Usher - Classic or Dud?

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He's got a PEANUT head (thanx, Pitman), but essentialy, dude's fairly cool. Some decent songs (the 'Pop Ya Collar' love starts RIGHT HERE), a good voice, an occasionally commendable wardrobe and some excellent moves I love to emulate. He's classic, no doubt. OTOH, I wouldn't immediately jump to his side in a JT vs Usher because JT's had some better sonics running through his singles and the 'Like I Love You' video is pretty stylish. And because JT is friends with JC Chasez.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 23 February 2004 09:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

dudes, duders, dudets, U Remind Me-classic, that Pop ya collar song, perticularly the earthy honesty behind the mens Yea! makes it impossible not to like. However as I recal he plays the dj in She's All That, in which he dances horribly to The Rockerfeller Skank, instigating a high school dance scene which, in terms of arse twitching embarrasement picks up the gauntlet laid down by Teenwolf. Usher, welcome to Dudleyville.

― lukey (Lukey G), Monday, 23 February 2004 09:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

I have gone from loving Usher to hating him to loving him. "My Way" almost made me want to vomit until I realized one day it was fucking amazing.

Ginuwine is the guy I've always unilaterally despised.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 23 February 2004 15:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

I have this feeling Ginuwine has better albums than Usher. Then again, I have no albums by either.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 23 February 2004 15:35 (9 years ago) Permalink

i wish he wouldnt yelp all the time. it sounds like he's having a sore nursed with toilet duck.

― Flotsam of the Fishfolk (Flotsam of the Fishfolk), Monday, 23 February 2004 19:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

My friend emily makes me buy his records and play them when i dj so that she can dance to them -upon which moment the redundancy of this debate becomes clear...

― Conor (Conor), Monday, 23 February 2004 22:33 (9 years ago) Permalink

He wore a Marvin Gaye t-shirt on Top of the Pops. I like him.

― pete s, Monday, 23 February 2004 23:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

OTOH, he also sang 'U Don't Have To Call' on TOTP with huge vocalless spaces that Ludacris must've been meant to fill.

― Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 11:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

I just heard Usher's new single "Let It Burn" on the radio and had to run to a computer lab to share my shock at how FUCKING AMAZING it is. I really hope future listens live up to the memory of multiple Usher's weaving around each other, asking if you can hear him cry - hoo hoo hoo, hoo hoo hoo. I think he even used the word "umpteenth"!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 04:40 (9 years ago) Permalink

usher is reason 2034 why my wife wants to divorce me for my music tastes

― JaXoN (JasonD), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 04:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

He is great.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 05:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

I really like usher, but whats the issue with j.t and usher?
what type of contreversie is this? I always thought they were close friends being that they are both in the music industry...??

― Jeanette, Friday, 2 April 2004 14:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

here's some fuel to the justin v. usher debate:

MILLION-SELLING 'CONFESSIONS'!

R&B star USHER has sold over a million copies of his new album in the US in just one week.

The singer tops the charts with 'Confessions', ending Norah Jones' 'Feels Like Home''s seven-week reign at the top.

'Confessions'' 1.1 million sales mean it has now surpassed 'Feels Like Home' as the year's fastest-selling album.

Usher and Jones, whose album sold 1.02 million in its first week, now stand as the only two artists to debut in seven-figure territory since *N Sync's 'Celebrity' sold nearly 1.9 million copies its first week in July 2001.

Usher's label, Arista Records, have revealed 'Confessions' is its biggest release in the label's 30-year history, beating the 689,000 first-week sales posted by Notorious BIG's posthumous 1997 album 'Life After Death'.

Usher has sold nearly ten million albums in the United States to date, according to SoundScan.

----

Didnt Justin peak out at #2 with justified?

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Friday, 2 April 2004 16:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

I always thought they were close friends being that they are both in the music industry...??

This is true. Everyone in the music industry lives in a great big house. MTV will be filming soon for a reality series. You will be chosen as the special guest star if you post on the Kanye West thread.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 2 April 2004 16:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

BO-RINNNG! Li'l Jon cannot save you, Usher

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Friday, 2 April 2004 16:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

ps holla back

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Friday, 2 April 2004 16:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

I really like usher, but whats the issue with j.t and usher?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/urbannews/040304_usher.shtml

Usher called Justin a "follower" on Radio 1 last month, and challenged him to a dance-off in some other interview.

Which means, of course, that they'll be releasing a massively-hyped duet in the next eight months.

― Lesley, Friday, 2 April 2004 19:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

I want a full-on romantic comedy.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 2 April 2004 19:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

You would.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 2 April 2004 19:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

BO-RINNNG! Li'l Jon cannot save you, Usher

Ah, I'm glad that someone finally agrees with me!

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Friday, 2 April 2004 19:28 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

The man has three singles in the Top 30 right now, two in the Top 3.

That he isn't getting as much attention as Justin Timberlake did for Justified (which sold a LOT less) is really starting to piss me off.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 2 May 2004 18:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

and I want LOTS more discussion of "Burn."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 2 May 2004 18:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

also Cibula's review of Confessions is really awesome.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 2 May 2004 18:19 (9 years ago) Permalink

Confessions is definitely on track to outsell Justified, but that hasn't happened yet, and a lot of Justified's press/praise was accumulated over the course of a year, Usher record just came out, so time will tell on that one.

Usher seems to take himself waaay too seriously. I mean, even in the "Yeah" video, he flashes a lot of somber facial expressions, like he Really Means It, and the rest of the album is all ballads. I mean, he's a good singer and dancer at all, but the way he puffs himself up as an Artist, you'd think he was a writer/producer on the level of R. Kelly or even Prince.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 2 May 2004 19:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

Usher...not gonna say much more than "bleh". He's had a few songs which I've considered guilty pleasures of mine, I admit ("U Remind Me" remix, "My Way"), but most of his clunky, midi-sounding r&b tunes are just flat. Not to mention that he's not a very good singer, although that's not necessarily a prerequisite if you have enough character.

Around the time he arrived was the period of time r&b music really started going south. It was already headed there but the arrival of him and similar artists brought forth the downfall. Nowadays most of it on the airwaves is unlistenable.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:22 (9 years ago) Permalink

fine, dad.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

stop calling grandpa "dad," strongo

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:30 (9 years ago) Permalink

Yea, keep telling yourself that's it. :)

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:35 (9 years ago) Permalink

":)"

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:36 (9 years ago) Permalink

Usher's next album will be composed entirely on Midisoft Studio for Windows

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:37 (9 years ago) Permalink

His voice has developed a LOT, and although its not evident on a track as sonically abrasive (in a good way) as "Yeah", on a minimalist track like "Burn" its especially obvious - dude can sing like a motherfucker.

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

Usher's next album will be composed entirely on Midisoft Studio for Windows

Is that supposed to be some sort of diss to Usher?

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

Dude cannot sing.

He is extremely nasal and throaty and lacks dynamics. He has to strain for a lot of his highs as well.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm not really familiar with his older stuff, but his voice is excellent on "Burn."

Don't you listen to metal? Why are you concerned with supposedly objective evaluations of singing ability?

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm a singer, and have been studying voice for well over a decade, and at one point, was majoring in it in college.

As I said...it's NOT really necessarily necessary to be a great singer to sell a good r&B song. I wouldn't say Al Green was *technically* a great singer, yet I totally feel his music. But while we were on the subject of his singing ability, I thought I would comment on that.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

did I REALLY just say "necessarily necessary"? My god, I can hardly believe I'm not still drunk.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm surprised that so many people are bigging up the album so much - I count the following tracks as being worthy: "Yeah", "Throwback", "Confessions", "Burn" and that treacly Jermaine Dupri track towards the end. And that's it. Even the Richcraft track is unremarkable.

And "Throwback" is good but it should be much better.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

I wouldn't say Al Green was *technically* a great singer

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

Yep, keep going, instead of explaining your position, continue with the ad hominems, they make you seem real intelligent.

Al Green was a great performer and a great R&B artist, but in terms of TECHNIQUE, he was nothing amazing. That is all I said, and it is true. He had the ability to sell a song that made up for it, though.

Do you REALLY want me to out-geek you on this one and give you vocal specifics?

― Uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:55 (9 years ago) Permalink

I haven't gotten the album yet (I'm waiting till I hear "Confessions" on the radio so that it passes my three-singles-I-love-then-I-by-you rule) but even if only five tracks are credible that's at LEAST two more than Justified had.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:56 (9 years ago) Permalink

I take Justin Timberlake as serious as I take making race cars out of diarrhea.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 00:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

JT = Usher + Corey Feldman

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 3 May 2004 00:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

How many times have we linked to this?

I'm taking bets on how much longer before "Uh" mentions how much he loves crunk + grime. Will the weight of the ILM hive mind overcome his defenses soon? Its not a question of "if" but "when."

Tim, I think Throwback is great!

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm interested as to why you feel you should link to an article rather than make your own points.

I consider Timberlake a truly ironic joke. His music reeks of sheer deriviative crap, and I wouldn't be arsed to sit through more than 5 minutes of it.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

No I do like it a lot but I'd been hoping that it did for either "Pump It Up" or "Song Cry" what "Yeah" did for "Get Low" and instead find that it's ear-tickling but very restrained.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 3 May 2004 01:06 (9 years ago) Permalink

and before someone mentions the whole "originality isn't a requirement" argument (one that I actually agree with), realize that's by far not the only problem I have with his retarded music.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

Tim, what do you think of "Caught Up"? I thought that track was terrific!

"Uh," I'm interested as to why you are afraid to read the article.

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

It was written by someone who posts here occasionally.

― djdee2005, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

I actually think Timberlake sounded great on Celebrity but on Justified he got WAY overconfident, the music is so non-mall that it needs a singer who's equally supple. Timbo just sounds like he's going to do the Urkel (though all the singles are enjoyable). He sounded a lot more soulful when he surrounded himself with guys like Lance Bass and Max Martin.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 3 May 2004 01:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

Afraid to read the article? Dee, I'm not sure what your issue is, but you seem to be unable to comprehend the fact that people don't like your favorite musical artists, instead choosing to believe that said people have some mental deficiency they were unaware of.

In any sense, I found the article to be somewhat stupid. It seems to be using one person's critique of Timberlake to represent everybody's, which is just stupid, plus the whole article is rather presumptuous about why people actually bash Timberlake in the media. It's a completely silly, elitist article, that fails to comprehend that just MAYBE the other side has a valid point.

I know I argue "rough" in here, but I would never SERIOUSLY attribute to someone a personal defect because they happened to like an artist I did. Half of my first posts were just for my own amusement.

― uh, Monday, 3 May 2004 01:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 132 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Usher the first (and only) celeb to give up on that ridiculous "dead twitter" AIDS charity drive: http://twitter.com/UsherRaymondIV

Here's his "last tweet and testament" video:

"It's truly a battle of AIDS vs. Raymond"

― da croupier, Monday, 6 December 2010 19:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

Usher's first tweet yesterday after announcing his death on the 30th: Twit fam, I'm whack for being late, I need your help. Twit,Happy Birthday Rico Love!!! He is the man that wrote you "There goes my baby"

Alicia Keys' latest tweet: @aliciakeys is dead but Bashir, father of 7 is ALIVE thanks to KCA. http://bit.ly/e8pa0VText ALICIA to 90999 & reply YES to give $10

― da croupier, Monday, 6 December 2010 19:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Raymond v Raymond's "Pro Rated" snuck up on me tonight.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 11 February 2011 04:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

The new Usher & Diplo track really has some fun playing with/defying expectations for what an Usher & Diplo track might sound like. Huge improvement over Usher's recent hits:

― Evan R, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 23:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

loving his vocals on this one

― teledyldonix, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

this is dope

― the third kind of dubstep (Jordan), Wednesday, 15 February 2012 21:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah I heard this last night. Not a fan of Usher or Diplo but this is pretty sick

― owenf, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 22:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

Diplo is on a roll

― Number None, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 23:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

beat really reminds me of something tho

― Number None, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 23:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

sounds like something from the Araabmuzik album, maybe.

Loving it tho.

― Darren Huckerby (Dwight Yorke), Wednesday, 15 February 2012 23:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

the beat is by diplo?! shocked

i love it - it's v "moments in love" right? reminds me of

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Thursday, 16 February 2012 00:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

amazing song, loving this more than i can say, really shocked that this is usher and/or diplo

"express yourself" (diplo & nicky da b) is pretty great, too, tho more what you'd expect of a diplo track

― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Friday, 17 February 2012 09:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

quoth a commenter on the soundcloud page:

no, it's not Usher, this actually has soul and its not overproduced/ overrated. This sounds more like The Weeknd

― teledyldonix, Sunday, 19 February 2012 02:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

l∞l

― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Sunday, 19 February 2012 03:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

― littledotheyknow (D-40), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 22:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

I really hate that "Scream" is going to be the crossover "Climax" wasn't.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 22:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

yup

― The Reverend, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:01 (11 months ago) Permalink

haha, usher's ex OTM

― fapper don (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:05 (11 months ago) Permalink

i don't know -- if i was a "climax" fan i'd be pretty happy that it did as well as it did. usher's entire career for the past few years has followed that forumla, big dancey pop smash with some r&b songs to stay current on urban radio. the only one to crossover iirc was "omg" and "climax" is a lot better than "there goes my baby" and stuff like that

― fapper don (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:06 (11 months ago) Permalink

i mean if someone had said "hey usher's new single is produced by diplo with contributions from nico muhly" i would've put it at 40% odds that it would've ended up as a "promo single" after two weeks

― fapper don (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:07 (11 months ago) Permalink

yeah "Climax" totally surpassed any reasonable expectations -- clearly occupied the same role in the album campaign as "Papers" but did better than that

― waggin the cock and flow tit (some dude), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:14 (11 months ago) Permalink

Katherine St Asaph calling it "deliberate troll baiting" was otm.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:24 (11 months ago) Permalink

although it should be said that labels can't completely control which song is the pop hit and which one is the buzz single -- "Look At Me Now" was supposed to be the urban radio flipside to proper lead single "Yeah 3X" but "Look" ended up being more of a crossover hit.

― waggin the cock and flow tit (some dude), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 01:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Hark.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 28 September 2012 18:34 (7 months ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

Usher is apparently a judge on The Voice now. Is he any good? I imagine he'd be super charismatic, but it's funny; for as much I follow his music, I have no sense of what his off-stage persona is.

― Evan R, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:14 (1 month ago) Permalink

i haven't watched the show regularly since the first season, but i saw a few minutes of it last night and kinda liked seeing Usher and Shakira on there, they seemed to fit in well. Xtina was always the most boring of the mentors and Cee-Lo was always the most obnoxiously over the top.

― some dude, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:31 (1 month ago) Permalink

Usher did really well. He's smooth.

― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

I'm gonna have to try to catch it. Every time I catch a promo with him in it I'm wowed by how damn cool he is. Never seen more than a few minutes of the show so I don't really understand how it works, but the idea of being mentored by Usher is a really fun fantasy

― Evan R, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:43 (1 month ago) Permalink

imo its easily the best of vocal judged shows. The 'blind auditions' portion (the first half of the season) is really great. They don't waste time with crappy singers. The judges just have fun. It's not a labor for them and they don't take themselves too seriously.

― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:49 (1 month ago) Permalink

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