Though COVID-19 has put a lot of music on hold, Trey Songz didn’t let the disease – one he himself contracted – stop him from dropping his eighth studio album. Trey, 35, released Back Home, on Oct. 9, which was filled with 22 tracks of classic, good-for-the-soul R&B. As an added surprise, Trey dropped a music video for track No. 21, “I Know A Love,” dedicated to his one-year-old son Noah Neverson whom he shares with Caro Colon. The visuals were a montage of videos and photos revealing sweet moments between the son and father, like their cuddle sessions and many fun hangouts.
Trey further proved that he’s the best dad ever by giving his one-year-old a songwriting credit on every single track on his new album, which a few fans pointed out on Twitter! “The fact that @TreySongz gave his son a writing credit on every song is [fire emojis] boy gonna have a bag before he can talk,” one fan tweeted. Trey’s baby boy actually made his music video debut in the visuals for the album’s title track “Back Home,” Trey’s collaboration with Summer Walker that details a complicated romance, one that brings “happiness and pain.” The video was released in April, and was filmed amid quarantine — you can watch it below.
While appearing on The Quicksilver Show in May, Trey revealed that he wanted to sign Summer before the “Playing Games” singer was famous. “I had this song that I would listen to and I forgot who sent it to me,” he said, per Revolt. “So it’s like two years, I would listen to this girl singing this song, the ‘Girls Need Love’ song … I text every producer that I know personally like, ‘Do you know who is singing this song? I love this girl. I wanna sign this girl.’ And then like two years later after all that, Summer Walker comes out with ‘Girls Need Love.’”
Trey’s new album also contains “2020 Riots: How Many Times,” a song he released in June following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black men and women at the hands of the police. ““Three or four nights ago I woke up in the middle of my sleep…I couldn’t sleep. My chest was hurting. I got up and called my producer, Troy Taylor and I said ‘We’ve got to make music that really touches the soul, that really addresses what the world is feeling right now. Especially our people,’” Trey said in a statement, per Rolling Stone. Trey’s passion would lead him to brush up against Meek Mill, resulting in a back and forth between the rappers. Needless to say, Meek doesn’t feature on Trey’s new album.
Unfortunately, the celebration for Back Home’s release was cut short when he tested positive for COVID-19. I’ve taken many tests as I’ve been out protesting, food drives, of course, I have a very young son at home, so I get tested periodically and this time it, unfortunately, came back positive,” Trey said on Oct. 6. “7.5 million Americans have contracted Covid. One out of a thousand black people have died from it. I will be taking this seriously. I will be self-quarantining. I will be in my house until I see a negative sign.” Unlike other musicians who have seemingly blown off the dangers of the pandemic, Trey said that he’s always taken COVID seriously.
“I don’t know how many of y’all know but my grandfather passed earlier this year, and while it wasn’t said that it was COVID, I do believe it was,” he added. “I’ve always taken it serious, and if you come into contact with COVID, please do the same. Don’t be like the president [Donald Trump.] I thank you in advance for your support and love.”