Eric Bellinger has built his brand as one of the top go-to songwriters in R&B today, finding much success with superstars like Usher, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and more. The L.A. native has already amassed a catalog of placements with his friend Usher Raymond, and we can expect even more as he continues his work on the multi-Grammy Award winners next album.
While promoting his work and new mixtape ‘Born II Sing Vol. III,’ Eric spoke to Billboard.com, and shared some new details on Usher’s upcoming LP.
Check out some excerpts from the chat below:
In his remix of Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O,” Usher mentions he has some more “confessions” for his listeners. Do you think a “Confessions” part II is on the way or is this just another confessional album?
I would say part two; part two sounds good compared to what “Confessions” was. What he kept expressing [to me] was his desire to give people the real and a glimpse into his life. That’s what the first one was. He was talking about his relationship with Chilli and people connected with that. People gravitate to that because everyone is going through the same problem within their own lives. It makes the music a little bit easier to adapt to and relate to.
What sound is Usher going for this time around?
Usher is at a place where he’s more comfortable. With his other projects, I think he was like, “Okay. I’m going to do this because I think people may want to hear this.” But, I think this time around, he’s going to do what he wants to do in his heart and that’s R&B, the stuff that got him here in the first place. He’s done so many genres of music and excelled in every area, so now he’s like, “Cool. What’s left for me to do? I’ve done everything. So, I’m going to take it back to R&B, timeless music.”
Considering the current state of R&B, do you think Usher will be able to successfully implement that?
I definitely do. He has always done R&B, even on the last project. We did “What Happened to U.” All of those were R&B, but with a different beat. We were able to experiment on “I Care For You,” with some next level, futuristic, dub step type of music, but still with the touch of smooth R&B within the melodies. [The album] is definitely still very commercial. It’s going to be for the radio and the club. He’s still Usher. He has to lead the pack.
As we patiently wait to hear what Usher comes with next, if you haven’t heard it yet, check out Bellinger’s buzz-worthy mixtape ‘Born II Sing Vol. III‘ here.
