Trey Songz - Successful Lyrics
Featuring: Drake
Send this Ringtone to your Cell(Chorus)
I want the money
Money and the cars
Cars and the clothes
The hoes
I suppose
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
[Drake]
Drizzy,
Ah yeah Trey I f*cking feel you,
They be staring at the money like its unfamiliar,
I get it,
I live it,
To me there's nothings realer,
Just enough to solve your problems,
Too much will kill ya,
And when I leave,
I always come right back here,
The young spitta that everybody in rap fear
A lot of yall are still sounding like last year
The game needs change and I'm the mof*cking cashier
Nickels for my thoughts,
Dimes in my bed,
Quarters of the kush
Shape the lines in my head,
Take my verses too serious ya hate me,
Cause I'm the one to paint a vivid picture no HD,
Yeah,
I want it all,
That's why I strive for it,
Diss me and you'll never hear a reply for it,
Any awards show or party I get fly for it,
I know that it's coming I just hope that I'm alive for it
(Chorus)
I want the money
Money and the cars
Cars and the clothes
The hoes
I suppose
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
(Trey Songz Verse)
I want the money
money money
I want a whole lot of that
all the honeys
they asking where the dollars at
Where you head at
Tell me bout your scholar cap
Try to find a way
But you never gotta a map
Dream chaser
Risk taker
No favor
Damn haters
They might want me to drown
Holding me down
But the thrown and the crown
Is all I ever wanted
All I ever needed
If I'm the only one
And don't nobody else believe it
Then keep it a secret
And watch me achieve it
Cause I know what I want now
If you want the money
If you gotta make it
You the only one
And don't nobody else believe it
Then tell them to beat it
And watch you achieve it
Singing it if you want
(Chorus)
I want the money
Money and the cars
Cars and the clothes
The hoes
I suppose
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
[Drake]
Yeah,
I want things to go my way,
But as of late a lot of sh*t been goin sideways,
And my mother tried to runaway from home,
But I left somethin in the car and so I caught her in the driveway,
And she cried to me so I cried too,
And my stomach was soakin wet,
She only 5'2,
And 48 hours was all before I showed up,
And brought a thousand dollars worth of drinks and got pulled up,
Damn. my reality just set in,
And even when the Phantom's leased them hoes wanna get in,
I do a lot of things hopin I neva have to fit in,
So tryin to keep up with my progress is like a dead end,
My girl love me but f*ck it my heart beat slow,
And right now the tour bus is lookin like a freak show,
And life change for us every single week
So its good but I know this aint the peak though,
Cause I want...
[(Chorus)
I want the money
Money and the cars
Cars and the clothes
The hoes
I suppose
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
I just wanna be
I just wanna be successful
Song details
"Successful" is a song by Canadian recording artist Drake. It was included on Songz' third studio album, Ready, sans Lil Wayne and the addition of a new verse by Songz.
Background
The song was originally set to be on Drake's debut album, Thank Me Later, but after Drake forwent the song, he insisted that Songz include it on Ready. Songz stated in an interview that fan reception to the track mostly had been that he should put a verse in on "Successful", but Songz told BallerStatus, "I was like, 'That's my homie's song.' Then initially, Drake came up to me with the idea like 'Nah dog. That's your song. I'm not putting it on my album. So it's going to be a waste. So it's going to be a big record with no one to go retrieve it.' So we put the verse on there just to give me a little more presence on the record for it to be on my album."
In an interview with MTV News, Drake explained how the song came about, stating, "It has this pocket, and there was no melody yet. I remember producer Noah '40' Shebib kind of making the joint, and then he hit this sound, which is the chords that are in there. It was so eerie. Like it was haunting, almost. I was like, 'Yo, that's it. You need to use that.' He started playing this patch, and just every note that he played fell into place. I had this beat sitting here that I love so much, and I didn't know what to do with it..."
Drake then contacted Songz, whom had been working with Drake back since 2007 on mixtapes. Songz said that Drake originally called him on advice of segueing his singing into rapping on interludes, then the terms of what records would be featured on the mixtape, as he sent him the "Successful" track. After Drake still could not settle on the direction for the track, Songz came up with the his hook. He explained to MTV News, "The first thing that came to mind was 'I want the money, money and the cars/ Cars and the clothes/ The ho's/ I suppose I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful.' When I'm saying all that, conceptually for me, the deepest part of the record was when I say, 'I suppose.' I supposed that's what success is about. That's what we're led to believe." After hearing the hook, Drake called it "powerful", commenting, "And it's like, it's almost like it made me feel like it may not be right what I want, you know? All these things, it's like it made me feel young. It kind of made me feel ignorant to the game. But it was an exciting record even though the tempo is slow. That's what I want ... The 'I suppose' moment in there is like, it's almost like you're doubting yourself for a second. But at the end of the day, I just want to be successful. So that's what the record meant to me."
Critical reception
David Jeffries of Allmusic noted the song as a standout track from Ready. Andrew Rennie of NOW Magazine magazine called a "cautionary anthem" and the song the top track on the album. Rennie also said that "Successful" and "Black Roses", showcase Songz' developed, more mature side. Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice said, "The calm, yearning song is a bona fide hit, and also the best example of where r&b lives today." DJBooth said that there was "no reason to doubt that this track will become a mainstream smash." Shaheem Reid of MTV News said, "It's not a record that will kill the clubs, but when you just want to listen to superb lyricism and enthralling harmony, it's a must have." Rolling Stone ranked the song seventeen on their list of "Best 25 Songs of 2009" list, and Spin ranked it the tenth best song of 2009 on their "The 20 Best Songs of 2009" list.
Chart performance
On the week labeled August 1, 2009, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-eight. Weeks later, the song peaked at seventeen, where it spent one week. The song spent eighteen weeks on the chart dropping off on the week ending November 28, 2009. Additionally the song reached three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and two the Rap Songs chart.
Music video
The music video for the Ready version of the song, filmed in Drake's hometown of Toronto, Ontario, was directed by Jake White. An on set video and stills were released on August 12, 2009, followed by a preview of the clip on August 27, 2009. The full video was released on August 31, 2009. The video was nominated for MuchVIBE Hiphop Video of the Year and Cinematographer of the Year the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, winning both awards. It ranked at number eight on BET: Notarized Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.
While accompanying Songz on 106 & Park when promoting, Ready, Drake explained the video, stating: "The concept of the video is the fact that 'successful,' it applies to so many people that me and Trey just want to get the point across that we see ourselves and we see success in other individuals so really, it's a video about potential. It's a video about understanding that no matter what you do, there's a way to be successful doing it. It's one of those motivational videos. It actually ends with a quote from Barack Obama which is one of my favorite quotes I've ever read, so we decided to put it in the video. It's vivid."
The video begins with Drake going up an elevator while Songz sings shirtless on the edge of a bed with a woman laying on the other side looking on. Drake then ends up on a balcony singing in front of the Toronto skyline. Both are shown in scenes contemplating intermixed with Songz joining Drake on the balcony. Subsequently scenes are shown of Drake and Songz riding through Toronto nightlife, along with the contemplative scenes, such as a young boy playing basketball in which Songz has an illusion that it is him, and little girl blowing a dandelion.
The video ends with the skyline and a quote stating, "Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."- Barack Obama
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