Following a year of relentless media scrutiny of matters dear and personal ,getting engaged, canceling the Wedding only to finally see it through, falling out with his mother, and seeing the death of his father shortly after becoming one himself
,the generally laid-back Usher enters this interview with a firm declaration: ''This should be the last time that I have this type of dialogue about my wife or my family, and it's because I've never really had the opportunity to speak,'' he says, answering a question that hasn't even been asked, his smooth Southern drawl infused with a hint of combative aggression. ''But I really don't wanna make my business the focus of what this is.''
The catch, though, is that quite a bit of that ''business'' informs Usher's new CD, Here I Stand (out May 27), which mirrors the singer's transformation from carefree bachelor to devoted husband and father, and which he is here to talk about. He quickly realizes he can't discuss the one without the other — in many ways, they are one and the same. ''I've pulled from a lot of my personal experiences to tell the story of this album,'' acquiesces the 29-year-old R&B singer, becoming more his relaxed self. ''It starts off with a guy who's in the club, having a good time, and going home with a woman. The character that I'm setting up is not a guy who is married right off; he's a guy who goes through the journey of getting married.''
The album's first single, the sleek and seductive ''Love in This Club,'' is already a ubiquitous dance-floor staple that's hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and notched 1.5 million digital sales. ''It's an A-plus,'' says Ebro Darden, programming director for New York's Hot 97. ''It's catchy, sexy, and it has edge, while being accessible to a mass audience at the same time.'' It is also a snapshot of Usher's very different single life from two years ago — an important part of the Here I Stand story. Though few people knew it at the time, the then 27-year-old was in the midst of a life-changing existential dilemma. ''I was going out night to night, having a different woman in my bed every time I chose, and I began to wonder: Am I really being a playa or am I a whore?''''I was exposed to the lifestyle of a young, fly A&R who was the man in New York. He took me to clubs. I was around women. It was like swagger camp. I said, So this is what I do when I finally make it....''Usher was already a regular on the New York City party circuit well before he was old enough to legally purchase his first bottle of Moët.
Born Usher Raymond IV on Oct. 14, 1978, the Dallas native grew up working-class in Chattanooga, Tenn. His parents split when he was a toddler, and he was raised by his mom, Johnetta Patton, who worked as a medical claims manager. ''I never had a relationship with my father,'' he says. ''He was a drug addict. He wasn't there by choice.'' A gospel-trained vocalist who began singing in the church choir when he was 9 years old, Usher was a natural talent who won the Star Search male teen vocalist competition at age 13. That's when LaFace Records cofounder Antonio ''L.A.'' Reid (who now heads up Island Def Jam) signed him and sent him to live in New York for a year under the supervision of an unlikely guardian: a rising hip-hop hotshot named Sean ''Puffy'' Combs, who had been tapped to produce Usher's 1994 self-titled debut disc. ''It was terror,'' recalls Usher. Indeed, even keeping up with the omnipresent party that Diddy is today would send the sturdiest of us to an early grave — but back in the '90s? It was an entirely different story. ''I was exposed to the lifestyle of a young, fly A&R who was the man in New York. He took me to clubs. I was around women. It was like swagger camp. I said, So this is what I do when I finally make it.... But you have to be very careful about what you allow your kids to be around or see. I'm a product of the environment.''
That product became a hugely bankable, young sex symbol with famously chiseled abs. From 1994 until 2001, Usher released three increasingly successful and sexually provocative albums, and, old beyond his years with experience, found himself enticed by older women: ''I really was dating for maturity because that's what I thought I would get — a person that has some stability. She also has to be understanding, patient, kind, and supportive.'' His attraction to older women would play out over and over, including his marriage last summer to his wife, Tameka, 37.
In 2001, Usher thought he'd found a potential Mrs. Raymond when he began dating ex-TLC singer Rozonda ''Chilli'' Thomas, a single mom seven years his senior. That same year, he dropped his third CD, 8701, which made him a bona fide pop star, earning quadruple-platinum sales. But in an era when celebrity is synonymous with scandal — and in spite of his May-December romance with Chilli — Usher's lack of shocking behavior made him seem almost too squeaky-clean. ''It's been a challenge for him to make being talented exciting without all the scandal,'' says his close friend and former LaFace exec Kawan Prather. ''Other than his relationships, he doesn't have a lot to talk about.
Usher released his fourth studio CD, Confessions, in 2004, and its massive success quickly vaulted him into one of the world's biggest acts. The album sold 9.5 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, won three Grammys, and dominated Billboard's Hot 100 chart with four No. 1 singles, including the anthemic smash ''Yeah!'' The disc's centerpiece was a Jermaine Dupri-produced groove about infidelity and unplanned pregnancy called ''Confessions Part II.'' Released just months after Usher's highly publicized split with Chilli, many fans and critics alike assumed, incorrectly, that the song was inspired by their breakup. Though the lyrics were really about Dupri's own baby-mama issues, the controversy taught Usher a valuable lesson: ''People love drama.''
Ever the consummate ladies' man, Usher relished the spoils of his newfound success, romancing a string of beauties, including supermodel Naomi Campbell, 38, and notorious hip-hop groupie Karrine ''Superhead'' Steffans, 29, who spilled the beans about their risqué romps in her 2005 best-selling memoir, Confessions of a Video Vixen: ''Usher seemed to be turned on by commanding me to do things sexually in a tone I found condescending and disrespectful.'' (The singer's reps declined to comment on this matter.) With his career at an all-time high, Usher wasn't quite ready to settle down in another serious relationship...or so he thought. ''I was just looking for good times. In the club. Not living right. This woman. That woman. Uncertain. Unsure.... But there does come a time when you start thinking, Who's gonna love me and take care of me when I'm down? Who's gonna care about making sure that I'm okay? I need a companion. Damn.''
Usher's wife, Tameka, is pouring a carton of milk over his head on the set of his EW cover shoot at a Manhattan photo studio on a sunny Sunday afternoon. ''Do it faster,'' he urges, ''Like this!'' With his eyes clenched shut, he reaches above his head, grabs the container of milk, and dumps it on himself. The shot is ruined because Usher's arm gets in the way. Take 2: Someone passes Tameka another carton of milk and she slowly begins pouring again. This time, Usher doesn't interrupt her. He stays quiet and keeps still while the opaque white liquid trickles down his face. As the photographer prepares for the final setup, Usher retreats to his makeshift dressing room, where Tameka, who's styling today's shoot, has stockpiled enough designer clothing and sneakers to meet the inventory needs of a small high-end boutique. The secret to their union is their unique dynamic: Usher sometimes acts like a petulant kid, and Tameka, who has three children from a previous marriage, is endowed with strong maternal instincts that help put him in check and keep him grounded. Their chemistry is genuine and their body language is affectionate; much to the chagrin of the tabloids, their love seems real.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond met and became fast friends when she was hired to be his stylist in 2001. At the time, he was dating Chilli, while Tameka was married to Atlanta music executive Ryan Glover. Over the next few years, their bond grew tighter as their respective relationships flamed out. ''That's when our rapport started becoming more than friends,'' Usher says. ''And before you know it, she was undergoing a divorce and we started dating.''
Last spring, after a lengthy, quiet courtship, the pair announced they were engaged and expecting. They had no idea what they were in for. Not since Britney Spears popped the question to Kevin Federline in 2004 had tabloids and bloggers pounced on a celebrity-civilian romance with such venomous passion. Gossip blogs like Bossip called Tameka everything from ''controlling'' to a ''crazy old lady,'' the National Enquirer fancifully reported she had a ''shocking criminal past,'' and syndicated radio host Tom Joyner claimed Usher threatened to beat him up for cracking jokes about his fiancée on-air (Usher denies that ever happened). ''I was reading very hurtful things about the person that I chose to love, and I felt like they were taking stabs at me or my choice,'' Usher says. ''What about the fact that in our society there are not enough fathers for our black young men? And here I am being a great example and we don't embrace that?! Think about that. I wanna do it right, but I'm doing something wrong? That doesn't make sense.''
The media firestorm intensified when Usher soon dropped his mother as his longtime manager and replaced her with renowned celebrity handler Benny Medina (who also manages the likes of Mariah Carey and Nicole Richie). ''I understand the whole thing about the drama between me and my mother,'' he concedes. ''To be honest with you, we had a very one-sided relationship, and for obvious reasons: She had to make the majority of the sacrifices; otherwise we didn't go forward.... I'm pretty sure that my mother would want to forever manage me. She'll always be my partner. But I feel like I'm at a point where I wanna grow, be able to handle my business firsthand, and understand every facet of it. Also, on the other side is the fact that you get the stigma of being too sheltered. So now I make the move to go out as a man and stand on my own, and it's bad?''
The rift with his mother would soon grow wider. Usher and Tameka's first attempt down the aisle was scheduled to take place at L.A. Reid's Hamptons estate on July 28, 2007, a lavish affair Usher abruptly called off just hours before the ceremony. No explanation was given beyond a terse statement from his rep. Six days later, they tied the knot in a private civil ceremony at his lawyer's office, followed by an extravagant star-studded celebration in Atlanta on Sept. 1. Usher's mom was conspicuously absent from the event, which only added to the spectacle. ''My mother made a decision not to come to my wedding because she didn't really agree with my decision,'' he explains, declining to specify whether she disagreed with his choice of wife or his decision to fire her. ''I don't know why,'' he offers simply. ''She's never told me and I've never asked her.'' Though he demurs when pressed further for details, he reveals: ''It hurt me very much not to see her there 'cause I would've liked for her to be there, not to mention that I paid so much money for her to be accommodated and her behind didn't show up. [Laughs] But just as she's made stands, so have I.'' (That may help explain the title of his new album, though he insists, ''It's not me lashing out at anyone; it was the hottest name for the project, and a testimony to how certain I was about certain issues.'')
On Nov. 26, Usher and Tameka welcomed their son, Usher Raymond V. The new addition to his family served as an olive branch, helping heal the strained relationship with Usher's mom. ''I have a beautiful baby boy that she's in love with,'' he says. ''She's very happy, and he makes us all a better family, period.'' It's likely that the sudden death of Usher's estranged father, who died of liver disease on Jan. 21, brought the family closer together still. ''That made me care more about being a father than anything,'' he says. ''It's my opportunity to make sure that [my son] never feels what I felt.''
''Every word on this album is meaningful. It's like, I know you ain't gonna listen to me until I get your attention. So now that I got your attention, can I talk to you about something?''
Here I Stand is an autobiographical mix of old-school-meets-new-school R&B ballads, midtempo grooves, and upbeat dance songs that find Usher letting down his guard and truly exposing his vulnerability. ''This is the most honest and communicative he's been with his audience,'' says Prather. ''His other albums weren't based on his life, but this one is his story.... I think this is the only way as a celebrity and as an artist that he can communicate those feelings of the protective father and husband.''
''Every word on this album is meaningful,'' Usher says. ''It's like, I know you ain't gonna listen to me until I get your attention. So now that I got your attention, can I talk to you about something?'' That's why he dropped ''Love in This Club'' as the first single. ''After all of the talk about my relationship, I wouldn't come out with a song about my relationship, because you already know about that. And I'm never gonna make love in a club with a girl.''
Never? ''Well, I can't say that I never have,'' he adds, ''but that's in my past.''
USHER ON HERE I STAND, TRACK BY TRACK
''Moving Mountains''
''It's about a guy who makes a mistake [infidelity] and has an understanding with his woman that it's okay — but she really didn't forgive him. And trying to get her to get over it is like moving a mountain.''
''Love You Gently''
''It's a classic R&B ballad produced by Dre & Vidal, and written by Raheem DeVaughn. This is the one you throw on with your significant other when it's time to get to it. This is why my son's here. It's a baby-maker.''
''Something Special''
''Listening to [confessional] artists like Robin Thicke and John Mayer inspired this song, because it's totally that honest feeling. It's about the feeling when you're in real love. It could be about my son or my wife.''
''Here I Stand''
''It's my version of a young man's 'Here and Now' by Luther Vandross. I'm saying, 'No matter where I'm at or what I'm doing, you're the person I'm with, so don't have any doubt about it. I stand here.'''
0 comments:
Post a Comment