check out the "Umbrella" and "Bed" writer, it was past midnight and time to call it wraps. Still, the event was a success and music to our ears.