Trey Songz Debuts 'SmartPhones' Music Video Via Intimate New App

What's This?

Trey Songz performs at the Essence Festival at the Superdome in New Orleans in 2013.

Image: Adrienne Battistella/Associated Press

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2014-05-10 15:28:17 UTC

Your phone may be smart, but you may not be if you're caught doing something on the temptation-filled gadget that could jeopardize a relationship.

That's the theme in R&B singer Trey Songz's new track, "SmartPhones," in which he uses quite the self-loathing line: "Smartphones, dumb sh*t."

"These phones are so smart in all that they do, that it's like they're an extension of our brain, but what they can't do is always prevent human error and human nature," Songz told Mashable. "The mistakes that we as humans make, the relationships that we make and we break, no amount of technology can save."

On Saturday, though, Songz is using smartphones for something positive — unleashing his music video in a mobile web app to offer it to fans in the app before it goes live on YouTube and other video-streaming services.

Viewers can unlock the app, which is designed to look like Songz's smartphone home screen, by typing the passcode 7114 (signifying when his sixth studio album, TRIGGA, will be released on July 1 of this year).

"Giving them a glimpse into my phone was me giving a further extension of myself to them," Songz said. "When I release music, I give my fans more than a song or an album. I give them my life piece by piece, emotion after emotion."

trey-songz-app

Image: Courtesy of Atlantic Records

Aside from being able to access the music video, each app icon within the mobile web app — built by Come Together Create and FortyAU — will lead to a new experience for users.

The video icon, for example, offers the music video in addition to cellphone videos from Songz's personal phone. The photos icon reveals the TRIGGA album artwork and images of Songz. Under contacts, fans can input their own phone numbers, and save it to Songz's contact list. The TAN icon leads to The Angel Network, which is Songz's social network for fans.

BONUS: Surprise! 12 Musicians Who Ignore Traditional Publicity