"Say Aah" is a song by American singer
Trey Songz
Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, ''Trey Day'', ...
featuring American rapper
Fabolous
John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...
. The track was written by the two along with Nate Walka, Ronald M. Ferebee, Jr.,
Tony Scales, and Don Correll, with the latter producing it with
Troy Taylor and Young Yonny. It was released on January 12, 2010 as the fourth single from Songz's third studio effort, ''
Ready
Ready may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton
* Ready (2008 film), ''Ready'' (2008 film), a Telugu film
* Ready (2011 film), ''Ready'' (2011 film), a Hindi remake of the Telugu film
* Ready ( ...
'' (2009). The song has lyrical content referring to a night of drinking during a birthday celebration, with the title referencing the eponymous phrase said doctors or dentists to denote a patient's oral treatment.
The song received mostly positive reviews, and became Songz's biggest hit at the time, reaching number nine on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, his first top ten hit. Additionally, it reached number three on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart, and peaked at sixteen on the
Pop Songs
Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
chart. The song was later certified Double Platinum in the United States by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. "Say Aah" became Songz's first song to chart internationally, reaching number forty-three in Canada. The music video features Songz and Fabolous at a club, and serves as a predecessor to the video for "
I Invented Sex
"I Invented Sex" is a song by American R&B singer Trey Songz, and features Canadian recording artist Drake. Together, they wrote the song alongside Tony "Chef Tone" Scales and its producer, Los Da Mystro. It was released to urban airplay as the ...
", also by Songz. The song was nominated for "Viewers' Choice" and "Best Collaboration" at the 2010
BET Awards
The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...
.
Background
Recorded at
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
's D2 Music Studios in 2009, "Say Aah" was written by
Trey Songz
Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, ''Trey Day'', ...
,
Fabolous
John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...
, Nate Walka, Ronald M. Ferebee, Jr., and
Tony "Chef Tone" Scales. Produced by Young Yonny and
Troy Taylor.
Taylor himself recorded the song while Jean Marie Horvat
mixed the track.
According to Songz in an interview with ''GoWhereHipHop'', Fabolous decided to record a verse for track the day ''Ready'' was set to be mastered, which was during the week of the release of his fifth studio album ''
Loso's Way''.
In an August 2009 interview, when asked about Fabolous's appearance on the track Songz insinuated that "Say Aah" would be released as one of the last singles from Ready, calling it "one of the hottest club records to be out next year."
The first remix of the song to be released also features American rapper
Young Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...
, while another features fellow American rappers
Juelz Santana
LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 si ...
and
Ace Hood
Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was signed to record producer DJ Khaled's label We ...
.
Female rappers Shonie,
Trina
Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in 1998 with her appearance on the Trick Daddy single "Nann Nigga".
Trina has been described by '' XXL'' as "the most ...
and
Brianna
''Brianna'', ''Breanna'', ''Breanne'', ''Briana'', ''Brina'', and ''Bryanna'' are feminine given names. ''Brianna'' is a feminine English language form of the masculine Irish language name ''Brian'' as "Briana" is the original spelling. The name is ...
released a "Ladies Remix" to the song in December 2009. R&B singer Teairra Mari released her remix of the song in January 2010.
The title refers to the imperative phrase ''Say Aah'', often said by medical doctors when they want to inspect the
mouth cavity
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on t ...
of a patient.
Composition and critical reception
The song has been referred to as an "indecent behavior anthem" due to its lyrical content.
Ken Capobianco of the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' said that "Say Aah" was one of the "popping tracks" which parent album ''Ready'' was built around.
Commenting on the song's lyrics, Chris Ryan of ''
MTV Buzzworthy
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a d ...
'' stated that, "Its over-abundance of hooks ('we don't buyyyy no drinks at the bar' being a personal favorite) makes it pretty hard to dislike. And the verse from Brooklyn's Fabolous will bring in even the most hardened of fun-haters."
''
Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...
'' called the song "the official birthday song of the year", claiming that it was better than
Jeremih
Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's commercial debut single, "Birthday Sex", ...
's "
Birthday Sex
"Birthday Sex" is the debut single by American singer Jeremih. It is the lead single from his debut studio album, ''Jeremih'' (2009). The song was written by Jeremih, Elliot Prince, and Keith James and produced by Mick Schultz. "Birthday Sex" peake ...
".
The song was nominated for "Viewers' Choice" and "Best Collaboration" at the 2010
BET Awards
The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...
.
Chart performance
On the week ending November 28, 2009, the song entered the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 at sixty-eight.
Its position on the charts fluctuated for several weeks before it peaked at number nine on the week of March 13, 2010, the highest chart placing Songz had achieved in his career.
The song track spent a total of twenty-three weeks on the chart.
Additionally the song peaked at three on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart, Songz's third top ten R&B single from ''Ready''.
As Songz's first song to impact
pop radio, it reached sixteen on the
Pop Songs
Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
chart.
On February 22, 2010, the single became Songz's first song to be recognized by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, with ceritifed sales of 500,000 units. The song has gone on to reach Double Platinum status in 2015. The track became Songz's first international chart hit, appearing at number forty-three on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
.
Music video
The music video was directed by Yolande Geralds, who also directed the clip for Songz's previous single. "
I Invented Sex
"I Invented Sex" is a song by American R&B singer Trey Songz, and features Canadian recording artist Drake. Together, they wrote the song alongside Tony "Chef Tone" Scales and its producer, Los Da Mystro. It was released to urban airplay as the ...
."
The video was filmed on October 7, 2009.
Wynter Gordon
Diana Gordon, previously known by her stage name Wynter Gordon, is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. Her deb ...
,
DJ Clue
Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive.
Early life
DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Panamanian and Jamaican immigran ...
as well as
Jessica White
Jessica White (born June 21, 1984) is an American fashion model, actress and television personality. She is best known for being a Victoria's Secret runway model, Maybelline spokesperson and working for CoverGirl, as well as her appearances in ...
performing the owner of the Party make appearances in the video.
Stills from the clip were released on the following day, October 8, 2009.
A combination video was released for the dual clips of "Say Aah" and "I Invented Sex" and the videos were also released separately. Songz confirmed to ''
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
'' in November 2009 that the latter would be a continuation of the previous.
On the video, Songz said that he wanted the video to be "sexy" and "adult" in which everyone had fun.
He further explained,
"The song speaks on more so a club atmosphere, but the video is more lofty — sexy women all over the place, adults having fun. This one lady in particular, she's representing the independent women without taking it over the top. She's got her own. She takes me back to her crib — so we invent sex together."
In a review of the video, calling the song itself "ballerific", Chris Ryan of ''
MTV Buzzworthy
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a d ...
'' said, "the video keeps it pretty grown in sexy", commenting the choice of button down shirts as attire and commending Fabolous's part, which he said, "has a very plain-spoken feel to it, and because his blue-framed shades are matching his shirt.".
The video starts with Trey arriving at the club he gets out of the car and walks towards the guard, telling him "Aye, when I give you these keys homeboy, don't move my car man,
I ride in the front ya dig,
Don't move my shit man..." before he walks toward a girl who is alongside her boyfriend and tells her (ho baby, what's your name) and then he gets into the club and then the song starts.
Live performances
Songz performed the song on ''
106 & Park
''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...
''s New Year's Eve celebration on December 31, 2009. The song was then performed again with "I Invented Sex" on ''
It's On with Alexa Chung
''It's On with Alexa Chung'' is an American live interactive talk and variety program that aired weekdays on MTV from June 15 to December 17, 2009. The show, a "successor" to MTV's ''Total Request Live'', was hosted by British model-turned-telev ...
''. On January 15, 2010, he performed the song on ''
The Wendy Williams Show
''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar-Me ...
''. He also performed the song on ''
Lopez Tonight
''Lopez Tonight'' is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-nig ...
'' as well as
The Blueprint 3 Tour
The Jay-Z Fall Tour 2009 was a concert tour by American rapper Jay-Z in support of his eleventh studio album '' The Blueprint 3''. The routing took the rap mogul to 18 cities
in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, kicking off with a 9/11 benefit concert ...
, and performed it with Fabolous at
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
's
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...
. He performed the song once again on ''
106 & Park
''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...
'' on February 11, 2010 for "Love Week" as a medley with "
Neighbors Know My Name
"Neighbors Know My Name" is a song by American R&B singer Trey Songz. It was written by Songz with Patrick Hayes and Troy Taylor, who produced the song with John "$K" McGee. It was released to rhythmic and urban airplay as the fifth and final si ...
" and "
I Invented Sex
"I Invented Sex" is a song by American R&B singer Trey Songz, and features Canadian recording artist Drake. Together, they wrote the song alongside Tony "Chef Tone" Scales and its producer, Los Da Mystro. It was released to urban airplay as the ...
". "Say Aah" was performed by Songz at
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's Spring Break 2010 in
Acapulco, Mexico
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
.
Credits and personnel
*
Songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
– Trey Songz, Fabolous, Nate Walka, Ronald M. Ferebee, Jr.,
Tony "Chef Tone" Scales
*
Production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
– Troy Taylor, Young Yonny
*
Recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
– Troy Taylor
*
Mixing – Jean Marie Horvat
Source
[Trey Songz ''Ready'' (Digital booklet) ]Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, Songbook
A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manu ...
. (2009).
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Radio adds
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Say Aah (Trey Songz Song)
2010 singles
2009 singles
Trey Songz songs
Fabolous songs
2009 songs
Songs about alcohol
Songs written by Chef Tone
Songs written by Fabolous
Songs written by Nate Walka
Songs written by Trey Songz