June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists

Former President George W. Bush had a lot of screw-ups during his eight-year term, but he did do a couple things right. One of them was proclaiming June as Black Music Month on May 31, 2002. June is a little over a week away, and to celebrate Black Music Month, I'll be featuring one of my favorite artists each day, sharing my first or most personal memory of them, explain what their accomplishments are and why I felt they should make the Black Music Month Top 30 list. There will be some oldies, some newbies and some artists who are in between stages, but my first entry will be what Bush described as " today's musicians who continue to build upon the rich and vital heritage of black music."

My June 1 selection is Trey Songz.

Black Music Month Heat Factor "Why's this artist hot?": How many young artists do you know that would have the opportunity to feature R&B greats like Aretha Franklin on their first CD? He came out the door in July 2005 with "Just Gotta Make it," and I heard his hit single "Gotta Make It" blasting out of Chicago radios everywhere. Chicago loves this guy, and considering how much he's at WGCI's station or making guest appearances to local schools like Simeon Vocational High School to talk about increasing the peace, we have a reason to show him love.

First Memory, Most Personal Memory of the Artist: I'd just quit a receptionist job at a claims company and was working for a black men's magazine for $400 every two weeks. I'd lost 15 pounds, but I was having the time of my life writing by the lakefront and networking through sites like BlackPlanet. But I knew that was going to have to come to an end because $800 is not paying for much living in Chicago. I kept hearing the song "Gotta Make It" and it became my theme song.

I also broke up with a guy because of Trey Songz's CD. My boyfriend (at the time) asked me for $20. I refused to give it to him, said I was broke but bought Trey Songz CD anyway. The guy was used to milking past girlfriends for their money and I refused to loan him a dime. My ex was furious that I bought some random artist's CD but wouldn't support him. Five years later and I'd have made the same decision all over again. The guy wasn't worth my time. The CD was. And I learned that I could make $800 stretch. I saw Trey Songz perform a couple years later at my alma mater's, Lincoln University, homecoming when he was still pretty new and hadn't made a brand for himself yet. I knew he was going to be big just from his stage presence.

I also interviewed Trey Songz in 2009 at Chicago's Swiss Hotel. I was caught offguard by how friendly he is. I didn't expect him to necessarily be mean, but I reached for a handshake and he reached for a hug twice. He seems to like to smile and has charisma dripping from his pores. Personally I think he should've been the one singing "I'm a Flirt" instead of one of his mentors R. Kelly, which is ironic considering he's pretty critical of the Pied Piper these days. He was also just as fun to watch during the Simeon event previously mentioned and of course the girls squealed all over the place when he turned his cap around and sang towards the end of the peace promoting event.

Accomplishments from the Artist: As of today's date, according to Billboard.com, his 2009 CD "Ready" spent 37 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart (now ranked number 15), "Neighbors Know My Name" spent 23 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart (now ranked number 7) and "I Invented Sex" spent 40 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart (now ranked number 50). This is tremendous progress considering "Trey Day" only had one hit single to stay on the charts, "Can't Help But Wait" for 24 weeks. Although "Gotta Make It," "Your Behind" and "Comin' for You" are still my favorite songs, "Ready" clearly took him to new heights. He's kissed singer Toni Braxton, made songs with hip-hop stars like Drake, sang live with R&B stars Tyrese and Johnny Gill, and been on stage with R&B legend Stevie Wonder singing his songs.