June 13, 2008 @ 1:21 pm

Caught Up

by: Mitzi Miller

In our conclusion to Usher Week, we leave you with an excerpt from Usher's cover story by Mitzi Miller.

Usher has a whole lot to say.

“Oh boy, here we go,” he says with a teasing smile. Usher Raymond adjusts the cuffs on his navy Bstar button-up and momentarily exposes a glimmering gold Cartier watch. “I already know what this is going to be about.” Oblivious to the stares from the typically self-absorbed business brunch crowd, he can hardly contain himself.

“I already know—so bring it.”In fact, he’s barely seated himself on the edge of an oversized armchair in a swank Midtown New York City hotel before he’s off and running.

Well, damn. So much for trying to keep it professional and begin with a conversation about Here I Stand (LaFace/ Zomba), his highly anticipated fifth album. Then again, considering the maelstrom he’s endured the past two years—the alleged firing of his mom-manager days before Mother’s Day 2007, the wedding to stylist Tameka Foster three months later, and the subsequent baby boy with Foster in November—who are we kidding? Even his new music barely holds a candle to what in the world happened to Usher Raymond IV on the way to the altar.

But, the music does matter—because Usher, during his nearly 15-year career, has earned respect. From Chattanooga, Tenn., to Atlanta, with a pit stop in New York along the way, Usher has been singing, dancing, working crowds, and playing the game since he was 14 years old. The result? Nearly 26 million albums sold worldwide. And aside from his eponymous 1994 debut, all of his studio albums—My Way (LaFace/Arista, 1997), 8701 (LaFace/Arista, 2001), and Confessions (LaFace/Arista, 2004)—have gone four-times platinum or better, thanks to timeless, waist-winding jams. Think “You Make Me Wanna...” and “Nice & Slow” or “U Remind Me” and “U Don’t Have To Call.”

While five Grammy Awards rubber-stamp his unique vocal power—make no mistake, the man can sing—his iconic performance at Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary concert, his duet with James Brown at the 2005 Grammys, and a successful 2006 Broadway run in Chicago set the bar for aspiring multitaskers like Chris Brown, Mario, and Ne-Yo.

And don’t get it twisted, even with four long years between his last album and Here I Stand, Usher still has the charisma to make the kids come running—literally.

Simply put: Usher Raymond IV is a success story. One whose swagger carries him from courtside at a Cleveland Cavs game (he’s a part owner of the team) to the recording booth with Beyoncé to drinks at his Atlantabased wine bar, The Grape, and finally, home to Mrs. Raymond. But the decision to marry Foster has been met with skepticism.  “Am I so much of a bad guy because I decided to get married? Am I so much of a bad guy [because once I got in the situation], I decided to stand for something, build a foundation, and think about my future?” he asks. “As a man, you would respect me for not turning my back on it.”

In fact, Usher’s new outlook on life has forced him to reflect on love and what it drives people to do.
“It can never be bad to have a foundation as a man—a black man—in a time when women are dying for men,” he says. “Women have started to become lovers of each other as a result of not having enough men. Are you not studying the stories? Wake up! Black love is a good thing.”

We want our superstars on the pedestal.

Like customized cars and super-thin laptops, they should come fully equipped, in just the way each single person desires. Stars need voices that never crack, waver, or change. They should have mates preapproved by your favorite gossip blogger, and personal style that defies red-carpet snafus. Stars should work around the clock to maintain their careers while simultaneously providing open invitations to see their perfect lives up close for every interview request. And then, when the curtain is pulled back to reveal a real-life occurrence—say, a drunken driving incident, unexpected weight gain, or gasp, an unplanned pregnancy—adoration morphs into a vigil. There’s nothing like a train wreck for ogling and judgment.

Perhaps no one understands this more than Jonnetta Patton. For 15 years, the dedicated mom-manager and her handpicked team of professionals—publicist, road manager, security manager, personal trainer—groomed Usher for an unfathomable level of superstardom.

By most accounts, she avidly patrolled the borders of her son’s life to ensure that nothing—not puberty, not time spent in NYC learning how to party with Sean “Puffy” Combs, not even Usher’s absentee father, Usher Raymond III—would tarnish the clean-cut reputation they were cultivating. “[Usher’s] career wasn’t built on negativity. It was built on undeniable talent,” Patton says. “The press can make or break you.

I kept him away from negative press.” Jonnetta’s son was flawless. And, without fail, he praised his mother.  He continues to praise her today from his lobby perch, calling her “The Total Package.”

“My mother,” he says, “is my everything.” And the Total Package team worked together to create a watertight career. “There are all types of realities and dark secrets that every entertainer has,” says Usher. “But I’m trying to build a brand. [The retail chain] Target didn’t start in the ’hood.” Still, it was the controversial Confessions that became Usher’s crowning achievement—a 17-song opus wherein he sang emotionally about stepping out on his woman and baby-mama drama on “Confessions Part II,” chasing bad girls on “Yeah!,” and living with regret on the sleeper hit “Throwback.” For the first time, Usher voluntarily pulled back the curtain. “I became a human being in the eyes of the world,” he says. “It wasn’t just the artist that they were concerned about. It was the man.”

Confessions also seemed to mirror his made-for-the-tabloids relationship and breakup with longtime girlfriend Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. Gossip hounds yapped that Usher, a young man on the cusp of musical greatness, was shackled to a “controlling” older woman who’d seen her best days.  And then the breakup, right near the release of Confessions, sent the tittle-tattle to a delirious pitch. Usher found himself answering as many questions about the breakup as about his groundbreaking album.  He’d committed “the ultimate no-no,” is what Chilli told an Atlanta radio station. “My relationship ended because she is 33,” Usher said at the time, “and I’m 25. We wanted different things…and we broke up…not because I got somebody [else] pregnant.” Two beautiful, famous people. Love, sex, anger. Even a rep from Usher’s label said, “He always played it safe, said the right thing. Now he’s showing that he’s human. [The breakup] made him interesting.” There were rumors that Usher was touting his unfaithfulness—which he freely admitted—in order to sell records. The melodrama seemed to manifest itself in sales.

Perhaps because Usher’s personal spectacle provided fans with a bona fide connection to his real heart and soul, Confessions scored the secondhighest-selling first week for an R&B artist in the history of SoundScan.  The drama plus his performances nudged his transition from talented artist to certified superstar. At a time when folks were still wailing alongside Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” Usher and Lil Jon led the way back to the club with “Yeah!” The nine-times-platinum album delivered three other No. 1 hits (“Confessions Part II,” “Burn,” and “My Boo,” with the aforementioned Keys), which spent a combined 28 weeks in the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.

More than R. Kelly, more than D’Angelo, more than Justin Timberlake, his last album solidified Usher’s position as the male R&B/pop legend of his generation.  All well before he blew out the candles on his 30th birthday cake.

Article tags: Usher, Chris Brown, Mariah Carey 

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