Usher certainly surprised many when he made an unexpected appearance and performance at this years SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Not only was it a surprise that he came out to perform, but the act which he chose to hit the stage with, indy rock band The Afghan Wigs, was even more intriguing. Keeping the surprises coming, immediately following the appearance, Usher returned home to Atlanta and headed to the studio with friend, mentor and longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri. Many became excited when JD posted a photo on Instagram of himself wearing his big SoSoDef logo head, sitting next to Usher in the studio.
Jermaine has said he is not as focused on working with the big, established artists at the moment, but one act he will always be ready to get in the lab with certainly is, Usher. A many core fans of the R&B superstar have continued to voice their requests for him to return to the guidance and creative direction of Dupri, and frequent collaborators such as Bryan Michael Cox, it appears their hopes are being answered. The first picture was only the beginning, as this was not a fly-by-night session, but a return to continued production together. Jermaine Dupri has been the common thread in many of Usher’s hit songs and albums, but has been close to none-existent on his last 3 LP’s (0 on ‘Looking 4 Myself,’ 1 on ‘Raymond vs. Raymond’ and 2 for Dupri and 1 from Cox on ‘Here I Stand’).
Usher’s interest in looking to expand, and seek out diversity in production, writing, etc. is common and normal, as an artist looking to keep growing this is expected. In fact, he’s landed some of his biggest hits ever in doing so, but often at the expense of his original core fans. Last year’s “Climax,” produced by Diplo, almost perfectly found the balance between both, but the diversity of his 7th album ‘Looking 4 Myself‘ didn’t connect with the masses. In his most recent interview, following his performance at the Fader Fort in Austin, Usher hinted at some details about his next album, simply stating, “It’s gonna be freakin outta here…space and sky is what it’ll be, you look up and it’s everything you could imagine.”
This comment stirred up some concern online, again with the fans that are eager for a return to “real Usher R&B,” and left others confused whether or not that means more experimenting with EDM, Dub, etc.
But, now that we know Urh is heavily back in the studio with Dupri and B.Cox, anticipation will definitely be building again for what the 34-year old multi-Grammy Award winner, has in store for his 8th studio album. Peep more pics below… What do you think?
(So So wanted me to tell y’all @howuseeit got the chain out tonight)
The fact that Usher is back with JD & co. , I’m not worried about EDM sounding music. But, I will say that Climax was so new and different than anything put out in years I would like him to keep pushing the boundaries…just the R&B boundaries lol.
The reason people love Usher is that he told stories. You could feel what he’s saying, not just hear it. I’m happy to see him expand himself. I don’t over exaggerate like many of his R&B fans. He has “dive”, “lemme see” , etc on the album for the R&B fans, but they are mad cause the album includes other stuff….smh. Make the R&B songs smash hits and you get less EDM stuff. The pop fans make his EDM songs hits and then R&B fans whine. We have to support songs like “Climax” and Usher will continue to support our need for that soul music.