Passion, pleasure and a little pain

Trey Songz has gained a great deal of popularity in recent years and for good reason. His music mixes much of what today’s popular R&B music represents with the class of old school rhythm and blues. His latest album “Passion, Pain & Pleasure” has been highly anticipated.

The truth is that there are many good tracks on this album. Standouts are “Unusual,” “Made to be Together” and “Please Return My Call.” I either enjoyed a track’s lyrics, its beat or both. It’s hard to ask for much more than that.

The track “Bottoms Up” with Nicki Minaj is just awful. Minaj’s voice is the worst thing to happen to music since Shaq’s debut rap album. It can only be compared to the yelps of a whining child. The album is classy but still has several unnecessary sexually explicit moments.

The negatives are few and far between here. Even for non-Songz fans, it’s a seriously good album. Without Nicki Minaj, maybe even an A.