Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #22 - Usher: one of the most successful recording artists in American history and his life behind and in, the spotlight.

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s. My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine. On each episode of this show we take a deep dive into the myriad of pop culture topics that my sister experienced and loved while she was growing up and during her adulthood. In many instances, these are things that I too enjoyed.  I lost my sister tragically in 2019 and wanted to do something to honor her memory, and so here we are.  I devote each episode to becoming a mini expert on whatever the pop culture topic is.  Thank you for coming along for the ride!

You are tuning in to episode #22- Usher, one of the most successful R & B artists in American history which has spanned over 25 years.  On today’s show you will learn all about Usher’s impressive and multi-faceted career.  In addition to his music and discography, we’ll discuss his acting roles, his family, and his successes and his challenges. You’ll also learn who won the poll I put out on Twitter of who is the better dancer, Usher or Justin Timberlake? My sister and I have been Usher fans since we were teenagers so I was excited to learn more about one of the most prominent pop stars of our time.  I was also excited to learn that Usher has many connections to my favorite artist of all time, Janet “Rhythm Nation” Jackson aka JJ, aka Miss Jackson, but more on that later.  And more Janet Jackson song title insertions to come as well, I apologize in advance.  

So grab your aviator sunglasses, your dancing shoes and say Yeah! Here we go!

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Usher Raymond the IV was born on October 14, 1978 in Dallas, TX to parents Jonetta Patton and Usher Raymond III.  Sadly, Usher’s father abandoned the family when he was just a year old. Jonetta spent many years as a single mother.  Apparently his birth father had a drug addiction problem, crack to be exact, which he was never really able to break out of.  According to Usher’s mother, Usher’s father was really into drugs and partying and that was about it.  It was sad to hear that his father struggled so much, at one point he did have a bright future- he was captain of his high school’s basketball team and he attended college.

When Usher was just 6 years old, he started singing in his church’s choir.  His mother was the director.  Usher’s grandmother was taken aback by her young grandson’s vocal ability, she felt like his talent may take him somewhere eventually.  And as luck would have it, one day she would be right.  My grandmother told me once that I would make a good PE teacher and another time she told me I should host a talk show like Ellen Degeneres because I am always singing and dancing around.  Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have a few things in common with Ellen and many female PE teachers, but we’ll save that for another show!

Eventually the family moved to Chattanoga, TN.  His mother would eventually go on to re-marry, so he spent many of his formative years with a stepfather and half-brother named James Lackey who is 6 years younger than Usher.  

When Usher was 10 years old he joined a vocal group called NuBeginnings. They recorded a number of songs together and in 1991 they released an album called Nubeginning featuring Usher Raymond IV.  The music was only available via mail order which is a testament to how long Usher has been working.  His Mom pulled him from the group though as she felt like it just “wasn’t working out.” 

As Usher’s skills as a singer continued to improve and evolve, his mother decided to move the family to Atlanta, GA.  Usher was 12 years old at this time.  He started to participate in local talent shows and when he attended one in 1992, his path to success was starting to be laid.  Bryant Reid saw him perform at a talent show and he immediately told his brother, LA Reid about this impressive young man.  L.A. Reid was a famous R & B producer.  Bryant orchestrated having Usher audition for his brother L.A. while Usher was on Star Search.  He performed “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men.  He was pitch perfect and charismatic. L.A. was so impressed that the rumor is Usher was signed right on the spot.  Whatever the timeline was, he was offered a record deal at just 13 years of age.  His first order of business was to record a single called “Call Me a Mack” which was featured in the 1993 film, Poetic Justice starring, yes, Janet “If” Jackson and Tupac Shakur.  If you are interested in learning more about Tupac’s incredible life, please check out episode #2 of the PCRP.  Unfortunately, his first album’s production was put on hold because Usher’s voice started to change (darn you, you stupid puberty!) and it was incredibly difficult for Usher to adapt to the sudden change in his vocal sound.  He was almost dropped from the label, but Usher advocated that he stay with them and pushed to have more studio time.  Usher was sent to work with Puff Daddy (now known as P Diddy), one of the most successful music producers of the last few decades. Finally, with Puff Daddy’s support, some vocal coaches and being pushed out of his comfort zone, Usher released his self titled debut album in August of 1994 on LaFace records at the ripe old age of 15.  The album wasn’t as successful as the record company wanted it to be, so he was almost dropped from the label.  Usher’s mom became his manager at this point (leaving her job as a medical technician, which is what my mom did for decades) and she had him participate in more talent shows to help increase not only Usher’s skills and confidence, but also to instill confidence in the record company.  This proved to be effective. His fan base grew as a result of these performances, but more was to come.  During his early years, Usher tried to absorb as much as he could from other successful recording artists such as Missy Elliot, Timbaland and Jodecy.  He observed their work ethic and their creativity and he was incredibly inspired.  

Usher graduated from North Springs High School in Sandy Springs, GA.  Shortly thereafter he managed to release a few songs on other artists' albums and soundtracks.  

One song, entitled “I Swear I’m in Love” was featured on the 1996 movie soundtrack for Kazaam.  Kazaam, in case you are not familiar, starred 90s basketball star Shaquille O’Neal in the lead role of a genie who is 5,000 years old and appears out of a magical boombox.  Yes, you heard that right, a magical boombox.  Hey, if you want to get your name out there, you cannot turn down offers, even if it involves a larger than life genie that comes out of a boombox.  As one of my favorite stand-up comedians Kathy Griffin once said, don’t ever turn down work.  

1997 saw the release of the album that really put Usher on the map- “My Way.”  Along his journey of becoming a recording artist, Usher befriended Jermaine Dupri who helped him to produce and write the record.  Jermaine Dupri in case you are not familiar is a very successful producer, record executive, rapper and DJ.  He also dated Janet “What have you done for me Lately?” Jackson from 2002-2009 that lucky duck.  This album generated several well-known hits including “You Make me Wanna,” “Nice and Slow” and my personal favorite “My Way” like the album name suggests.  The music video for “My Way” really showcased Usher’s strong dancing ability.  I’m sure learning the choreography was a challenge for him and many other artists, but he has always made it look so natural and almost effortless.  “My Way” would go on to sell over 3 million copies.  “You Make me Wanna” was Usher’s first top 10 single and “Nice and Slow” was a #1 hit.  To coincide with the release of “My Way,” Usher toured with Puff Daddy, Mary J. Blige and he also opened for Janet “Doesn’t Really Matter” Jackson for her Velvet Rope Tour.  When I read that information I immediately wished I could have been in attendance at that concert.  What a powerhouse of a show, I’m sure. If you are not familiar with JJ’s Velvet Rope album, do yourself a favor and check it out.  It features some of my all-time favorite Janet “Escapade” Jackson songs including:  “Go Deep,” “Together Again,” and “Velvet Rope.” He didn’t stop there though.  Usher also picked up some acting credits during this time including small roles in films like “The Faculty,” and “She’s All That.”  

In 1999, Usher, along with his mother, started a non-profit organization called Usher’s New Look Foundation which fosters community service engagement and leadership for teeangers.  The organization is still in operation today! They help support students in their programs to attend college after high school.  In fact, 98% of the young people who participate in the program go on to college and 86% of those individuals are first generation college students.  Impressive!

8701 was released in 2001 after being re-worked prior to it’s official release.  It has sold over 8 million copies, and for good reason as the album has some of Usher’s most well-known songs thus far in his career including:  “U Remind Me,” “U Got it Bad” and “U Don’t Have to Call.”  All of those songs spell you Y-O-U as just U.  Anyways, the music video for “U Don’t Have to Call” again showcases Usher’s incredible skills as a dancer.  A who’s who of producers helped put the album together including Jermaine Dupri, the Neptunes, Babyface and the famed duo behind some of Janet “The Pleasure Principal” Jackson’s hit songs, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.  From 2001-2003, Usher dated Chili from TLC, he had originally met her while working on the soundtrack for Poetic Justice.  

Confessions came next in 2004 and that album featured hits such as “My Boo”, “Let it Burn,” “Caught Up” and “Yeah!”  “Yeah!” was the song where we really got ourselves familiar with the annoyance that is “Lil’ Jon” who sort of came out of nowhere one day and seemed to be involved in a lot of popular music at the time.  And just as quickly as he exploded onto the music scene with his raspy/nasally voice on songs such as “Get Low” and “Turn Down for What” he was suddenly gone, thank god.  This was also an incredibly successful album selling over 1 million copies in it’s first week, a first for an R & B album.  

Despite the success of Confessions, Usher made, well, an interesting business decision when he starred in a mini-movie called Rhythm City Volume 1:  Caught Up, which aired on New Years Eve in 2004 on TV.  This is something that is not discussed a lot when speaking about Usher’s career.  Maybe that’s because the film short’s soundtrack features one of the worst Usher songs of all time, or possibly one of the worst R & B songs of all time.  Have you heard of a song called Dot Com?  Yes, dot com. As in, the internet.  One of my friends introduced me to this uncanny song when I was in college and I haven’t been the same since.  Prepare yourself to be mesmerized and possibly horrified by the absurd and suggestive lyrics that are about to follow.  And, you should also prepare yourself for a bit of a tangent/in-depth analysis on this song following me reading the lyrics.  Much of this song features Usher’s fantastic falsetto voice so I will do you all a favor and not attempt to sing the lyrics, at least I don’t think I will, but you never know. This may take me a few attempts due to it’s laughable (and dated) lyrics.  First though, let’s set the scene:  picture yourself sitting in a computer lab circa 2004 surrounded by large, desktop computers like a Compaq Presario or a Gateway 2000 and the lights are low. Anyway, here are the lyrics and I am NOT making these up, these are the real deal!:

Oooh I love the way you dirty type

I can take you home on escape

Oooh I need your backspace in my life

Thank God you don't have a flat screen

Please baby, I got to see you

And I really want to please you

So get on my laptop so I can download

Online, I love the way you log on

We can do it all night

I'll make you dot com

Baby if you sign on

I'm a make you lights off

Ooh baby if you log on

I'll make you dot com

I wanted to link up with you baby, at first sight

With you I get to use my "F" keys

I can't wait to give you mega bytes

I got all the memory you'll need

Let my fingers do the talking

Please baby, I got to see you

And I really want to please you

So get on my laptop so I can download

Online, I love the way you log on

We can do it all night

I'll make you dot com…

Umm.  What in God’s name is this dumpster fire of a song that is so painfully locked in time?  Let’s break down some of these lyrics, shall we? First of all, Usher needs someone’s backspace in his life? I mean I think I know what he is referring to, but that’s a bizarre reason to need someone in your life.  And then thank god you don’t have a flat screen?  Many women are in a never ending battle in pursuit of a flat screen that is never achieved, how rude!  Why can’t he just love what the good lord gave his lady friend, I mean, c’mon!  And then I can’t wait to give you megabytes?  Yikes!  That sounds like something contagious, gross.  And then I love one of the last lines- online, I love the way you log on.  That is sooooo early 2000s. Am I right? Log on?  That’s a phrase you used  back in the day when you were using dial up to get onto America Online which took FOREVER to  get going I might add!  I used to read magazines while that stuff loaded and internet pages slowly appeared.  Kids today don’t know how good they have it!  If you ever start dating someone and they play you this song because they think it’s romantic, RUN!  Just kidding, no one is playing this song in 2020.  I told my sister about this song and she appreciated the ridiculous lyrics as much as I do.  One of my favorite pranks is to hand someone the lyrics to this song, someone who is not familiar with it, and have them read the lyrics out loud without having read it to themselves first. Hilarity will most definitely ensue, believe me. Try it.  It’s good stuff. And, you’re welcome. And if anyone out there wants to play this prank on someone and film it, please email me the video, my email address is popcultureretrospective@gmail.com or post it on instagram and follow me, I’m @popcultureretrospective. I will post a link to a video for Dot Com with the lyrics in the show notes.   

In 2006, Usher’s career was looking up as he starred as Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago, showing again that he had some serious acting, dancing and singing chops.  Ticket sales exploded when the public heard that he would be performing.  

In 2007, Usher and his mom parted ways in terms of her being his manager.

Part of that may have come about as a result of Usher marrying Tameka Foster (his former stylist) who his mother had a lot of concerns about.  Usher and Foster would only stay married for about 2 years, but they did have two sons together and Usher developed a close relationship with her 3 other children from a previous relationship.  The couple would go on to have a lengthy custody battle over their sons, but eventually Usher won primary custody of their children.  Eventually, Usher’s mother would again become his manager.  

In late 2007/early 2008 Usher learned that his estranged father’s health was failing and failing quick.  Likely in part due to his substance abuse history, Usher’s father was in the ICU of a hospital in desperate need of a liver transplant.  Usher had a choice, he could not offer to help his father (after all, he had abandoned him when he was a little boy) or he could try to get past his anger and try to help him.  After getting some helpful advice from Nelly, remember “So hot in herrreeee?” I changed the lyrics to “cold in here” since I have sadly lived in cole climates for most of my life, it’s getting cold in here, so cold, so put on all your clothes.  I am getting so cold, I’m gonna put my clothes on).   Anyways he decided to try and help him by covering the cost of the transplant.  Sadly, during the procedure, Usher Raymond III slipped into a coma and never came out.  This was of course incredibly heartbreaking for Usher, but he said the hardest part was not being able to have his son meet the man who he was named after.  Legacy and where we come from is incredibly important to Usher, but sadly his son never got to meet his paternal grandfather.

Here I Stand was released in 2008.  It was not as successful as his previous efforts but it still sold millions of copies worldwide.  Critics praised the album for showing Usher in a more mature light.  The record features some relatively well-known songs including “Love in this Club” and “Trading Places.”  

2008 was certainly a challenging year for Usher, but it would turn out to be a prosperous one as well.  Usher and Scooter Braun, who is a talent agent, founded this company to help support the production of music and artist promotion. The company discovered Justin Bieber on YouTube and well, the rest is history!  Apparently Justin Timberlake was also in the running to sign Justin Bieber, but Usher ended up working with him.  

In 2009, Usher had two major profile performances one being the Obama inauguration at Lincoln Memorial and also at Michael Jackson’s funeral.   The passing of Michael Jackson was difficult for Usher because he had always looked up to Michael Jackson as being a mentor for him.  Michael Jackson and Usher have several things in common- they both became famous at a young age, and both are naturally gifted singers and dancers.  Usher had actually performed a few years earlier at the 30th anniversary celebration of Michael Jackson being a solo artist.  The concert aired in November of 2001 and featured many famous artists including N’Sync, Brittany Spears, Destiny’s Child and Monica.  

Raymond vs. Raymond was released in 2010.  Once again, this album featured a few songs that became huge hits and had impressive music videos and dazzling choreography to coincide.  Some of the most popular songs from this album include OMG and DJ Got Us Falling in Love.  I’m not necessarily always on the hunt for a good meme, but there was one floating around several years ago that had a picture of Candace Cameron Bure on it from her early acting days and it said “DJ Got Us Falling in Love” which I still find funny, 10 years after this song came out.  

In 2011, Usher performed during the superbowl halftime show.  The headliner was the Black Eyed Peas, but Slash from Guns and Roses and later Usher would join the stage.  In the comments on YouTube, one person said that “Usher came down from the sky like Jesus and saved the show.”  And, after reviewing the performance, that person was right!

2012 was a creative, but also a very painful year for Usher.  On the one hand, he produced the album “Looking 4 Myself” which went to #1 on the Billboard charts.  Some of the more popular songs off of this record were:  “Climax” and “Scream.”  On the other hand, one of his former stepchildren from Tameka Foster, was tubing on a lake when he fell in the water and got hit by a jet ski.  He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support, but sadly the child did not survive the incident.  Just a year later, tragedy struck again when Usher’s son, Usher Raymond IV got stuck in a pool drain while being watched by their aunt and had to be rescued and subsequently resistated.  It was a near fatal accident but thankfully the little boy survived.  This would go on to further legal battles between Usher and his ex-wife, but he would maintain primary custody.  2013 had some happy moments though as Usher was asked to be a host and coach of the hit TV series, the Voice.  

In September of 2015, Usher married his girlfriend and manager Grace Miguel, they separated in March of 2018 after 2 years of marriage.  Perhaps he sang her “Dot Com” and she was like, you know what?  I’m out.  Okay, that didn’t happen but it sounded funny in my head.  Anyways...

In 2016, Usher released an album called Hard II Love.  The album is a pretty personal look at Usher’s life on the inside.  In fact, the cover of the album has a ceramic sculpture of Usher on it, but the face is cracked and imperfect, reflecting a lot of the material on the record.  The album received relatively positive reviews with critics remarking that Usher continues to evolve as an artist and an individual who consistently produces magnetic and meaningful music.  

In 2018, Usher released an album called “A” where he collaborated with record producer Zaytoven and pays tribute to the city of Atlanta where they both grew up.  

Despite the ending of his 2nd marriage in 2015, Usher started dating Jenn Goicoehea and they welcomed a daughter in the fall of this year, her name is Sovereign Bo.  

Coming up next year in 2021, Usher will be doing a residency in Las Vegas where he will be performing routinely at Caesars palace. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this pandemic is under control so that the millions of fans that Usher has created over the past 25+ years can see him live and in person.  

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I hope you have enjoyed this long back on the life and career of Usher Raymond IV and my insertion of Janet Jackson songs. In the United States alone, Usher has sold about 25 million albums in the United States and 80 million worldwide.  He is one of the most successful recording artists of all time and given his incredible ability to sing and dance, often at the same time, proves he is truly worthy of that honor.  Usher has earned a remarkable amount of awards in his career including 8 American Music Awards, 4 BET awards, at least 25 Billboard Music awards, A Boys & Girls Club award for being an alumni of the program, 8 grammys and he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame in 2016.  And most importantly, he won the poll of who is a better dancer of Usher vs. Justin Timberlake which I put out on Twitter and was answered by a small handful of people!

If you are enjoying the PCRP, please subscribe on whichever podcast platform you use.  Please also rate the show on iTunes as it helps direct more listeners to the show!  You can contact me anytime my email address is:  popcultureretrospective@gmail.com, Twitter:  @popcultureretro and follow me on instagram, my user name is popcultureretrospective.

I hope you will join me for my next show where we will discuss the timeless holiday classic that is “The Muppet Christmas Carol.”  Until then BK, BS and HOTYM.