WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Okay, let's unpack this. We often throw around 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.339 the word icon in the music industry. It gets, 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.519 you know, plastered on anyone who has a couple 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.380 of number one hits or manages to stay famous 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:12.580 for more than five years. It's true. It gets 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:15.000 a little diluted. Right. But then you look at 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:16.820 the stats we have in front of us today and you 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:20.280 realize there are levels to this game. We are 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:22.899 talking about someone who headlined the Super 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:27.570 Bowl Elevate Halftime Show in 2024. Yeah. And 00:00:27.570 --> 00:00:32.520 drew in 123 million viewers. Yeah. I mean, that 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:34.759 is just a staggering number. It really is. And 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.159 to put that 123 million into perspective, that 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.520 is more people than the entire population of 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:43.479 most countries. Wow. In an era where media is 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.200 completely fractured, where, I mean, getting 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:46.899 5 million people to watch the same thing is a 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:49.159 miracle, he commanded the attention of a huge 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:51.159 chunk of the planet. And what's wild is that 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.600 he didn't just show up to wave to the crowd or, 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:56.020 you know, do a nostalgia lap. He commanded that 00:00:56.020 --> 00:00:58.640 stage with the same energy he had 30 years ago. 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:00.859 He was skating. He was stripping his shirt off. 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:03.600 He was singing. Exactly. And that performance 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.180 coincided with the release of his ninth album, 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:09.019 Coming Home. But if you look at the trajectory, 00:01:09.260 --> 00:01:11.739 this isn't just a simple comeback story. This 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:15.239 is a story of a guy who has sold over 100 million 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.879 records worldwide. 100 million. We are talking 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.659 about the king of R &B, a savvy business mogul, 00:01:22.659 --> 00:01:25.459 and the man who, let's not forget, helped discover 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:28.510 Justin Bieber. So today we are doing a deep dive 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:31.090 into the life and career of Usher Raymond IV. 00:01:31.430 --> 00:01:34.730 It is a massive career to cover. We've got extensive 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:37.650 biographical data, career stats, and a lot of 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:40.230 analysis on his artistry and his business ventures 00:01:40.230 --> 00:01:42.230 to get through. Yeah, a lot to cover. But what's 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:43.629 our angle here? Because I don't want to just 00:01:43.629 --> 00:01:45.890 read a Wikipedia page out loud. What is the core 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:48.129 mission of this deep dive? The mission is to 00:01:48.129 --> 00:01:50.769 answer one specific question. How? How does a 00:01:50.769 --> 00:01:52.870 kid from Chattanooga, Tennessee, navigate the 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.010 most volatile industry on Earth for three decades 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:57.510 and remain on top? We're looking for the mechanics 00:01:57.510 --> 00:02:00.370 of his adaptability. That is the big question, 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:02.810 because think about it. He started in the era 00:02:02.810 --> 00:02:05.909 of New Jack Swing and cassette tapes. He moved 00:02:05.909 --> 00:02:08.789 through the CD boom, survived the Napster piracy 00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:10.530 crisis, which we definitely need to talk about. 00:02:10.650 --> 00:02:12.650 Oh, absolutely. Conquered the digital download 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:15.960 era and is now thriving. In the streaming age, 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.259 he went from R &B to pop to EDM and back again. 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.580 And he did all of it while dealing with some 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:25.060 incredibly intense personal volatility, divorces, 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:28.500 lawsuits, tragedy. But if we want to understand 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:31.719 the king of R &B and how he built this kind of 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.550 armor. We have to go back to the very beginning. 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:37.030 I don't mean the yeah era. I mean the church 00:02:37.030 --> 00:02:38.669 choir era. Right. Let's go back to the roots. 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:41.669 He was born in Dallas in 1978, but raised primarily 00:02:41.669 --> 00:02:44.169 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His father left when 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:46.110 he was just one. So he was raised by his mother, 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:49.289 Jeanetta Patton, and his stepfather. And like 00:02:49.289 --> 00:02:52.569 so many greats, Whitney, Aretha. It all starts 00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:55.050 in the church. It does. He joined a youth choir 00:02:55.050 --> 00:02:57.229 at Agent Ballen. And this wasn't just a show 00:02:57.229 --> 00:02:59.210 up on Sunday kind of thing. His mother was the 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:01.770 director. But there's this great detail in the 00:03:01.770 --> 00:03:04.150 source material about his grandmother, who he 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:06.889 called Nanny. She was actually the one who first 00:03:06.889 --> 00:03:08.710 discovered his singing ability. It's always the 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:10.830 grandmother, isn't it? They have that ear. They 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:14.509 just know. They do. But interestingly, she didn't 00:03:14.509 --> 00:03:16.229 think he could go professional right away. It 00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:18.069 wasn't until he joined a local singing group 00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:21.080 that she realized, OK. This kid has something, 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.050 something special. But his mom, Janetta... She 00:03:25.050 --> 00:03:27.550 wasn't just a passive observer in all this. She 00:03:27.550 --> 00:03:30.810 saw the talent and made a huge move, a life -changing 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:33.830 move. They moved the family from Tennessee to 00:03:33.830 --> 00:03:36.789 Atlanta, Georgia. Yeah. Now, we know Atlanta 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:40.150 today as the absolute capital of hip -hop and 00:03:40.150 --> 00:03:43.069 R &B, but back then in the early 90s, was it 00:03:43.069 --> 00:03:44.889 really that established? It was just bubbling 00:03:44.889 --> 00:03:47.090 up. It was becoming the place to be, but it wasn't 00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:49.870 the empire it is now. That move was so strategic. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.099 Janetta felt a bigger city would provide a better, 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:56.319 more conducive environment for singers. She basically 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.199 uprooted the family for this dream. And he attended 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.159 North Springs High School there. But this is 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:04.520 where it gets really interesting for me. At age 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:09.639 12, Usher joins an R &B quintet called New Beginning. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.060 New Beginning. New Beginning. I love that name. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.539 It is so painfully 90s. Please tell me they had 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:19.149 matching... oversized silk outfits. Oh, almost 00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:20.790 certainly. And they were actually doing real 00:04:20.790 --> 00:04:23.569 work. They recorded an album in 1991. It was 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:26.790 available regionally and, get this, by mail order. 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:29.050 A mail order. Yeah. Can you imagine? There were 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:31.370 probably some rare copies of that floating around 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:33.930 that are worth a fortune now. But this brings 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:36.430 us to the first really pivotal moment in his 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:39.430 career management. His mother, Janetta, pulls 00:04:39.430 --> 00:04:41.730 him out of the group. Wait, why? They had an 00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:44.089 album. They were doing the thing. For a 12 -year 00:04:44.089 --> 00:04:46.279 -old, that's the peak. You've made it. She called 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.540 it a bad experience. The sources don't really 00:04:48.540 --> 00:04:50.480 go into the nitty gritty of the drama, but she 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:52.420 just felt he was better off as a solo artist. 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:55.639 Now, put yourself in the shoes of a 13 -year 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.279 -old usher. He was terrified. He thought that 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:01.100 was it. His dream was completely over. He didn't 00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:03.199 understand that his mother was actually clearing 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:06.220 the deck for something much, much bigger. She 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:09.540 told him, your world is only beginning. That 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:11.800 is some serious foresight. Most parents would 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.180 just be thrilled their kid has a hobby that keeps 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:16.490 them out of trouble. She was playing 4D chess 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:19.149 from the start. Absolutely. So she pulls him 00:05:19.149 --> 00:05:21.069 out and then he hits the talent show circuit. 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:23.649 And this leads to Star Search. For those who 00:05:23.649 --> 00:05:25.850 are too young to remember, Star Search was basically 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:28.089 American Idol before American Idol. It was the 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:30.430 gatekeeper. And Usher didn't just compete on 00:05:30.430 --> 00:05:32.629 the show. He set a record. He held a note for 00:05:32.629 --> 00:05:35.889 12 seconds. That is the longest note ever held 00:05:35.889 --> 00:05:38.490 by a child in the show's history. 12 seconds. 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:41.009 Try just holding your breath for 12 seconds while 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:43.209 doing anything, let alone projecting a melody 00:05:43.209 --> 00:05:46.259 to a live audience and a TV crew. It just shows 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:48.600 that the raw instrument was there from the beginning. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:52.259 That kind of breath control at that age is, it's 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:55.139 absurd. But the real breakthrough happened because 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:57.879 of a connection. He met a guy named A .J. Alexander, 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:00.579 who was Bobby Brown's bodyguard at the time. 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:03.220 No way. Yeah. Alexander gets him an audition 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:06.160 with L .A. Reid from LaFace Records. L .A. Reid, 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:08.560 a legend. You can't tell the story of 90s music 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.819 without him. So Usher walks in, sings Boys II, 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:14.680 Men's End of the Road. and success reed signs 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:17.660 him on the spot but and this is a huge but it 00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:20.300 was not smooth sailing from there this is the 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:22.720 part of the story that i think really truly shaped 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.860 usher's work ethic right after signing he hits 00:06:25.860 --> 00:06:29.699 puberty oh no the voice change the enemy of every 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:31.980 child star and the voice change hit him hard 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:33.639 he lost his voice while he was supposed to be 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.000 preparing for his debut album he literally couldn't 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.779 hit the notes anymore wow So L .A. Reid got skeptical. 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.779 He actually put the album on hold and considered 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:44.459 dropping him from the label. Imagine being 14 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:46.259 or 15. You just got signed. You think you've 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:48.480 made it. And now the label boss is thinking, 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.920 maybe this kid is broken. That is brutal pressure 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.540 for a kid. So how did they salvage it? Did they 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:56.639 send him to a vocal coach? What happened? Well, 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:58.360 Reid didn't really know what to do with him while 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:00.600 his voice was settling. So he made a pre -radical 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:02.779 decision. He sent him to something called Flavor 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:06.040 Camp. Flavor Camp. Please explain. That sounds 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.970 like a reality TV show. It was real life. He 00:07:08.970 --> 00:07:11.930 sent Usher to New York City to live with Sean 00:07:11.930 --> 00:07:15.470 Puffy Tomes Diddy. This was 1994. The bad boy 00:07:15.470 --> 00:07:17.529 era was just exploding. Wait, wait, wait. He 00:07:17.529 --> 00:07:20.129 sent a teenager to live with Diddy in 1994. That 00:07:20.129 --> 00:07:23.850 sounds intense. What was the actual goal there? 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:25.430 Was Diddy supposed to teach him how to sing? 00:07:25.589 --> 00:07:27.889 No, and that's the key distinction. Usher already 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:30.089 knew how to sing. The choir taught him that. 00:07:30.370 --> 00:07:32.389 Diddy was there to teach him how to be a star. 00:07:32.629 --> 00:07:35.410 Oh, OK. This is the era of bad boy records. It's 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:38.350 all about flash. It's arrogance. It's streetwear. 00:07:38.490 --> 00:07:41.670 It's a lifestyle. Usher described it as a total 00:07:41.670 --> 00:07:44.550 culture shock. He wasn't just observing. He was 00:07:44.550 --> 00:07:47.709 embedded in it. He had to wake up early, do chores, 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:51.529 but also navigate this incredibly adult, high 00:07:51.529 --> 00:07:54.310 stakes hip hop world. So it was essentially a 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:57.069 boot camp for swagger. Precisely. He called it 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:59.709 the hardest days of his life because he had to 00:07:59.709 --> 00:08:02.389 shed that polite southern skin and develop a 00:08:02.389 --> 00:08:04.990 real edge. He had to learn how to walk into a 00:08:04.990 --> 00:08:06.930 room and command it before he even opened his 00:08:06.930 --> 00:08:09.649 mouth. Right. Without Flavor Camp, I don't think 00:08:09.649 --> 00:08:11.470 you get the Usher we know today. You might get 00:08:11.470 --> 00:08:13.029 a great vocalist, but you don't get the icon. 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:15.750 That makes so much sense. He had the church vocals, 00:08:15.850 --> 00:08:18.629 but he needed the New York attitude. So he comes 00:08:18.629 --> 00:08:20.990 back from camp, and they finally release the 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:25.850 debut album, simply titled Usher, in 1994. Executive 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:29.129 produced by Combs. Did it work? It was complicated. 00:08:29.269 --> 00:08:31.910 He was 15 years old, but the songs were explicitly 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:35.629 about sex. Yeah, that's a tough sell. I'm 15. 00:08:35.750 --> 00:08:37.289 Let me tell you about the bedroom. It's just 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.669 not going to fly. Exactly. The public had a really 00:08:39.669 --> 00:08:41.769 hard time believing it. It felt inauthentic. 00:08:41.769 --> 00:08:44.710 It sold about 500 ,000 copies, which is gold. 00:08:44.809 --> 00:08:47.370 Not bad at all. But it wasn't the blockbuster 00:08:47.370 --> 00:08:49.710 that LeFace had hoped for. It received backlash. 00:08:49.929 --> 00:08:51.950 People were like, why is this child singing these 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:54.730 lyrics? Right. But it set the stage. He had the 00:08:54.730 --> 00:08:56.549 voice. He had the flavor from the Diddy Camp. 00:08:58.990 --> 00:09:02.649 And enter Jermaine Dupri. This is the partnership 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:04.870 that changes everything. For his second album, 00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:08.519 My Way. Released in 1997, he links up with Dupree 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.519 and suddenly he just clicks. You make me wanna 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:14.639 hits number one in the UK. Nice and Slow becomes 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.799 his first U .S. Billboard Hot 100 number one. 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:21.159 Nice and Slow is a classic, an absolute classic. 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:25.299 And My Way went 7X platinum. That is a massive 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:27.580 jump from the debut. So what did Dupree bring 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:30.710 to the table that Diddy didn't? Dupree understood 00:09:30.710 --> 00:09:33.250 Atlanta. He understood the bounce, the rhythm 00:09:33.250 --> 00:09:35.789 of the South. He grounded Usher in a sound that 00:09:35.789 --> 00:09:38.029 was smoother, more melodic. And honestly, it 00:09:38.029 --> 00:09:40.350 just fit his voice better. It felt authentic 00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:42.789 to who he was at that age. And the timing was 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:45.110 perfect. Late 90s. Usher is also pivoting to 00:09:45.110 --> 00:09:47.149 acting. He's on Marcia. He's in the faculty. 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:49.549 She's all that. He was establishing himself as 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:51.450 a multimedia threat. He wasn't just a singer. 00:09:51.590 --> 00:09:53.809 He was a teen heartthrob who could act. He was 00:09:53.809 --> 00:09:55.750 everywhere. I remember in the faculty, he was 00:09:55.750 --> 00:09:57.330 great. But musically, he was heading toward an 00:09:57.330 --> 00:10:00.220 even bigger peak. We get to the 8701 era. Now, 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.059 I read in the notes that this album had a bit 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:03.919 of a drama with the release, something about 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.279 a leak. It was a massive drama. The album was 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.940 originally titled All About You, but this was 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:12.940 the early 2000s, the dawn of the internet leak. 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:16.629 Napster. The Wild West. Napster, exactly. And 00:10:16.629 --> 00:10:19.129 multiple tracks got out on Napster and radio 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:21.370 before the album was even finished. Now, for 00:10:21.370 --> 00:10:22.929 the younger listeners, you have to understand 00:10:22.929 --> 00:10:26.870 the mechanics of 2001. Today, if a song leaks, 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.769 an artist might just drop it on Spotify the next 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:32.230 day to capitalize on the buzz. Right, you lean 00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:34.529 into it. You lean into it. But back then, the 00:10:34.529 --> 00:10:36.929 entire industry relied on physical CD sales. 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:40.610 A leak was a potential death sentence. It meant 00:10:40.610 --> 00:10:42.769 people had the music, but the stores didn't have 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:45.230 the discs yet. So the demand is there, but the 00:10:45.230 --> 00:10:47.210 supply chain isn't ready. You can't monetize 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:49.610 it. Exactly. So Usher and his team did something 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:52.529 very smart and very risky. They delayed the album. 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:54.350 They scrapped a bunch of the leaked tracks. They 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:56.389 went back into the studio and retooled the whole 00:10:56.389 --> 00:10:59.610 project. And then they renamed it 8701 because 00:10:59.610 --> 00:11:03.149 it was released on August 7th, 2001. That is 00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:05.690 a clever pivot. It's like saying you stole the 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:08.000 old version. Fine. The real version is coming 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.799 later and it's even better. And it gave us You 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:13.889 Remind Me and You Got It Bad. Both number one 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:16.389 hits. And this is where the critical acclaim 00:11:16.389 --> 00:11:18.289 really starts to match the commercial sales. 00:11:18.509 --> 00:11:21.950 He won consecutive Grammys for Best Male R &B 00:11:21.950 --> 00:11:25.289 Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003. That's a 00:11:25.289 --> 00:11:28.190 huge deal. It is. The only other artists to ever 00:11:28.190 --> 00:11:30.429 do that were Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder. 00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:33.029 That is elite company. That's not just pop star 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:35.490 territory. That is vocal legend territory. It 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:38.110 solidified him as a vocalist, not just a performer. 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:41.139 But speaking of performance, 8701 is where the 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.159 Michael Jackson comparisons stopped being just 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.399 hype and started feeling real. He was singing 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:47.539 and dancing simultaneously at a level nobody 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:49.779 else was even touching at that time. We see people 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:53.080 dance now, but usually they are lip syncing or 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.100 they have a heavy backing track doing most of 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.559 the vocal work. Usher was doing full choreography 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:00.779 and hitting every single note. Precisely. He 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:03.940 was filling the void that MJ left. But if 8701 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:06.179 was him becoming a superstar, the next phase 00:12:06.179 --> 00:12:09.759 was him becoming... Well, a legend. We have to 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:13.100 talk about Confessions. Confessions, 2004. This 00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:15.980 is the magnum opus. The numbers alone are just 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:19.139 mind boggling. 1 .1 million copies sold in the 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:22.000 first week. Diamond certification. That's over 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.519 10 million sales in the U .S. alone. It's the 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:27.299 highest first week sales number ever for a male 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:29.440 R &B artist. And frankly, with the way streaming 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.080 works now, we will probably never see a male 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.919 R &B artist hit 1 .1 million pure sales in a 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.440 week ever again. It's just not possible. We have 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.720 to talk about why it's sold like that. It wasn't 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:41.360 just the music. It was the narrative. The album 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:43.720 was driven by. These songs about infidelity, 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:45.659 having a mistress, getting that mistress pregnant, 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:48.500 Confessions Part Two. The drama. Well, the drama 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.720 was everything. Everyone assumed this was Usher 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.960 confessing to cheating on Chili's from TLC, right? 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.220 That was the story. That was absolutely the assumption. 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:57.279 And it fueled the sales fire. It was the main 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.360 topic of conversation on every radio station, 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:02.679 every TV show in America. But here is the deep 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:04.940 dive reality check. The stories were largely 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.679 fiction. What do you mean? Or rather, they were 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.799 inspired by Jermaine Dupri's personal life, not 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.580 Usher's. Okay, hold on. Confessions part two. 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:16.799 This is the song where he admits to getting his 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.940 mistress pregnant while his girl is at home. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.120 At the time, everyone thought this was him confessing. 00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:24.220 But you're telling me that was all smoke and 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.799 mirrors? Yeah. Because that feels a little manipulative, 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.600 doesn't it? leveraging your real -life breakup 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.779 to sell records based on a lie. It feels manipulative 00:13:32.779 --> 00:13:35.059 because it was manipulative, and it was brilliant 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:37.940 marketing. Dupree and Usher made a calculated 00:13:37.940 --> 00:13:41.059 decision not to correct the record. They monetized 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:43.679 the ambiguity. Wow. Dupree knew that if people 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:45.320 thought they were getting a voyeuristic look 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:47.700 into Usher's real -life tragedy, they would buy 00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:50.220 the album. He basically admitted it later. He 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:52.059 said he saw the public chatter and told Usher, 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:54.460 we're not going to say anything. So they just 00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:56.299 let the audience believe the lie. They let them 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:59.220 run with it, exactly. Chilly even clarified later 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.379 on the radio that Usher never cheated on her, 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.759 despite the lyrics, but at the time. The ambiguity 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.620 was worth millions. You don't sell 1 .1 million 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:09.860 copies in a week just on catchy melodies. You 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:12.299 sell them on gossip and narrative. That is genius, 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:14.940 devious, and incredibly effective. And the singles 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:18.080 run from that album. I mean, yeah, Lil Jon and 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.419 Ludacris? Burn. Confessions Part II. My boo was 00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:25.259 Alicia Keys. All number ones. In the year 2004, 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.120 Usher spent 28 weeks at number one on the Hot 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:30.779 100. 28 weeks. That's more than half the year. 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.139 More than half the year. And he became the first 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:35.440 artist since the Beatles to have two singles 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.720 occupy the top two spots on the year -end Hot 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:40.320 100 chart, was number one for the year, and Burn 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:43.259 was number two. That is just total dominance. 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:45.340 Critics called it the thriller of our generation. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.860 And in terms of commercial impact... They aren't 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:52.279 wrong. It might have been the last true blockbuster 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.360 in pop music before the industry completely fractured 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.440 into streaming. It was an event album that everyone, 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:00.820 regardless of genre preference, bought. Your 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.080 mom bought it. The club DJ bought it. The hip 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.779 hop heads bought it. So you reach the absolute 00:15:05.779 --> 00:15:09.639 top of the mountain. Diamond album. A shelf full 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.500 of Grammys. Where do you possibly go from there? 00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:15.750 This brings us to his reinvention phase because 00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:18.169 he didn't just keep making confessions over and 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:20.299 over again. No, and that's the key to his longevity. 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:22.039 And this is where that theme of adaptability 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.620 really kicks in. He released Here I Stand in 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:27.320 2008, which was a much more mature album. He 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.740 had married Tamika Foster. He fired his mom as 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:31.799 his manager. It was a really transitional time 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.200 for him. But then came Raymond v. Raymond in 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.980 2010. This was a divorce album, right? In a way, 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.480 he was dealing with his newly single status. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.659 But musically, this is where he starts charging 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.200 headfirst into what he called revolutionary pop. 00:15:44.829 --> 00:15:48.309 Just look at OMG with Will .im. That song was 00:15:48.309 --> 00:15:50.549 everywhere. I mean, you couldn't escape it. But 00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:53.350 I remember at the time, R &B purists hated it. 00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:56.470 They absolutely hated it. It was auto -tuned. 00:15:56.549 --> 00:15:58.990 It was a fist -pumping club track. It sounded 00:15:58.990 --> 00:16:00.950 nothing like Burn. You're right. The purists 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:04.659 hated it. But Usher read the room. R &B was taking 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:07.659 a backseat on Top 40 radio, and EDM electronic 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:09.940 dance music was taking over everything. Right, 00:16:10.019 --> 00:16:11.980 that was the big sound. If he had stayed in his 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:14.639 lane, he might have faded. Instead, he jumped 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.779 lanes. OMG made him one of the very few artists 00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:20.759 to top the Hot 100 in the 90s, the 70s, and the 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:23.639 10s. So he risked... alienating his core bass 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:26.080 to gain the globe. And it worked. Then you have 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.720 Looking for Myself in 2012, where he worked with 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:32.000 Diplo on the song Climax. Climax is such a fascinating 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.759 track. It's the opposite of OMG. It doesn't have 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.279 a big drop. It's quiet, it's all falsetto, it's 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.460 electronic, but it's incredibly soulful. And 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.279 critics hailed it as one of his best vocal performances 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.919 ever. It showed he wasn't just chasing trends. 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.000 He was blending his R &B roots with electronic 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.940 music in a way that felt sophisticated and new. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:54.820 He proved he could do the cool indie electronic 00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:58.559 thing just as well as the pop blockbuster thing. 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:00.779 And while he's dominating the charts, he's also 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:05.000 making these huge moves behind the scenes. We 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.519 have to talk about Usher the Mogul. Because I 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.839 think people forget he discovered Justin Bieber. 00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:12.839 This is arguably one of the most profitable discoveries 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:15.720 in music history. But the real deep dive takeaway 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:18.240 here isn't just that he found Bieber. It's how 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.220 he structured the deal. Right, because usually 00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:22.460 an artist just gets a finder's fee, right? Thanks 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:25.839 for the tip. Here's 50 grand. Exactly. But Usher 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.079 didn't settle for that. He co -founded a whole 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:31.059 new company, Raymond Braun Media Group -RBMG, 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:33.480 with Scooter Braun specifically for this purpose. 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:35.579 So he didn't just introduce Bieber to a label. 00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:38.640 No, he became a partner. By creating a joint 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.960 venture, he ensured he was a part owner of the 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.640 entire Justin Bieber enterprise. Think about 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:45.720 the revenue streams involved there. Touring, 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.619 merchandise, licensing, publishing. By positioning 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:50.980 himself as an owner rather than just a mentor 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:53.940 or a producer, he secured a passive income stream 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.779 that likely rivals his own music royalties. That 00:17:56.779 --> 00:17:59.819 is a masterclass in leverage. He used his credibility 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:02.900 to launch the product Bieber, but kept a stake 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:05.660 in the IPO, essentially. A perfect analogy. And 00:18:05.660 --> 00:18:08.380 he didn't stop there. In 2005, he was part of 00:18:08.380 --> 00:18:10.440 a group that bought the Cleveland Cavaliers for 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:14.440 $375 million. Is that just a vanity project? 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.779 Like, I want to sit courtside and own the team. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.920 Or is there more to it? It creates a different 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:23.000 level of access. Being a celebrity gets you into 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.440 the VIP section. Being an owner gets you into 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.960 the boardroom with billionaires. He became only 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:30.339 the third pop artist to own a large stake in 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:33.720 an NBA team. And when the Cavs won the championship 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:36.660 in 2016. He got a ring. Usher got a ring. That 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:39.299 is a flex. I got Grammys and an NBA championship 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:42.299 ring. Exactly. And he's invested in title. He 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:44.240 has successful fragrance lines. He's invested 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.819 in tech and catering startups. He understands 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:49.400 that fame is fleeting. but equity is forever. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.180 He also has a strong philanthropic side. His 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:54.279 foundation, Usher's New Look, has been around 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:57.650 since 1999. And it's really impressive. It focuses 00:18:57.650 --> 00:19:01.109 on education and real world experience for youth. 00:19:01.289 --> 00:19:04.410 They boast a 100 percent graduation rate for 00:19:04.410 --> 00:19:07.109 participants who go through their program. It 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:09.230 circles back to his own youth. He understands 00:19:09.230 --> 00:19:11.490 that mentorship matters. And he's been active 00:19:11.490 --> 00:19:14.750 politically campaigning for Obama and addressing 00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:17.029 social justice issues with projects like his 00:19:17.029 --> 00:19:19.309 interactive video chains, which dealt with racial 00:19:19.309 --> 00:19:21.509 profiling. So he's not just Mr. Entertainment. 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:23.849 He's engaged with the world around him. Absolutely. 00:19:24.130 --> 00:19:27.809 Which brings us. the recent era a few years ago 00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:29.869 i think people might have thought usher was winding 00:19:29.869 --> 00:19:33.430 down maybe heading for that legacy act status 00:19:33.430 --> 00:19:35.329 where you just play the state fairs every summer 00:19:35.329 --> 00:19:38.309 but then he hits las vegas the residency model 00:19:38.309 --> 00:19:40.809 has completely changed and usher is a big part 00:19:40.809 --> 00:19:43.849 of why it used to be where careers went to die 00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:45.609 where you went when you couldn't tour the world 00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:47.750 anymore usher flipped that script he started 00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:50.289 at caesar's palace in 2021 then moved to park 00:19:50.289 --> 00:19:53.440 mgm These shows were massive, massive successes. 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:55.660 I saw the clips all over social media. It looked 00:19:55.660 --> 00:19:57.799 like a party. It wasn't just a concert. It felt 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.140 like an immersive experience. He reminded everyone 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:03.079 that he can still dance and sing live at an absolutely 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:06.000 elite level. In an era where so many performers 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.380 are kind of low energy, he brought the spectacle. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.299 And that momentum, that buzz, led directly to 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:15.160 the Super Bowl. It was the perfect storm, really. 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.740 The residencies proved he was still a top -tier 00:20:17.740 --> 00:20:20.349 performer. The Super Bowl gave him the biggest 00:20:20.349 --> 00:20:23.069 platform in the world, and he used it to launch 00:20:23.069 --> 00:20:26.089 his new album, Coming Home. He described the 00:20:26.089 --> 00:20:28.910 Super Bowl as the honor of a lifetime. But it 00:20:28.910 --> 00:20:30.809 hasn't all been smooth sailing, personally. We 00:20:30.809 --> 00:20:32.609 mentioned the volatility earlier, and it's been 00:20:32.609 --> 00:20:34.869 significant. Yeah, we have to address the elephant 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:37.730 in the room. His personal life has been messy. 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:40.089 It has, and it's important to acknowledge that 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:42.329 because it highlights his resilience. He's been 00:20:42.329 --> 00:20:44.509 through very public divorces with Tamika Foster, 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:47.430 with Grace Miguel. He's now married to Jen Goikuchea. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.339 But there have been real tragedies. His stepson, 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.000 Kilglover, passed away in a tragic accident. 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:55.359 That was awful. And his eldest son, Usher V, 00:20:55.619 --> 00:20:58.119 nearly drowned in a pool drain accident back 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:00.920 in 2013. I remember that story. He jumped in 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:02.980 to save him, but the boy was stuck in the drain. 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:06.420 It was just terrifying. And it led to a very 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:09.400 public custody hearing right after. The media 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:11.599 was scrutinizing his parenting while he was dealing 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.119 with this near tragedy. Then, of course, there 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.359 were the herpes lawsuits in 2017. He was sued 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.420 by three different claimants. It was a media 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.539 frenzy. One case was eventually dismissed. One 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:25.140 accuser admitted to testing negative. It was 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:27.960 a messy, ugly period for him publicly. For a 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:31.079 lot of artists. That kind of scandal, the lawsuits, 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:34.819 the tabloid fodder would be a career ender or 00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:36.940 at the very least it would permanently taint 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:39.119 their brand. Yeah. How did he survive it? He 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:41.339 kept the focus on the work. He didn't go on a 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:43.420 Twitter rant. He didn't do a tell all interview 00:21:43.420 --> 00:21:46.220 crying about it. He went to Vegas and he performed. 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.619 He let the art speak louder than all the noise. 00:21:48.779 --> 00:21:51.059 And that is a very, very difficult discipline 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:53.519 to maintain. But he did it. He really does seem 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.940 Teflon in that way. And the work does speak for 00:21:55.940 --> 00:21:57.460 itself. We keep talking about his voice, but 00:21:57.460 --> 00:21:59.319 let's get technical for a second. The notes say 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:02.140 he is a leggero tenor. What does that actually 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:04.940 mean for us non -singers? A leggero tenor is 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:08.029 basically a light, agile tenor voice. It means 00:22:08.029 --> 00:22:09.990 he has the high range of a tenor, but with a 00:22:09.990 --> 00:22:12.769 lot of flexibility and speed. His range spans 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:15.869 three octaves and four notes. It allows him to 00:22:15.869 --> 00:22:18.650 do those rapid fire runs. Think of the end of 00:22:18.650 --> 00:22:21.289 Confessions Part Two, but also hit those high, 00:22:21.369 --> 00:22:24.089 soft falsetto notes you hear in Climax. So it's 00:22:24.089 --> 00:22:26.109 a voice that's built for both power and speed. 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:28.609 Exactly. And when you combine that instrument 00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:31.309 with his dance ability, which is heavily influenced 00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:33.849 by Michael Jackson, Prince, Bobby Brown, you 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:36.569 have a weapon that very, very few people in history 00:22:36.569 --> 00:22:39.880 possess. So as we wrap up this deep dive, let's 00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:41.319 just look at the scoreboard again. It's pretty 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:43.980 incredible. Eight Grammys, 18 Billboard Music 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:47.279 Awards, nine number one singles on the Hot 100. 00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:50.140 He was named the number one Hot 100 artist of 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.759 the entire 2000s decade. The whole decade. The 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:54.279 whole decade. And again, he's one of the only 00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:56.400 artists to have a number one single in the 90s, 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.019 the Dulles, and the 10s, alongside legends like 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:01.240 Madonna and Janet Jackson. That is wild. That 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:03.480 longevity is the real story here. It's the through 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:06.309 line for everything. It really is. He's Mr. Entertainment. 00:23:06.569 --> 00:23:09.490 His legacy is secure, not just because he sold 00:23:09.490 --> 00:23:12.289 records, but because he adapted. When the world 00:23:12.289 --> 00:23:15.049 wanted R &B ballads, he gave them nice and slow. 00:23:15.230 --> 00:23:17.430 When they wanted drama, he gave them confessions. 00:23:17.509 --> 00:23:20.009 When they wanted club bangers, he gave them, 00:23:20.009 --> 00:23:24.190 yeah, an OMG. He read the room every single time. 00:23:24.210 --> 00:23:26.769 Yeah. For 30 years. Precisely. So here's what 00:23:26.769 --> 00:23:29.930 provocative thought to leave you with. We look 00:23:29.930 --> 00:23:31.910 at Usher's influence, you know, Justin Bieber, 00:23:32.190 --> 00:23:35.569 Chris Brown, Drake, they all cite him. He created 00:23:35.569 --> 00:23:37.869 this blueprint of the singing, dancing heartthrob 00:23:37.869 --> 00:23:41.130 who can cross over into global pop. But looking 00:23:41.130 --> 00:23:42.950 at the fractured music landscape today where 00:23:42.950 --> 00:23:45.970 everyone is in their own niche, is Usher the 00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:49.789 last true pop blockbuster star? Or has he created 00:23:49.789 --> 00:23:51.990 a code that modern artists are still trying to 00:23:51.990 --> 00:23:53.690 crack but just haven't figured out yet? That 00:23:53.690 --> 00:23:55.650 is the question. We haven't seen a confessions 00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:57.869 -level moment, a moment where the entire world 00:23:57.869 --> 00:23:59.730 stopped to listen to one album in a very long 00:23:59.730 --> 00:24:01.829 time. It might just be that the era that created 00:24:01.829 --> 00:24:04.170 Usher has gone for good, which makes his survival 00:24:04.170 --> 00:24:06.269 even more impressive. Something to think about. 00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:09.190 That's it for this deep dive into the world of 00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:11.130 Usher. Thanks for listening. Keep listening.