American Singer Trey Songz to collaborate with African artists

Trey Songz who is expected to arrive in Kenyan on 20 September will between 21 and 23 record a song and participate in live music performances with select Coke Studio Africa artists including  Rema Namakula (Uganda), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Vanessa Mdee (Tanzania), Neyma (Mozambique), Serge Beynaud (Ivory Coast), Lij Mikael (Ethiopia), Stonebwoy (Ghana), Nyashinski (Kenya) and Emtee (South Africa). Songz has six albums and over six successful international world tours under his belt.

Songz is loved by fans for blending his sounds of R&B with versatile genres. His latest album, Trigga —released in 2014— performed well debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. To date the singer has sold an overall 14 million records worldwide in singles and albums.

Ahead of his participation in the show Songz released a statement about collaborating with the artists. "I am fortunate to be working with some of Africa’s biggest stars. I look forward to learning from them and making a lot of new friends as I discover what they have to offer," the statement says.  His visit to Kenya is not the first in Africa. In 2015, Songz performed at the 2015 Women's Day concert in South Africa.

South African producer DJ Maphorisa will produce the music collaborations between Trey Songz and the African stars. Expressing his joy for the opportunity to produce the collaboration Maphorisa had this to say: “I have had the opportunity to work with many great artists from all over the world and am very excited to be collaborating with such talented artist. Stressing the importance of this collaboration the renowned produced further said that this was yet another chance for African artists to share the amazing African sounds with the world. Recently Maphorisa was among the artists who performed at the Passport Experience (PXP) Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta in the U.S.  

Coca Cola's Southern Africa Marketing Director Sharon Keith commenting on the continental show said: “We are excited to have a hand in developing African music amongst continents which are so rife with talent”, she said.  Keith further noted that Coke Studio Africa's aim is to create and deliver new original music.

With the production of the show in Nairobi expected to come to an end with Songz collaboration, the show is expected to start airing on Kenyan channels in October, in South Africa the show is expected to start airing on 19 November on E.TV.