It’s Tuesday and I’m actually really excited to do this music review today. Usher has been one of my favorites since his very first album. He easily sang and danced his way into my heart and stayed there. He was my Chris Brown before Chris Brown even came out.
Quick little story 🙂
When I was in high school, I was probably around 14-15, my mom won a radio contest where she won 2 tickets and meet & greet passes for Usher’s Confessions Tour in New Orleans, La. We ended up with front row center tickets but let me tell you about this meet & greet. While we were waiting in line, I actually wasn’t nervous which was weird for me. When we finally got up to him (he’s actually not that much taller than me and I’m 5’4) my goofy self was like “HEEEYYY!” and he giggled which was the cutest thing ever. Then he tried to get my mom in the picture but she told him that she wanted me to have this moment (awesome right… I miss her so much).
So, he put his arm around me and we took the picture. I remember him telling me to enjoy the show and “be good”. He was really sweet to me and my mom which was amazing. We were then led to the inside of the arena and our seats were front row center.
And just for the record, 2 of his opening acts were John Legend and Kanye West who were pretty fresh in the industry at the time and I will never forget that. And lastly, since we were so close, Usher kept coming by me and my mom and interacting with us. The whole show was so much fun and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. We didn’t have cool smart phones at the time so I don’t have videos or anything, just my picture with him. As soon as I find it, I’ll try to attach it to this blog.
Let’s fast forward to the present shall we?
The Album… Hard II Love
Usher released his new album Hard II Love this past Friday. I was excited but not sure what direction he was going with this album. I knew I loved his songs “Crash” and “No Limit” (minus the Young Thug feature). But I can tell you as soon as Track 1 “Need U” started I knew I was going to love it.
I can usually tell after the first 1 or 2 tracks if I’m going to love an album or not. And it’s safe to say that I am obsessed with this record. He still brings us that classic R&B vibe but he always keeps up with what’s popping at the time. And he’s always blended a little Hip-Hop with his music. But you can tell that he’s added a lot of different musical elements to this one. I hear some electronic elements mixed with the classic piano and drum beats. And I can just picture him performing this album live. He’s already an awesome entertainer so I can just imagine him performing this new music with a live band. As soon as he goes on tour, I’m going to have to get tickets for sure 🙂
He surprisingly only has 2 features on this album. He has Young Thug on his song “No Limit” which I could honestly do without. I am not a Young Thug fan at all. I honestly believe that he is one of the “artists” that is wrong with these new generation rappers. I can’t understand what the hell he’s saying most of the time. Yea his songs are catchy and fun for radio but there’s no substance to his music, no creativity. I’m just going to leave that alone for now though because I know Usher knows what he was doing when he got that feature. His other feature is “Rivals” with Future. Now, I am not a big fan of Future either but I can deal with him better than Young Thug and he actually sounds good on this song.
I love this entire album from start to finish but there is one song that sticks out from the rest, “Tell Me”. This song gives me serious chills. It’s one of those songs that you can just sit, close your eyes, and sway back and forth to. Sometimes it’s good when an artist puts us all up in our feelings, right? LOL
But you guys should really check out this new album. If you’re an R&B fan, Hip Hop/ Rap fan, Pop/ Dance fan… He can appeal to all of those. Trust me, he is an OG in the game and never really disappoints. Give it a chance and I hope you love it as much as I do. Also, check out some of his older albums, especially Confessions… That record is still a classic
Check Out Usher’s Video for “No Limit” Here!
