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"Now you hear him boldly breaking out on the singles 'Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)' and 'Lil Freak.' There's an in-your-face cockiness, but in an 'I'm free' kind of way."ĭespite a title that echoes the confrontational heading of a divorce filing, "Raymond Vs. " 'Here' was a transitional album that got him from the Usher we knew through his tumultuous marriage and divorce," Williams says. With three tracks simultaneously climbing the R&B and pop charts and the recent hire of a new manager, industry veteran and AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips, can the 31-year-old divorced father of two recapture his swagger? Lamonda Williams, director of video on demand for Music Choice, believes that Usher is primed to capture the base he lost. While "Here" eventually became a platinum seller (1.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan), fans' response to its more serious, mature tone paled in comparison to Usher's previous multiplatinum hallmarks, "8701" (4.7 million) and "Confessions" (9.7 million).
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Raymond." It's the often-delayed follow-up to his 2007 album, "Here I Stand"-and the first since his much-publicized marriage to Tameka Foster ended in divorce. Now all eyes are on Usher as the March 30 release date approaches for "Raymond Vs.
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All I've ever wanted as an artist is to appeal to as wide an audience as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson." That same energy is still here it lingers. "It wasn't intentional," Usher says when asked about the coincidence. His quiet fortitude on a rainy afternoon becomes all the more compelling-and fitting-when it's learned the room he's rehearsing in was last used by Michael Jackson while mapping his own anticipated return on the This Is It tour. 27 performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Clad all in black-from tennis shoes to the shades he never removes during an hourlong interview-the singer is there to rehearse for his Feb. Now it's time to get it back."įlashing a devilishly engaging smile, Usher exudes steely determination as he shifts position on a rehearsal room couch at Centerstaging in Burbank, Calif. I've got to be the man.' I put my swagger down for a minute, but I didn't throw it away. "I went all the way into being super husband and super dad, thinking, 'I've got to be serious all the time. "I had checked out," the singer acknowledges. Usher and his creative team began tossing around ideas for his next album, they had one goal in mind: to get his swagger back.