Confessions - Usher (CD 2004)

Usher Raymond has been a guilty pleasure to listen to. What's nice is that you've basically "heard" him grow up. When he came back into our life with the smash hit You Make Me Wanna, you wondered where he would go from there. It screamed one hit wonder. But when he came back with the solid, but unspectacular album, 8701 you wondered which way he would go. Would he go the way of trendy R&B today where it's more style than substance? Or would he straddle that line where R&B meets Pop and they can coexist? I'm glad to say that he's chosen the latter. But I didn't feel that way from the start. This was the gist of a conversation between Speeddemon Mike and myself.

Me: Hey, have you heard Usher's single?
Mike: Nope, I hate the radio.
Me: Dude, how could you avoid it?
Mike: Radio sucks!
Me: Ok, well I agree, but still, tell me what you think. It's crunk, and I can't stand crunk.
Mike: Can I tell you how much I hate radio?

Basically, I wasn't a fan of Yeah!. I'm not a fan of the crunk phenomenon and although it's listenable, I was worried that this was going to be a wannabe hip hop record. And by the way, for the record, Mike turned on MTV one day and heard the song and Mikey likey.

As you listen to the rest of the album, Yeah! is not what this album is about. While Usher is still a young cat, and I don't want someone who's wet behind the ears to tell me about his thoughts on love, the dude has been through some things and he's opening up. The title track, actually called Confesssions Part 2 is an amazing listen. I don't know how much I believe it as truth, but some where in this man's life, he done somebody wrong (Chili), and he let it be known. It's a beautiful song about his life of loving, losing, and impregnating another. He's lost his girl because he is having a baby with someone he doesn't even know. He doesn't make light of the situation, but he doesn't kill himself over it either. It's just something that happened, and he's sorry, but life goes on. By the way, he says it's not autobiographical. But he doesn't say it's never happened to him in the past. But from what I know, he doesn't have any kids.

When Mike and I had our conversation about Usher, I told him that he needed a U Got It Bad type single to follow up Yeah!. And almost like Usher was trying to draw me in, he gives it to me. Enter Burn. Burn is a soulful sidekick to Confessions Part 2 and is your more general lost love type song. But as is the story of this album, it's very much R&B flavored. Usher wants to be known as a soul singer, not a product of the MTV generation.

This album is mostly produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but Jermaine Dupri (damn, that guy could be MJ's bro in law) produces the aforementioned Burn and Confessions Part II. Say what you want about JD, but when he's on, he's on. But one of the smoother songs is produced by Robin Thicke and is called Can U Handle It. Usher puts on his MJ falsetto throughout much of the song. It's really laid back and simple, and puts Usher on another level vocally. It's his best job vocally and the production matches it perfectly. It's really one of the gems on this album.

That's What It's Made For is Usher's ode to his penis. I also had a conversation with the Speeddemon about this. It went something like this.

Me: Hey dude, what's up with Usher singing about his penis.
Mike: What are you talking about?
Me: Listen to That's What It's Made For. He's singing about his pillypacker man.
Mike: You're crazy.

And after listening again, I'm sure of it.

I'm more of a fan of Usher's ballad work, but on Caught Up and Follow Me he brings his A game. They are both nice rides into the world of Usher as he talks alot about what he has, but the production is so good on both songs, that it is not all that bothersome. Both songs are produced by Andre Harris and Vidal Davis.

On this album, he has a bunch of possible singles. Throwback produced by Just Blaze is just as hot as anything else on this album. Truth Hurts follows the theme of the album and he shares his feelings about someone cheating on him. Poor Chili. On every song, people are going to be thinking he's singing about her. Superstar II (as the interlude was titled Superstar) is a song in which Usher uses the analogy of how fans look at him in his pursuit of a female. The hook sings:

I'll be your groupie baby
Cause you are my superstar
I'm your number one fan
Give me your autograph
Sign it right here on my heart

I could see either of those songs being a possible single. And even more enjoyable for me, but too simple for a single is Simple Things. The message is that you can buy materialistic things to try and make people happy, but it's really the simple things that are important. It might be too simple to be my favorite song on the album, but it just shows how versatile Usher has become and he's definitely not a one trick pony.

Usher's Confessions is an enjoyable ride. It's his most complete album and one of the better R&B albums I've heard in a while.

Great Music to Play While: Wondering If Chili Has Now Lowered Her Standards And Will Date You