“I haven’t gone country,” Usher tells me, “but I’m just sayin’.” That’s the thing about Usher. But he’s proud of his whole catalog, EDM phase included. Some music critics have long dinged him for this, his genre hopping, his uncanny ability to figure out what an Usher song should sound like in the key of the day’s most popular music. Usher can make the best of traditional R&B (“U Got It Bad”) or bring his falsetto to the most thrilling EDM-tinged R&B (“Climax”). In the late ’90s, Usher rode a sensual stream of hits produced by Jermaine Dupri to stardom before going supernova with Confessions, the 2004 album that transformed the singer into a bad boy. “I don’t feel like I’ve ever been in competition with anyone else,” he says cheerfully. But Usher doesn’t view his career in competitive terms. His long list of hits also eclipses the catalog of Justin Timberlake, the closest thing he’s had to a true rival. Kelly, and has more number ones than his immediate successor, Chris Brown. He outlasted his immediate predecessor, R. He’s been making music for three decades now, and was at the center of pop music for two of them. He doesn’t look like it, but Usher is 44. I turn around and he’s fleeing the scene like the Hamburglar with two armfuls of goodies, grinning: “You’re going to pass these up?!” On the way out, we are offered gift bags full of chocolate, which everyone politely declines.Įveryone, that is, but Usher. There is a dinner reservation at Carbone waiting. After about an hour-just long enough for a tipsy woman to ask Usher if he’s seen White Lotus-we retreat to the car. He graciously chats with all of them and poses for selfies. A string of MGM bigwigs-and the MGM bigwigs’ wives and kids and kids’ college friends-catch word that Usher is in the back and quickly arrive to schmooze. Someone gets Usher a drink, and a charcuterie board appears for the rest of us. We are led to a back room, with a small bar, a few tables, and metallic streamers cheerily, if haphazardly, hanging on the walls. “Let me-I’ll go get someone.” But then Usher smiles at her and she smiles back and that idea of going to get someone slips her mind. Now, 15 years later, it’s still one of the best albums we’ve heard in quite some time.“We didn’t know you were coming!” she says. Even Usher hasn’t topped himself since then. The undeniable musical chemistry between Usher and Jermaine Dupri (who produced the majority of the album), his public breakup headlines and relatable subject matter proved to be a winning formula for a hit album. There aren’t really any artists moving these types of numbers in traditional sales and streams combined. The album entered right on the cusp of the social media wave and sold 10 million copies (actual CDs, not streams), bringing it to RIAA Diamond status. All the exciting elements of love were there: sex, passion, infatuation, infidelity and of course, heartbreak. Songs like “That’s What It’s Made For” and “Superstar” were much more than mere album fillers.Ĭonfessions was a movie in audible form. However, there were some album cuts that also missed their shine as singles. The song cleverly blended elements of Hip Hop, R&B, Rock and Pop with an undeniable swag. Usher effortlessly glided into pop music territory with the Pharrell produced, “Caught Up”. That song almost made you want to get in a relationship and break up just to experience the feeling. Oh and then there’s “Burn”, the soundtrack of heartbreak. The song still gets any party jumping today. Lead by the hit single, “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, Usher sealed his biggest club crossover #1 hit. Plus, the music backed up the controversy. Nevertheless, bad press is good press in the entertainment industry. Everyone thought the album was about her, but Jermaine Dupri later revealed it was his personal story. Why was this album such a success? Well, for starters, his public breakup with TLC’s Chilli couldn’t have come at a better time. Confessions, his most successful album to date, turns 15 years old this year. Usher is one of the artists that set the tone for the rest of the decade. We were just coming down from the tidal wave of 90s heavyweights and trying to find our footing for the new millennium. The early 2000s were a peculiar time in R&B music.
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