Star Construction:Usher

By Aminatta Sylva 13H

Biography

• At age 13, Usher competed on Star Search and wasspotted by an A&R representative from LaFaceRecords; he then arranged for an audition for Usherwith L.A Reid. Reid signed Usher to the company,and his mother left her job as a medical technicianto manage him; however Usher broke up theirrelationship as manager-client in 2007.

• At age 15, Usher recorded on the soundtrack “CallMe A Mack”; a song recorded on the soundtrackalbum of Poetic Justice the 1993 drama-romancefilm.

Usher is a R&B/Soul/Pop singer that was born Usher Terry Raymond IV on 14th October 1978 to parents Jonetta Patton and Usher Raymond III in Dallas, Texas, US. Since the age of nine Usher has had huge interest in singing; his family discovered his ability to sing at the time and decided to move to Atlanta in order for him to showcase his talent. Usher frequently attended the local church choir prior moving to Atlanta in search of a career, while in Atlanta Usher attended North Springs High School. At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local quintet; NuBeginnings which was created by local music Darryl Wheeler. Usher managed to record 10 tracks on the NuBeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV in 1991. The album was only available regionally and by mail order. However, the album was released in 2002 by Hip-O Records.

Music Ventures- 1994-2001

Usher then went on to release his second album My Way which was co-produced and written by Jermaine Dupri; the album was released on September 16th 1997. The album featured leading single “You Make Me Wanna”; which reach #1 in the UK- this became Usher’s first #1 single. It also became Usher’s first gold and platinum certified single in the U.S. The second single “Nice and Slow” peaked #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; giving Usher his first #1 single in the U.S. Later in 1998 the single was certified platinum;My Way has been certified six time platinum in the U.S.

Aged 16 Usher released his self-titled debut album that sold over 500,00 copies through LaFace records in 1994; which was produced by P Diddy. The album managed to reach #25 on the billboards for Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It featured three singles: “Can U Get wit it”, “Think Of You” and “The Many Ways”.

Usher ‘s third album “All About U” was released early 2001; included the single of “Pop Ya Collar”- this became a #2 hit in U.K. The album was pushed back and later released as 8701 and featured the singles of “U Remind Me” and “U got It Bad”-both singles topped the Billboard Hot 100 for more than four weeks. 8701 has been certified four time platinum in the U.S. Usher also won a Grammy for ‘Best Male R&B Vocal performance’ for “U Remind Me”. The next year he won another Grammy for “U Don’t Have to Call”.

Music Ventures- 2004-2008

On 23rd March 2004, Usher released his fourth album Confessions this featured the single “Yeah!” which stayed #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks. Other singles included “Burn” and “Confessions Part II”; they also topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. Usher became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 Air play with four consecutive number one singles. The album sold nearly 1.1 million copies within the first week making it the first highest sales made by an R&B artist and the seventh best Nielsen SoundScan history. The album sold 20 million worldwide; earning a Diamond certification by the RIAA.

Here I Stand was released on May 27th 2008 and the album debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with the five week sales of over 433,000 copies. It was certified platinum by the RIAA. In total Here I Stand sold over5 million copies worldwide. To promote Usher’s fifth album, the single “Love In This Club” was released on February 2008 and reached #1 on the billboard Hot 100. It spent three weeks at the top; becoming Usher’s eighth number-one single and fastest rising song of his career. It also became huge international success for Usher.

Music Ventures-2010In 2010 Usher released his sixth album Raymond v Raymond ; it was releasedonly months after Usher’s divorce with Tameka Foster. The first single“Papers” a song about separation, was released for the album on October2009; it topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two weeks- becominghis tenth number one single on that chart. “Hey Daddy” was released onDecember 2009 and peaked #24 on Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the HotR&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Lil Freak” ft Nicki Minaj was released in 2010 asthe album’s official second single; and it reached #8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-HopSongs chart, and #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“OMG” featuring will.i.am was released as the album’s third official single andfirst international single; it reached #1 in Ireland, New Zealand, UK and manymore. This song became his ninth #1 in the U.S. “There Goes My Baby” wasreleased to airplay as the album’s fourth single on June 2010; it reached #25on the billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Makingit Usher’s eleventh #1 hit on the US billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at#1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming his third #1 album and sold 329,107copies on the first week. A month after its release The album was certifiedgold by the RIAA on June 2010; by the end of June the album was certifiedplatinum.

On July 2010 Usher announced a follow up extended play to Raymond v.Raymond and he titled it Versus and a deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymondwere both released on August 24th 2010. The deluxe edition of Raymond v.Raymond featured appearances of Justin Bieber, Pitbull and Jay-Z.

Music Ventures- 2012-present

Usher released his seventh album Looking 4 Myself onJune 2012; he describes it as “revolutionary pop”. The leadsingle for this album was “Climax” which was released onFebruary 2012, the second single was “Scream” which waslater released in March.Since 2013 Usher has currently working on his eight albumUR . “Good Kisser” is the first single from this album,other three releases have also been made; “She Came toGive It to You” ft Nicki Minaj, “I don’t Mind” ft Juicy J and“Still Got It! Ft Migos.

Musical style and influences

Usher has a leggero tenor vocal range and frequentlyuses his falsetto in most of his songs. Usher’ music isgenerally of the R&B genre but he often incorporatespop, dance and hip-hop elements into his work. Thealbums Raymond v. Raymond and Looking 4 MyselfUsher expresses electro pop and dance pop into hismusic. Usher is also a profound dancer and dances inhis music videos.

Usher’s influencers are Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye,Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly, Luther Vandross and BobbyBrown. Usher believes that Michael Jackson has deeplyinfluenced him in many ways; as a humanitarian,philanthropist and as an artist. Usher was able to danceand perform at Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary

Other VenturesIn 2002 Usher founded his own record label- Vanity which is a subsidiary of Clive Davis’s J Records, which is distributed by Sony BMG. The label’s acts are Rico Love, Justin Bieber, One Chance and Rayan.

Usher also owns several restaurants and is a part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team; the reported purchase price for this team was $375 million. He became the third pop artist to own a large stake in an NBA team.

Usher starred as a mentor in American Idol, he also appeared on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, and recently joined as a coach in The Voice which was first aired on march 2013, on NBC. He also became a mentor on the Voice.

Usher also has an acting career; he featured in The Faculty(1998), Light It Up, In The Mix. In 2002 he starred on Twilight Zone revival as a police officer. He also acted on stage, making his debut on Broadway in 2006 in Chicago as a lawyer; he also joined the cast of the off-Broadway play Fuerzabruta in 2012.

Fashion

Through his career Usher’s fashion has evolved from street wear; Nikes and Timberlands to high end fashion labels such as Balenciaga and Prada. When Usher stepped on the stage during the 90s he rocked the baggy 90’s look; but over the years as he matured he developed his own look; making him a modern day fashion icon. Usher’s hair is usually cut short with waves, recently he grew a Mohawk in his “Good Kisser” music video.

1990s 2000s 2005 2010 present

Target Audience• As Usher began his career at a young age, he and his fans have

grown up with him through his journey; at the same time he has gained fans within the young adult bracket through the visuals of his music videos and his songs. Usher produces songs for different audiences; he produces both nature content and pop content to suit his varied target audience.

• Because of his sex appeal, the majority of Usher’s fans are women because they find him attractive and objectify him; the minority is men as they would aspire to be like Usher according to the uses and gratification model.

Social media presence- YouTube

Usher’s YouTube channel gives fans the chance to watch his latest and official music videos/lyric videos. We can tell from the viewing figures that this music video was well perceived by his target audience. It also gives the viewer information on where they can buy the song from.

Social media presence- Facebook and Twitter

We can tell that Usher is very popular on social media as he has millions of fans; it also suggests to us that he is a frequent user of social media as it allows him to directly reach out to his fans. It is also an easy way for his fans to reach out to him, and see what he is up to.

Social media presence- website

Usher’s homepage is very cool as the background is playing the behind the scenes footage of his tour and life. It also lists the next tour dates available to view. The website links everything together; we can see the iconic symbols of social media on here- Facebook, twitter, YouTube etc.