TheLoop21.com

By: Felicia Pride (Add to your loop)
Mon, 06/21/2010 - 11:50

Usher has been in the game for a long time, does he still belong?

“Who the hell sings this?” I asked myself as I sat in the salon chair waiting for my cut.

“Honey got a booty like pow, pow, pow,” the artist barely sang over a catchy, yet particularly unoriginal, faux Baltimore club beat.

I couldn’t place the voice or the artist. Drake featuring T-Pain? 

When I discovered that the concoction was one of Usher’s latest singles, my reaction was as follows: A high-pitched “for real?” followed by a lower octave “WTF” then a very solemn, “damn.” I concluded: “He’s desperate.” 



More evidence: While driving one day, I turned on the radio and flipped through channels. On one hot urban station Usher unashamedly begs me to call him, "Daddy" as I prepare for all his good loving. 

On another hip-hop and R&B authority, Daddy urges me to gather some girls who like girls (but also fancy him) have them put their hands down my pants, so that I might transform into his lil’ freak. 



Next.



Just when I think he’s going to serenade me, because well he’s calling me his baby, he interjects with how much he can’t wait until we’re “twerking.” For the most part, Usher sings and sells sex. This is nothing new. However, the forced brand that he’s peddling is dollar-store cheap. Very Minaj. Soon to be Kellyfied. 

The only reason Usher’s getting any mental space is because he was one of my generation’s black R&B/pop superstars. Dude practically owned the 2000s with Confessions. Before all of that, I was there when he requested we call him a mack ‘cause he had it like that. I obliged.

Oh to be young again.



What’s a thirty-one-year-old to do when his sound outgrows an emerging fan base of texters? Does he compete with the Next Big Thing—a younger, flashier, cuter version of himself (currently: Trey Songz) or does he create quality music that reflects his own place in life? 

Apparently, he been there, done that with 2008’s Here I Stand. The album was considered a flop by many even though the joint went platinum. Call it his Kingdom Come. And like Jay-Z, he seemed to surmise (however incorrectly) that no one wants to hear about downers associated with maturity, unless it’s used as a twisted metaphor for sex. In that case, you might have a hit.

READ MORE:

• Why Black bands are near extinction
• Black Music Month 2010
• Pickin’ cotton: Why Black artists still ain't free

Enter his sixth studio album Raymond v Raymond. 

I know what you’re thinking. Even if his career is never the same, he’ll be okay. Falling off is almost a given in the pop world. 

Here’s the thing: We should care about the cost we’ll eventually pay for an artist to stay on top.

 There’s a long history of musicians who wanted to be freed from corporate jails where the pressure to stay relevant and sell records eats away creativity and soul.

In David Ritz’s Divided Soul, Marvin Gaye admitted, “The Motown corporate attitude didn’t give me much room to breathe, but I was starting to feel strong enough to start down my own path.”



Usher is no Marvin Gaye.