Usher Speaks - You Win Tickets!

In case you haven’t heard, Usher is playing at Wukesong Stadium this Sunday (July 11). My first Usher song happened to be “Can U Help Me,” which was recorded on a pirated compilation cassette. Other songs on the tape include “I Fought in a War” by Belle & Sebastian and “Sing For the Moment” by Aerosmith, and also Sting’s “Fragile,” I think. It was more than ten years ago, so I started this interview by asking…

What have been the biggest changes for you in the past ten years?
Life has changed in a massive way. If I go all the way back to Confessions, there was some­thing very honest and vulnerable in that and something equally as honest in Here I Stand. But now in Raymond V Raymond, I’m able to tell both sides. Both the good and the bad, depending on how you look at it – the bad meaning good or good meaning bad. Really, the choice is up to you because I think this album speaks to all of who we are.

Tell us about working with will.i.am in “OMG.”
Every time Will and I got together – you know that on the last album, we worked on “What’s Your Name” – we didn’t work in the studio. With this album, at the very last minute we came together with something incredible.

Soul and R&B have experienced a renaissance in the past decade. In fact, the scene seems to be flourishing elsewhere more than in America ...
I think R&B music connects with many people around the world, and this new global renaissance is just a sign of the real power of music and R&B to transcend borders and inspire people.

If you hadn’t become a musician, what would you have done differently?
I’ve been a musician since I was very young, so it is hard to say, but as you can see from my involvement in philanthropy through New Look, and in business with recording, entertainment, sports and fashion, I’m a man with many sides and interests. Brand Usher is the future. I think around 2004/2005 I really started to view myself differently as an artist and a business. While I’m compelled to do these creative things, the other side is that there are so many other things I have to offer as a businessman, as a brand in terms of taste and in terms of culture.

Usher makes his confession at Wukesong Arena on Jul 11. To win tickets, tell us: Which sports franchise does Usher own? Answers to editor@thebeijinger.com