Where the experimentation often succeeds, the editing fails. So while he could have come off as an artist trying to keep up with the kids in that realm, Usher seems instead like an elder statesman with a keen ear for the right collaborators, particularly in choosing Diplo on his surprising lead single "Climax".Īt 18 tracks, not everything on Looking 4 Myself hits the mark, and the album drags on longer than it should. Hearing those songs, it feels like some of the younger artists might have learned a thing or two from Usher when they were formulating their own styles. Usher excels on a few songs here that cover similar ground, like the dark click-popper "Lessons for the Lover" and "What Happened To U", a velvety track sung mostly in falsetto helmed by Drake and Weeknd producer Noah "40" Shebib. Raymond, artists like Drake, the Weeknd, and Frank Ocean have developed darker and more atmospheric strains and attracted listeners who previously avoided the genre. Still, Usher's strength lies in R&B, and he's adjusted well to shifting ground. His vocal mastery allows him to carry a cornball verse like that and transform the song into something more specific, as if he were addressing just one woman instead of delivering a pre-packaged ballad for the ladies.
Part of the success is due to Usher's vocal virtuosity, which in places reaches Michael Jackson-levels of purity. On ballad "Dive", he uses shamelessly literal and explicit lyrics that might make you cringe if they'd come from of anyone else: "It's raining inside your bed/ No parts are dry/ Lovin' made you so wet/ Your Legs/ Your thighs," he sings. The opening track, "Can't Stop Won't Stop", for instance, builds like a throwaway Eurodance arena anthem, but instead of exploding into oblivion after the breakdown it splits into a fizzy and wonky slap of a beat. On paper, it looks like an artist throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, but Usher mostly transcends charges of dilettantism.
Since it's packed with so many guests and touches on so many styles, Looking 4 Myself invites skepticism. Along with a cast that includes everyone from Diplo and Noah "40" Shebib to Rick Ross and Pharrell, Usher offers up a sharp new collection that serves as a fresh sampler of a smattering of genres, from slick R&B to electronic dance pop to funk. The singer has clearly found a groove as a reinvigorated leading man, and at 33 years old and seven albums in, Usher's showing just how well he can adapt to a slippery contemporary pop landscape. But whereas Minaj was the centerpiece of "Lil Freak", Rocky- along with a whole pack of very of-the-moment collaborators found on Looking 4 Myself- plays a supporting role to Usher. Here, another upstart New York rapper riffs on Minaj's "Lil Freak" verse: "Go Nicki Minaj flow when I hit the verse-uh/ If you let me ménage/ I'll take you to see Ursher," raps A$AP Rocky. Raymond, an album recorded on the heels of a divorce, Usher felt uncharacteristically flat and aimless.įast-forward two years, to the closing track of Usher's new LP, Looking 4 Myself. For over a decade, Usher had a remarkable run of slow-burning R&B singles and clattering club hits like 2001's "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", 2004's "Confessions Part II" and Lil Jon crunk-anthem collaboration "Yeah!". Given the weakness of the record as a whole, you had to wonder if we were witnessing a fading star content to go through the motions. On his own song, Usher himself was pushed to the sideline by an artist on the fast track to superstardom. like Santa I keep a vixen" before reeling off the names of all seven reindeer at a cadence that seemed inhuman. On the single "Lil Freak", cut in the early stages of her tear as an unassailable feature rapper, Minaj delivered one of the more remarkable verses of that year, rapping that she'd take girls "to go see Usher. Raymond wasn't particularly memorable, but it did provide a platform for an up-and-coming rapper named Nicki Minaj.