Lil Freak or Career Fail: The Demise of Usher

Its funny to me how when a performer is young he or she is always trying to prove their musical prowess by asserting a sense of maturity they are essentially too young to embody. But when they get older (over 30) the exact opposite plays out, which is they are trying to prove just how immature they and thus how viable they are to the overly courted teenage market. Usher is an artist who embodies this exact trend. From a young age, his music always seemed to project a maturity that exceeded his years. But as artist like Trey Songs, Chris Brown, Omarion, and Ne-Yo have popped up to take over the very lane Usher use to operate on cruise control....Usher seems like he is incapable of providing a bit of competition.

I have heard Raymond Vs. Raymond and although it is leaps and bounds better than "Here I Stand" it presents a fundamental problem with Usher which is that his brand is experiencing the inevitable "law of diminishing returns". Usher, as a brand, is completely fucked for not only has Trey Songs totally snatched Usher's Mojo, but the marriage and fatherdom have isolated Usher from his bread and butter, which was his huge female fan base. Also, with this album being leaked over a year ago, and subsequent versions of the album popping up from when it was called "Monster" all the way to the "Raymond Vs. Raymond" mess, Usher and his people couldn't even manage to leverage his personal life with his music. A gimmick that almost all people saw through instantly.

If you are not in the know, then "Confessions" (Usher's most successful disc) was about producer Jermaine Dupree's life and not Usher's at all. But the album benefited from the fall out with TLC's Chili and translated that into big album sales. "Raymond Vs. Raymond" tried to use the same formula, but fails on all levels...particularly in management. Usher has been experiencing a lot of turn around in his camp and that is more than likely responsible for how sloppy this project has come off in general.

But at the root of everything you have to blame the man, for Usher appears completely content with just playing Usher. The above video for "lil Freak" couldn't drive this point home more as Usher just kind of stands around (like a pole at a strip club)and looks more than content to be an object by which all the ladies are throwing their sexy at. I mean, c'mon when you have to have features sensation Niki Minaj (the correct spelling of her name is unimportant) come out and lesbo it up for 5 minute to garner any interest in your music then you know you have a problem.

The same hold true for the album where track after track after track has usher phoning it in on wax. He sounds bored with his own material, jaded by his own image, and at a loss to regain what made him a sex symbol in the first place. Lead single "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" has to be the tackiest, most egregious piece of fame whoring as any song that instantly makes you think of Usher's two kids can't possibly foster a playboy image. I heard an interview with usher where he was explaining how on this album he needed to shed his "old man" image. I didn't know old and 30 were synonymous, but this can't possibly be the direction he had in mind as Usher looks and kinda acts like a sex obsessed juvenile who woke up and was inspired by his first wet dream.

I'm really rooting for Usher, but this project is as dead in the water as this first video. I mean, Usher is a great dancer and performer, but none of that is evident in the above video. He is also a great vocalist, but you would be hard pressed to find evidence of this on "Raymond Vs. Raymond" - a collection of generic R&B songs that Trey Songs, Chris Brown, and even Justin Bieber would probably pass on.

So its safe to say that Usher is living in his last days. For if he keeps this up, then all the fame and success he can expect to have will come from greatest hits collections and Christmas Albums. I mean, really....if you are gonna parlay your personal squabbles with your fame whoring ambitions, then at least release the damn album on the date your divorce is final and make sure that on that day you perform on Good Morning America or whatever wearing a button down, jacket, slacks and tie made completely out of your divorce papers with giant pens dancing in the background singing "Papers". If his management had been this clever, then maybe I could respect Usher a little more as an artist.