I FUCKING LOVE The NFL Picking Usher To Play This Year's Super Bowl Halftime Show In Vegas
Would you look at the NFL getting with the times and chopping up the famous Usher video "Confessions Pt 2" with Kim K. Deion, and Marshawn Lynch.
Well I was wrong on my prediction of The Killers being this year's Super Bowl halftime act performing in their hometown of Las Vegas. But I'm happy with this selection. Really fucking happy, actually.
If you don't remember this Confessions album you're either 15 years old or living in a cave.
Ursher's first album, My Way, came out in 1997. 1997! That's insane to think about. But the Jermaine Dupri-produced album was a smash and catapulted Usher into the forefront of the R&B scene.
(Fun Fact - people forget that Puff Daddy actually coached and produced Usher's very first album, self titled, when he was only 15 years old. It was a flop and pretty much forgotten about. But it came out in 1994, 3 years before My Way)
This guy was the middle school dance slow dance maestro. Look at this murderers row of hits off this album -
His next release, 8701 has some fucking heaters that a lot of people forget about.
We're talking "U Remind Me"
(sidebar - there was a remix featuring Method Man that was fire flames that not a lot of people outside of DJs knew about)
The unbelievable slow jam "U Got It Bad"
and the very underrated party jam, "U Don't Have To Call"
He followed that up in 2004 with one of the biggest R&B albums of all time, the aforementioned Confessions. Featuring one of the biggest songs of all time, the Lil Jon produced, "Yeah".
I still remember the first time I heard this song on a DJ Kay Slay mixtape and knew immediately it was going to set the clubs and radio on fire. That unmistakeable Lil Jon synth and horn sound. With the uptempo dance beat. The fact this song still goes as hard today and fills dance floors everywhere from hip-hop clubs, to country bars, to stadiums, and wedding receptions all around the world is incredible.
For this song alone Usher deserves to play the biggest stage in the world. I don't think people realize the magnitude of "Yeah" unless you really think about it.
We're talking not just sustainability, but mega success for this record, for 20+ years now.
Back in the 2000s urban music was pop music. And Usher was one of the kings.
And he didn't stop there.
Confessions also included another one of the biggest slow jams of all time, "Burn".
also, sneaky banger "Caught Up"
and a party secret weapon that chicks go crazy for, "Bad Girl"
From there Usher evolved his sound to become at the forefront of the electronic wave that was about to smash American music as we knew it and take over.
"Love In This Club" featuring Jeezy
"OMG" Feat Will I Am
"DJ Got Us Fallin In Love" with Pitbull
"Scream"
"Without You" with David Guetta
"Don't Look Down" with Martin Garrix
I just put together a fire set in this blog. Just imagine what this guy will do with a few million dollars in production and Las Vegas' arsenal at his disposal. Haters are for sure bitching about this booking because they love to complain about everything, but this is going to be an awesome show. So don't be surprised when Usher burns it down in February.