Then we have the Dre & Vidal produced “Caught Up” and “Superstar”, and I think ‘Ok, he’s got a new girl’. I’ve always wondered why “Burn” didn’t go before the “Confessions” and then “Throwback”. On the Just Blaze-produced “ Throwback“, you hear him trying to get back with his girl and apologizing for the wrong he did, followed by “ Confessions Part I” and “ Confessions Part II” and then “ Burn“, all produced by Jermaine Dupri. “ Yeah!” which served as the lead single is the Pop/Dance song he was known for, was the first of two subsequent collaborations with Ludacris and Lil Jon and was far different than the subsequent 20 songs on Confessions. The interesting thing about this album, something I noted then and something I immediately thought of when listening to this again, is the placement of songs which seemed sometimes contradictory. But in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t seem to matter because that album, was and is still awesome. Furthermore, on “ Truth Hurts” he seemed to be accusing her of cheating too, how could he do that? OMG! How could he be so wicked. This album that will propel Usher to stardom and have critics and fans alike crown him as the real deal was one I struggled with everyday, because in my mind he cheated on T-Boz and used that sad story to make an album. The impact then had people considering him to be the subsequent successor to the late Michael Jackson and in 2014, the impact of the success of the album shows how much clout Urban Music still holds in the United States.Īt 17, I had a love-hate relationship with this album. He received twenty five awards for Confessions, compared to none for his following album Here I Stand and the six awards for previous album 8701. In my opinion, he has not yet since surpassed the accomplishments of the Confessions album. The album Confessions was dubbed by Billboard as the best solo album and second best overall album of the 2000–2009 decade and rightly so. Still, until Confessions, Usher was considered merely a Pop singer and a better dancer than a voice – all that changed with Confessions. So it makes sense now when Usher spits on DJ Khaled’s “Fed Up”, ‘ Cause man if I ain’t influenced you, you a liar‘. That would have made him 16 when he released his first album Usher, 19 when he released My Way and 23 when he released 8701. Usher was 26 when he released Confessions, which was his fourth studio album. Sure, he had had much success with his three prior albums let’s take a minute to reflect on that actually. Prior to the Confessions album, Usher had not being considered the real deal. The impact of this album can really only be truly defined right now at this moment when you can put it in the CD player of your car and reflect and reminiscence on how you felt then and how you feel now, while listening to the album. So I would like to start by saying a big Congratulations to Usher. It’s strange how the understanding that this was done ten years ago, sheds a new light to how great Usher was back then and really still is. I was 17, going on 18 and there was nothing I loved more than music and no artist I loved more than Usher. I have listened over and over again to this album, trying to write this piece and all I can say is ‘ Amazing‘. Diddy and Loon (2002)ġ1.Can you believe that it’s been ten years since the release of Confessions?. "Lovers and Friends" f/ Ludacris and Lil Jon (2004)ġ4. This DJ Got Us Fallin' in love for sure.Ģ2. Can you deny you still don't scream out when Yeah comes on in the club? Didn't think so. These are our confessions: We've got it bad, but hopefully not wrong. It wasn't easy-it's never easy-but the Complex music team has poured over the artist's albums and have come up with the 25 best Usher Songs List in honor of his birthday. Given the way hip-hop and pop have changed over the last two decades, you have a variety of styles to select from, too. It's worth mentioning that he's been making mixing music since he was rocking baby fat and ribbed turtlenecks on the cover of his debut album as a 16-year-old-he's grown up while we've grown up with him.Īt 36, Usher can count seven albums among his many accomplishments, which means you have a large body of work to consider when selecting his best songs. Usher is a master in the art of love and girls. We can guarantee you listened to his tracks at your early school dances, then college make-out sessions, and, later still, breakups and make-ups and everything in between. For 20 years, Usher Raymond has brought out the best of pop music in R&B, creating Billboard single after Billboard single. The music of Usher is all about you-er, U.