Usher: Super Bowl Bonus

0:06Pushkin. This is an iHeart Podcast. In today's super competitive business environment, the edge goes to those who push harder, move faster, and level up every tool in their arsenal. T-Mobile knows all about that. They're now the best network, according to the experts at Ooclas Speedtest. And they're using that network to launch Supermobile, the first and only business plan to combine intelligent performance, built-in security, and seamless satellite coverage. That's your business, Supercharged. Learn more at supermobile.com. Seamless coverage with compatible devices in most outdoor areas in the U.S.

0:48where you can see the sky. Best network based on analysis by Ukla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 1H 2025. Every great music conversation goes beyond the surface. The influence that shaped an artist's sound. The moment that changed their creative direction. The story behind the story that fans never hear. Claude helps you discover those deeper connections. Upload interviews, liner notes, or music journalism, and Claude reveals patterns across an artist's entire journey, showing how influences become innovations. Whether you're a music journalist, passionate fan, or someone who loves understanding creative processes, Claude matches your curiosity about what really drives great artists.

1:29Try Claude for free at claude.ai slash brokenrecord. This episode of Broken Record is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Traveling is one of life's greatest joys. Honestly, can anything be more exhilarating? Well, actually, yeah, with Chase Sapphire Reserve. It's your gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. First, you will earn eight times points on all purchases through Chase Travel. And the card gets you into Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide and access to one-of-a-kind experiences. Whether you are booking a once-in-a-lifetime trip or your next weekend escape, Discover more with Chase Sapphire Reserve at chase.com slash sapphire reserve.

2:11Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Terms apply. Who would have thought that in the fourth decade of his career, Usher would still be at the peak of his powers? Since I spoke to him on this podcast exactly a year ago, not only did he add more dates to his incredibly successful Las Vegas residency, but he spent most of those added dates seducing all the starlets who turned up, reestablishing himself as the consummate R &B Lothario he's always been. And then there was his Super Bowl announcement. It only makes sense with the Super Bowl coming to Vegas that the city's current biggest star would be the halftime performer.

2:52So to commemorate the year of Usher and his Super Bowl performance this weekend, and in anticipation of the announcement of his world tour and the release of his new album coming home on February 11th, Let's have a listen back to my conversation with the one and only Usher. This is Broken Record. Line of notes for the digital age. I'm Justin Richman. Hey, hey. What's going on? How you guys doing? Good. How you doing? You know, I really do wish I could complain, but I would sound like a damn fool. One, because I don't think anybody would care to hear that. two it's a waste of time when you always have such precious moments right that's right man you can either use it to complain or you can use it to compel right and to propel man you got a lot going man a lot going on that's right since 14 i remember you busting out killing it and now man we're about 25 years later and it's as if you're as busy as you've ever been man tell me about what's going on it's crazy man considering i'm only 30 years old i mean i've been doing this since i was five man it's been a lot going on actually a lot of really great things a career obviously that's been you know constructed over all of this time and all of these years but more than anything a celebration over the last few years in las vegas with my vegas residency is i go back night after night listening to the songs and kind of reliving some of the emotions obviously the choreography and all the things that come with it but more than that man it's fun and excitement that i needed you know i think all artists need a bit of motivation and rather it's an audience or either just the love and passion of what you do but being in front of a live audience really you know kind of reignited my passion and the energy which is part of the reason that i'm now dropping music and also too in the process of putting out another album working on other products and other ancillary things to what I do culturally.

4:56You know, if you see the way I dress or you see the products I'm using, whatever it might be, all of those things are really a product of a career, man, that has been built, as you said, over 20 years. It's crazy because I don't feel it. Honestly, you don't realize how older you are, I guess, until you think about your children. I have 14 and a 15-year-old. So I'm like, OK, apparently I must be a bit older. but I'm not feeling like I'm losing a beat because rather I'm playing, you know, football or basketball or any of those things with them. I'm keeping up. That's right, man. The kids keep you young and old.

5:29It's a little bit of both. They keep you wise. That's what I will say. Kids, they will challenge you. And at the same time, they will give you purpose and reason. Yeah. You know, you think about the things that matter. It's that time that you have with them, them finding themselves that becomes more of a priority. Yeah. Yeah. The new album, what did that energy start to come together? The energy of working on an album started a few years ago and there's been, you know, some hiccups that obviously have caused, you know, me not to just put music out. One, the pandemic kind of sent everybody into like a holding pattern and then just, you know, deliberating over, you know, just the process of analyzing, right, what expectations are out there.

6:14then you just kind of get to a place where you're like, you know what? This is what it is that I've been working on. This is an offering. Rather, I'm talking about things that I obviously can relate to because I went through them, or either you can relate to because you're going through them. But now I'm ready to share. I'm ready to share the music. I'm ready to share the emotion. I'm ready to share the creativity. Some of the things that I picked up over the time that I've been making this album, now I'm ready to share what that is. I made a directorial debut with a song that is really only a snippet at this point, Glue.

6:50But I have to say that a lot of it has been spun as a result of my Las Vegas residency. When I did that, it just, again, it just reignited my passion and my connection to my audience and also to my connection to my music. Were you as backwards looking before you started the Vegas residency? Were you kind of typically in a mode of looking back at your career and thinking about different albums and eras? Or did this kind of help you to that? Las Vegas specifically has always been about celebrating the songs that you've had from the past. For me, it was a little bit of that, but it was a celebration of a genre, celebration of music, because R &B in that capacity hadn't really been there.

7:36you've had a few artists you've had you know mariah carey and also too there are a few you know more new recent artists that were working in las vegas like bruno mars and anderson pack but that culture of r &b music and live performance in the way that i do it it wasn't there so i don't know if i ever looked at it as looking back i looked at it as let me go back for a second to remind you of what this level of performance and entertainment is ultimately about and the fact that this culture doesn't exist here. Things that I shared on stage, you know, I mean, I don't know if you've ever been to my show, but I take you on a complete ride through Atlanta, through Black culture.

8:18There's, you know, certain hues of, of like, you know, jazz and obviously live music and the idea of like being in this impromptu moment or improv that happens, you know, these unexpected things and unexpected guests that might come out on the stage. All of those things are part of what an R &B show has always offered in time. So it gave me the opportunity to do that. And then experimenting with other things like skating on stage. I just really, I had fun. So again, I didn't look at it as looking back. The music from the soundtrack of my life, which is the songs that are hits, they take you back.

8:53But I'm moving forward in terms of how I introduced this to you and how immersed you are in this experience. You don't feel like you're going to a show. You feel like you were having an experience. You don't feel like you're watching a live experience, you know, that is just singing and lights. No, you are completely immersed from the moment you walk into the theater to the moment that you leave the nightclub. You're completely in my passion. You're in the passion of what it is that I've created, both musically and also to as an experience. I love that it's such a send up to like R &B, such a celebration of the genre, man, because, you know, it's funny.

9:32I was having a conversation for the podcast with Babyface a couple of weeks ago, and it dawned on me through talking to him that the era that you came up in the 90s really was the era of like R &B just being the mainstream popular music of the day, man. You know, whereas at some point it was race music. At some point it was segregated to black charts. By the 90s, man, when you guys were what you guys were doing with LaFace, it became like a driver of the culture. Yeah. Well, I'll say this. Was it more relevant because it became defiant in things and genres that were established like hip hop became more relevant?

10:11And then the mixing of R &B and hip hop together made it feel dangerous. I'd say that. But it was dangerous way before. And it was those other cultures of music or genres of music, if you want to call them that, that were bastardizing in ways. you know this incredible thing called jazz jazz is the creation of all things man all things musical rather as rock rather as ideas of classical things right you think about how r &b was established it was jazz and then from that all other things come in my opinion i think that there was a formal way of listening to music which is orchestrated and that's a different practice but the things that you feel the emotion the storytelling that's jazz and rather through the 30s 40s you know and then making your way up into the 50s 60s and 70s r &b was kind of on the back burner but it was always supplying jazz was always supplying to all of those other genres yeah so in my mind i take ownership of that for those people even though we were racially segregated and maybe black you know performers were not celebrated they couldn't even walk through the very places that they were performing in so yeah i think you're right you know through the 90s r &b had a moment where it was more relevant than others and it felt dangerous rock and roll for morning felt dangerous if you look at edm and all those other things hip-hop it felt dangerous so So there's a sophistication that R &B had and has always had that popular music or popular genre has been able to adopt.

11:52But it ain't never went away. I think that it's always been there. And so long as you hear those those hues of what is jazz, those hues of what is blues, those hues of what is soul music, then that shit is R &B. That ain't what you think it is. It's not the genre that was claimed. It's the inspiration that was provided. You know what I'm saying? We'll be back after a quick break with more of my conversation with Usher. In today's super competitive business environment, the edge goes to those who push harder, move faster, and level up every tool in their arsenal. T-Mobile knows all about that. They're now the best network, according to the experts at Oocla Speedtest, and they're using that network to launch Supermobile, the first and only business plan to combine intelligent performance, built-in security, and seamless satellite coverage.

12:49With Supermobile, your performance, security, and coverage are supercharged. With a network that adapts in real time, your business stays operating at peak capacity, even in times of high demand. With built-in security on the first nationwide 5G advanced network, you keep private data private for you, your team, your clients. And with seamless coverage from the world's largest satellite to mobile constellation, your whole team can text and stay updated even when they're off the grid. That's your business, Supercharged. Learn more at supermobile.com. Seamless coverage with compatible devices in most outdoor areas in the U.S.

13:29where you can see the sky. Best Network Based on Analysis by Ukla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 1H 2025.

14:00trying to understand what drove a particular creative period, or exploring how social movements influenced sound, Claude works through these complex cultural puzzles with you. It's built for people who know that understanding music means understanding the human stories behind it. Claude doesn't just compile facts. It helps you see patterns across decades of music history, ask the kinds of follow-up questions that reveal deeper truths, and works through the nuanced relationships between artists, movements, and moments. Whether you're a music journalist, industry professional, or someone who just lives for understanding the stories behind the sounds, Claude matches your level of curiosity about what really drives great art.

14:40Try Claude for free at claude.ai slash brokenrecord and see why the world's best problem solvers choose Claude as their thinking partner. Lexus is a company that believes in the importance of setting a standard, which I can appreciate as someone who holds themselves to lofty if not ridiculous standards, especially with the car I drive. The standard Lexus has set for themselves is to experience amazing. Lexus measures success by the feeling and emotions evoked in a driver, like exhilaration and joy. Amazing can only be achieved by knowing people on a deeper level. The standard of amazing results in a feeling in drivers that their car was built in anticipation of them.

15:18Machines that make you feel more human. Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing. Experience amazing at your Lexus dealer. We're back with more from Usher. you're right about like r &b having this sort of dangerous feel to it too in the 90s and uh it was almost an accident because you get discovered by la reed and get signed to la face but because la didn't exactly know what to do with you in the beginning you get sent to go work with puff and it's like you kind of get immersed in a you kind of have this dual world happening man between the r &b that you aspire to do and and now you're hanging with puff and and even kind of more dangerous r &b cats like devante swing kind of more edgy cats you know yeah how was that moment for you man it seemed like real like the stars aligned to have that moment happen for you man yeah before you get to like devante swing and new york's contribution to r &b and hip-hop you got to go to parliament you got to go you know those guys you got to go to you know r &b was was dangerous much earlier than that.

16:23And my working with Puff was, you know, a matter of L.A. Reid's vision to see that the entrepreneur that Puff was was going to grow. You know, until L.A. Reid introduced the world to Sean Puffy Combs, you didn't know nothing about Bad Boy. You didn't even understand what it had to offer, which meant, you know, you might have even glassed over, you know, what he did with Jodeci and Uptown Records. so I think it was really the sophistication between L.A. Reeds helping people like Puff to be able to find his light or Dallas Austin or Jermaine Dupri or any of the guys that he had hit records with or Rico Wade with Organized Noise all of those things that was a matter of sophistication and L.A.

17:09Reeds blending of the two worlds to make it dangerous yeah Jodeci was hip pop it almost looked like a rock band that was r &b yeah you know Mary Jane Pondsch was and has always been you know this incredible soul singer that was just pulling her heart out you know I'll be sure you know heavy d all of those guys from that time that was setting a standard there would be no shaggy and all of those guys if you didn't have a heavy d so when I think about what I gained from uh working with Puffy and being in New York City and spending an entire year with him making my first album it gave me all the fuel that i need to be not only the creative but also to the innovator that discovers talent and knows how to develop it as well using it for myself or either helping them find their way there was something so fundamental about his creation and this idea of branding it wasn't just about being a singer you could be a great fucking singer that don't matter if i don't feel like i'm getting it's dangerous dealing with you and it's like hot Man, why am I looking at you?

18:10Why do I care about you? I learned all of that from the school of Puff. And then from there, it became relationship and it became the life story and understanding where the person was, what their views were and what, you know, choices they made, how they dressed, you know, what type of shit they got into. And it became something far more than just listening to the music. You fell in love with the artist. So I wanted that. I'm like, OK, great. So then we didn't make a hit album together. But we had a hit record on it, working with Devontae Swing. You know, man, believe it or not, being around Biggie earlier in the days when he was being introduced, Craig Mack, Total, being in New York City, like going to Mount Vernon, being, you know, and being under the wing of Heavy D and being able to see how you move and work with these, work with like hip hop and R &B together.

19:04all of those things I gained all that now I left and after that made my way came back to Atlanta worked with JD and we made incredible music incredible music together that now serviced all of what I know about being an artist but yeah a lot of hit records came out of that my way 8701 confessions and we kept going and we are still going but um yeah I think that the one thing you might be overlooking is the danger and also to the sophistication that la re had to create a blend right yeah because that man had insight that man had the ability to see for real before everybody else saw for real that man had the ability to see you know jay-z and make him an executive that now we respect as a businessman because he saw something more is the sophistication of understanding how to grow black entrepreneurs and black creatives to a place and lift them up is what I think happened with LA and really made what we celebrate as a culture and music.

20:05Where do you think your sophistication came from? Because it just feels like you had it so early, like from the beginning, like even though the first record wasn't a hit record, it's like you came just ready made. Well, ready made is in the work. My work ethic is where that's what makes a difference. I learned the skill of being in the environment of people. If you want to be great, you've got to surround yourself around great people. L.A. Reid, Sean Puffy Combs, Jermaine Dupree, Dallas Austin, you know, working with the greats, you know, and then creating really incredible, amazing one-offs like with, you know, we did records with Pharrell for the first time, but being able to have access to these guys.

20:40And I look at my, you know, all of the records and the things that I've been able to create, I got a really, really dope clique of people who have been a part of my legacy. It ain't just one person. It's an entire world of people who have all of these different views of R &B and hip hop and the way they play with it and the way they make things. It's like nothing else. You can't compare it to anything else, man. You really have multiple worlds of music colliding all through your catalog, really. And Kat's early and Kat's at interesting points in the career, like when you're working with jimmy jam and terry lewis like you got them at kind of like a real interesting point in my view and it's just catalogs crazy you asked where the sophistication comes from the sophistication comes from you know the gurus like jimmy jam and terry lewis like la reed maybe face you know those are the guys who were like they were like the the oracles man they would they're like the jedis they they they made you understand what it was to be an artist and how to make things last being able to have ships like Quincy Jones and then you know the young Jedi's like you know like Jermaine Dupree he's Atticant you know what I'm saying like just yeah.

21:56When did you first meet Quincy Jones man? I first met Quincy um I walked in a Tommy Hilfiger it was a Tommy Hilfiger show in New York City it was me Aaliyah I think it was Eve there's a ton of relevant artists at that time he had us walk in the show. And that was the first time that Q kind of put his crew together. So we were his crew for the night. And from that spun a really great relationship, a friendship. He's been a godfather to me ever since that day. And my conversations with him, believe it or not, were not about music as much as it was, what is your contribution to life? He turned me into a philanthropist.

22:35he began to help me understand that there's much more of a responsibility to kind of lay groundwork and remind people that it's not just about music it's also to about opening your eyes or the world's eyes to things that need to be addressed you know advocating for things that you think you know do matter and will matter for you know generations to come and even in for the current time but yeah a great relationship so that sophistication you know it comes from those relationships, relationships with the guys who've been here before, the elders, the guys who understand, you know, it's, it's odd in this time because everything's so young, right?

23:13And everything's so vibrant and everything's so defiant, but really, man, our elders are the ones that matter. They got something to teach us and we really do learn from listening to them. So you got to listen to the OGs, you know, they, they are the gatekeepers and they make the difference. Yes, there is a new frontier of people who are just speaking out for how they feel and being loud about it. But sophistication, man, longevity comes from listening to your elders. You want to make it last forever? You've got to listen to your elders. Listen to the ones that have been here. Even if you think what they're telling you ain't relevant to what you think or what you feel right now, they got something to share with you.

23:54And that sophistication and longevity comes from their well-emotional. knowledge man it's beautiful to let you already at such a young tender age man just to to accept that wisdom man and listen because you know and then also not to take what they tell you incorporate it and also find your own way and implement it your own way man because certainly looking at your catalog looking at your career it's a totally unique path that you took their commitment and their dedication is what i saw and i become them in time i don't know like Like I said, I'm only 30 years old. You know what I'm saying? So over time, hopefully I'll be able to share that information, that wisdom with the artists that are coming.

24:41Speaking of Quincy, is there any truth to the idea that Tevin Campbell's second record, I'm Ready, some of those songs are supposed to be written for you? Now, many people have said that. No, Tevin Campbell's songs were Tevin Campbell's songs. And my songs were my songs. The reality is, I think Ellie Reed and Babyface were kind of going through a transition when they worked together and when I first signed as an artist. So I probably didn't get a chance to receive the love and the benefit of what Babyface offered my first album. But I later on became great friends with him. I just seen him in Atlanta.

25:19He's still an OG. I love him. And rather, he was writing songs for me. He still was a motivation. I still looked at Whip Appeal and was influenced by that. Matter of fact, the song that actually spun it all and started it all for me was a song that he wrote. He and L.A. Reid together wrote that record, End of the Road. End of the Road, yeah. By Boyz II Men. But I'm Ready, those songs, they belong to Tevin Campbell. What I did with Puff and my first album, it was what it was. I did not get that record that I wanted, my first album. When I listened to Can We Talk, I felt slighted because I was like, damn, I wanted that record.

25:57I wanted a record. I wonder if that song was for me. No, it wasn't. I think it was always Tevin Campbell's song. And I know that, you know, Face, he was going through something, I guess, at the moment with L.A. And we just didn't work together my first album. That's it. that goes to like again it being sort of serendipitous that you get to work you get to be on LaFace and have a lot of what comes with that but then also kind of get to kind of go your own route and go work with Puff and you kind of got LaFace plus more in a lot of ways which was I imagine must have been freeing it was out of my control I would have wanted to work with Babyface they were just going through something that wouldn't allow it to happen at the time but yeah It's a manifestation.

26:42I remember being in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and me and my mother talking about going to Atlanta and potentially meeting L.A. Reed and Babyface and signing to their label. That's why we came to Atlanta. For me, she came to Atlanta because it was an elevation from Chattanooga and more opportunity for her as a woman and also to her employment at the time. But for me, it was a true opportunity to meet some executive and maybe turn this talent into something that would take care of us. Because I was not taking no for an answer. In my mind, I knew I would perform. Like I had a red dot on where I wanted to be.

27:26I was performing every Babyface's songs. Rather it was Bobby Brown or Boyz II Men or any of the other artists that they worked with. And Rocksteady was on repeat. by the whispers for my mom. So I was always listening to L.A. Reid and Babyface's production. I didn't realize it. But I finally made it to Atlanta. And I didn't know who L.A. Reid was. I just knew that they had a hit record on the radio and I loved singing it. And if I could get people to pay attention to me, maybe I could get to them. And it happened. It was a manifestation. I called it into existence. I said it and we went after it.

28:04And me and my mother, we made it happen. We're going to take one last break and then be back with more from Usher. In today's super competitive business environment, the edge goes to those who push harder, move faster, and level up every tool in their arsenal. T-Mobile knows all about that. They're now the best network, according to the experts at Oocla Speedtest. And they're using that network to launch Supermobile, the first and only business plan to combine intelligent performance, built-in security, and seamless satellite coverage. With Supermobile, your performance, security, and coverage are supercharged.

28:44With a network that adapts in real time, your business stays operating at peak capacity, even in times of high demand. With built-in security on the first nationwide 5G advanced network, you keep private data private for you, your team, your clients. And with seamless coverage from the world's largest satellite to mobile constellation, your whole team can text and stay updated even when they're off the grid. That's your business, Supercharged. Learn more at supermobile.com. Seamless coverage with compatible devices in most outdoor areas in the U.S. where you can see the sky. Best Network Based on Analysis by Ukla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 1H 2025.

29:51trying to understand what drove a particular creative period, or exploring how social movements influenced sound, Claude works through these complex cultural puzzles with you. It's built for people who know that understanding music means understanding the human stories behind it. Claude doesn't just compile facts. It helps you see patterns across decades of music history, ask the kinds of follow-up questions that reveal deeper truths, and works through the nuanced relationships between artists, movements, and moments. Whether you're a music journalist, industry professional, or someone who just lives for understanding the stories behind the sounds, Claude matches your level of curiosity about what really drives great art.

30:30Try Claude for free at claude.ai slash brokenrecord and see why the world's best problem solvers choose Claude as their thinking partner. Lexus is a company that believes in the importance of setting a standard, which I can appreciate as someone who holds themselves to lofty if not ridiculous standards, especially with the car I drive. The standard Lexus has set for themselves is to experience amazing. Lexus measures success by the feeling and emotions evoked in a driver, like exhilaration and joy. Amazing can only be achieved by knowing people on a deeper level. The standard of amazing results in a feeling in drivers that their car was built in anticipation of them.

31:08Machines that make you feel more human. Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing. Experience amazing at your Lexus dealer. We're back with the rest of my conversation with Usher. What do you think happened between making a really great first record that honestly I think still holds up as one of the great records of that early 90s R &B era, but what happened you think between then and my way where you kind of were able to create a hit record? I think, first of all, Puppy was ahead of his time in terms of what he created with my first album. That would ultimately become the staple of what R &B artists in my age group would go after.