Usher v. Usher: Why His Two Latest Singles Exist in Different Worlds

FUSE TV - Usher v. Usher: Why His Two Latest Singles Exist in Different Worlds

When Usher released "Climax" in early 2012, people listened in awe. I surely did, and still do when I’m lucky enough to hear it. 

Not only is the song still overwhelmingly powerful, but it seemed as if the OG singer-songwriter had perfected his craft in a way rarely seen by popular artists: he bent a genre to fit his style. With a great assist from Diplo, Usher made R&B music work for his range and emotions, as opposed to having genre tropes lead the conversation. Fans and critics pleading for "real R&B" from Usher—or, in other words, his old 'ish to help feed the nostalgia beast—tucked it in when “Climax” came out. 

And then, Usher released the second single off Looking 4 Myself, "Lemme See.” Uh oh. 

The Rick Ross-assisted track leaned towards generic rap with a predictable storyline and production that could've been a throwaway for any R&B singer dabbling in hip-hop. There was a George Zimmerman namecheck. The pre-chorus is all kinds of messy. After dropping “Climax,” Usher was going nowhere fast with this one.

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