That’s why I never felt like his album was a Thriller or an album that could do 10 million. That’s the one song on the album that I wish I wrote.ĪNDRE “DRE” HARRIS (PRODUCER, ONE-HALF OF DRE & VIDAL): Faith Evans sang background on the bridge of “Superstar.” They forgot to add her on the credits.ĭUPRI: A lot of Confessions was done before we started. JERMAINE DUPRI (PRODUCER): “Superstar” is amazing. He said, “Darrale Jones is flying to Atlanta. listens to it, stops it in the middle, starts it again-we listen to it three times––looks up, picks up the phone and calls Jonetta and Usher. and said “I have a smash for Usher.” He said, “Come back to my office.” So me, Marc Byers, Dre & Vidal walked down the hall, I hadn’t even heard the rest of the song yet, but in my brain I was like, Well, if the words followed that melody, we’re good. JONES: So we’re sitting in my office and they play me “Superstar.” the first 30 seconds I stopped it, called L.A. can listen to the record today I’ll wait around and if he loves it for Usher then I’ll give him a copy.” I was like, “Nah, I’ll hold it, but if L.A. He actually wanted me to give him a copy of it. So I gave Darrale Jones a call, walked over, played him the record and he loved it. MARC BYERS: I had this song called “Superstar” that Dre & Vidal had demoed. Marc said they’re in New York and they have some Usher song. So literally walking back to my office, I get a call from Marc Byers (manager of producers Dre & Vidal). said to me, “You need to figure out how to get on Usher’s project.” So I was sitting there thinking, Well how the fuck am I going to do that? I don’t know Usher and I don’t know Jonetta (Usher’s mother/manager). Dre and Vidal set the tone for the album.ĭARRALE JONES (A&R): I was in a Lupe meeting with L.A. “Superstar” was the one that really got L.A.’s attention. ![]() MARK PITTS (A&R): We started with Dre and Vidal. Bonsu Thompson, with additional reporting by John Kennedy and Shanel Odum I Reid bringing his protégé the record that would inspire Confessions’ best vocal performance. But before Chilli could air out Usher’s infidelities on Atlanta radio or Ray Charles’ death could steal the Best Album Grammy from the best album, there was L.A. ![]() Raymond got with the Quincy Jones to his MJ- Jermaine Dupri-and the Rod Templeton to JD’s Quincy-Bryan Michael-Cox-that his follow-up to the 5x platinum 8701 became the Thriller of our generation. Sessions with R&B champs Dre & Vidal and legendary maestro duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced burners like “Caught Up” and “Bad Girl,” but it wasn’t until Mr. 2 Billboard spots for nearly six months, truly begins when Usher thought his fourth studio album was finished. The story of how Usher’s greatest composition became a diamond-selling monster, which begat singles that traded the No. ![]() The real stories: How Usher nearly passed on records that are fan favorites today (see: “Throwback”) for tracks that his cabinet considered “wack” (“Wifey,” “Where Are You,” produced by Pharrell) that his Confessions creative process was powered by the real life experience of he and his collaborators how he threw repeated tantrums to not record “Yeah!” To mine that gem you need to know the real story. But you still won’t know how Usher’s best work became the classic that it stands today. ![]() Speak with every A&R, engineer, songwriter and producer in the liner notes and you just may develop a picture of how the track list was constructed. The story is not about how Confessions was made. As Usher’s Confessions approaches its 10th birthday, VIBE rounds up key members of the album’s creative pod for a look-back on the making of a classic
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