Ladies and Gentlemen, WHAT UP!!

Editor's Note
After this season it has been determined that I will no longer watch American
Idol. At first I was curious about whether or not the show is set up. Then to
hear Elton John say the show is prejudiced, THEN for Latoya London to get kicked
off... umm yeah that about sums it up.

And the Roy Jones fight-- Here is a discussion for the water-cooler... Do you
think that fight was set up?

AND!! We all know that the reason the war in Iraq was started was because of
oil. You need proof? How about every since we have been over there gas prices
have been going through the roof? Don't tell me the goverment of the United
Snakes of America is not profitting from this! Hopefully this gas strike that
everyone is participating in tomorrow will not have adverse effects and cause
the price to go up even more as gas companies try to make as much as they can
off the few people that choose to by gas.

Has anyone thought about suggesting that we do a gas strike every Wednesday??
Hmm..

Usher- Confessions
Honestly, when Usher came out I was on my Faith Evans trip because she at the
time had either come out or was on her way out. In any event, I listened to
Usher's first CD and remember liking it, but more than that I remembered
listening and tryin to find out what songs Faith was singing back up on!

By the time "My Way" came out I noticed that Usher was growing in his craft. His
voice was growing, his songs were becoming more creative. "You Make Me Wanna"
was one of my favorite songs at the time (until the radio stations ruined it by
giving it too much airtime). Growth as an artist in the music industry is so, so
important and it was pleasing to see that he was embracing the survival
technique of change.

With "Confessions", Usher grows even more, in some ways by leaps and bounds.
This CD gas changed the way people look at music and has had a HUGE impact on
Usher's career. This will probably be on of my favorite reviews.

Production
If you read the reviews you know that when it comes to production I look for
consistency among the tracks and the marriage of the music and the artist. There
are eight different producers on "Confessions", which means for the most part
that the majority of the CD was produced by different people. However, the
marriage here is perfect! The producers working on this project obviously sat
down with Usher and took his voice and his thoughts on what he wanted and
created tracks that fit him excellently. Combine that with the fact that his
vocal skills have grown to a point where he sounds good singing to just about
any beat and you have songs that you have to go back and listen to cause the
tracks are good AND the singing is damn good as well.

My mind goes to "Throwback"(#3 on the CD) automatically. This Just Blaze
produced track has an R&B, almost Rock feel. If I had heard this track alone
Usher is not the person I would have heard singing over it in my head. The track
is so unique I am actually not sure who I would have paired it with, but Usher
does an excellent job of making his voice fit. The track is hard and Usher sings
to the track just as hard to the point where it almost seems like he is
competing with the music. The competition though shows how Usher's vocal skills
have grown and displays an excellent ability to fit voice and track formation
together.

Then there is the baby maker song "Thats What Its Made For"(#13 on the CD).
Let's talk about producers that can't be stopped! How long have Jimmy Jam and
Terry Lewis been in business?? Amazingly they continue to stay relevant. This
track is perfect bedroom music. Smooth and fluid. A simple bass line and
FLUTES!! Usher matches his voice accordingly, singing almost playfully, yet very
maturally over the track. When the background singers come in during the chorus
you just want to close your eyes and, and-- well what ever your imagination can
come up with...

On "Caught Up"(#7 on the CD) producers Andre Harris and Vidal Davis go
traditional Usher. This is the song you could definitely see Usher dancing to on
tour. With all of the different sounds on the CD it is cool to see that Usher
does not stray to far from his regular. So many times artist become so hugely
successful that they forget to stick with formulas that got them where they are.
Usher displays growth and change, but with this track, he shows that he is not
too far from home.

"Truth Hurts" and "Simple Things" (both produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis)
are not what I would consider to be normal Usher music. I listen to the tracks
and I get more of a MusicSoulChild feeling. That being said though, I love both
of the tracks and here again Usher shows that he can work with any form of
music. There is definitely a different feel when you get to these two songs on
the CD, but it in no way takes away from the concept of the entire CD.

Writing and Creativity
Ok so you thought the production on this CD was good. WAIT! It gets better. The
writing team wrote the HELL out of this CD. It is so rare that male artist come
out with songs that are so well constructed and smartly written. Several of the
songs on the CD take a second and third listen because of the word play and
content. I can't count how many times I said "Damn" after listening to some of
the songs.

Lets get to the baby maker song, "Thats What It's Made For" first. Think about
how obvious the title is. That IS what it's made for! You listen to this song
and you have to do a Homer Simpson "DOP!" and hit yourself in the head.

The intriguing thing about this song is that the words are things that you would
say to yourself if you were in the situation. Just imagine being in this
situation and you are riding in the car and you are thinking about it. It is so
natural to say the first line of the song to yourself. "Figured I'd hit it and
quit it just one night/Got so good to me I doubled back twice." WHAT??!! I
listened to that line several times before I even moved on to the rest of that
song. This is one of the best opening lines to a love song I have heard in a
minute.

The entire second verse is CRAZY but my favorite part would have to be "Lost in
the sauce, dead wrong/and I ain't stopping now/Parlaying in the bush again,
didn't think about what I was puttin in it." Lost in the sauce!! Parlaying in
the bush again??!! YES! This song is written so cleaverly it was like all six of
the writers were inside Usher's brain actually listening to his thoughts. Most
singers would say I cheated or I was making love to her and it was wrong, but
parlaying in the bush again? The writer did what all writer should do and thats
take it a step beyond what you would normally hear being spewed across the
airwaves.

Then there is "Simple Things". Again another song that is obvious after you
listen to it. The metaphorical concepts make this song a good listen. Take the
first verse, "Just copped your girl a brand new rolex/but you can never find the
time to spend at home. Thinking thats gone keep her happy/your time is all she
wanted all along." This use of irony basically surfaces throughout the song. Why
just make a song that states the obvious in an obvious way? As I always say,
everything that there is to sing about has already been sung about. What makes a
good song to me is THE WAY The subject is being stated. The more different and
abnormal the more interesting the listen.

Then the chorus, "It's the simple things in life we forget, you hear her talkin
but don't hear what she says. Why do you make something so easy so complicated,
searching for what's right in front of your face, but you can't see it." This
line contains one of my favorite lines in life. You know how you listen to
someone but you don't really hear them? (some people still don't know the
difference between listening and hearing.)

SuperStar is a song that you think is about one thing but gets you because of
the flip. Being that Usher is a superstar himself you would think the song is
about his career, but he switches it up telling the girl. "I been your groupie
baby/cause you're my superstar/I'm your number one fan give me your
autograph/Sign it right here in my heart." Does the word AWWW come to mind? Now
there is no amazing writing or creative irony in this song, but the way the
subject comes across would definitely make a girl feel good about herself.

Final Grade
Usher took some vocal lessons. He is riffing and running like his life depends
on it throughout the CD. His voice is also stronger and solid. Usher sat down
with a team of writers that are obviously masters at taking situations and
fitting music that sets the mood for each concept. Usher worked with producers
that were able to help him go beyond his normal sound. The end result is in my
opinion the best CD so far this year (if Faith Evans does not come out with a CD
this year I would say the CD of the year). This CD gets an "A+" hands down.
People who weren't even Usher fans are finding themselves singing the line
"Heard her whisper don't worry I'm safe".

Usher has done a few things with this CD. First, in my opinion (and the opinion
of the millions of people that copped the CD in its first week) he has created
what many people who own the CD are calling a "classic". Secondly he has set the
bar for every other male artist that is thinking of coming out this year. It
does not matter who they are, every male singer that comes out with year is
thinking "Shit when I come out people are going to be comparing me to Usher."
They have their work cut out for them, so I hope they come correct.

Favorite Song- "That's What It's Made For"

Favorite Line- from favorite song- "Figured I'd hit and quit it just one
night/Got so good to me I doubled back twice."

Least Favorite Song- "Bad Girl"- With all of the amazing writing and creativity
going on with this CD, this song just seems like a song to fill space.

Marketing Grade
Confessions had your traditional marketing efforts (magazine ads, billboards,
radio spots, etc). However, what really gave this project the extra push was the
drama in Usher's personal life. I struggle with this often. It's crazy that we
will gallop to the stores to purchase a CD not so much because the artist is
talented, but to be sure we are part of the hype and caught up on the gossip.
Usher is very talented, but I can't help but wonder how many people bought this
CD for that fact alone.

Then there is the fact that Usher says on the CD "This is not about my career".
You would tend to beileve that he meant there was not marketing ploy and this
was no huge publicity thing. Think about the timing of everything though. Usher
is working on CD. Usher breaks up with Chili. Chili does interviews saying she
will not be a part of the publicity game and that Usher did the ultimate
relationship "no-no". Usher drops a CD talking about cheating and how sorry he
is and walking hand in hand in the Beverly Center not giving a damn. It is just
to obvious that Usher took the shit that was going on in his personal life and
used it to move units. Is that wrong? Not necessarily, but it would have been
better had Usher focused on how he has grown musically and how this CD is not
like anything he has ever done.

Technically Usher's marketing grade would be an "A" because of first week sales.
However I have to give it a "B" because of execution. I long for the day when
music becomes about music and not about an artist's personal mayhem.

Short Rap Review- Kayne West
Yeah yeah yeah I'm late and I know everyone has Kanye West. I am just one of
those people that likes to wait for all the hype to end cause I fear it may
color my decision.

Kayne West's "College Drop Out" is no doubt a good listen cause for the most
part his lyrics have meaningful content, something several rap artist have a
hard time creating.

My struggle with him though is the whole college thing. I think because I went
to college and graduated (because I wanted to) it is in some ways difficult to
listen to someone say it's basically a waste of time. I won't get into the whole
our ancestors died so that we could have the right to get an education
discussion (though it is very relevant). I think college is for anyone that
wants to go and feel like they can do it. Even though for the most part I see
college as another way to keep blacks behind (most whites know that blacks have
a history of not valuing education, so they therefore set up a system that
requires us to get a piece of paper saying we know something), I would never
come out and discourage our people from breaking the mold and killing the
sterotypes that black people can't learn.

I know the entire CD was not based around the concept of being a college
dropout. There are some fun cuts (Kanye's Workout Tape) and some songs you can
really relate to (Spaceship, If my manager insults me again, I will be
assualting him...). So I give the CD a "B+". The cool thing about Kayne is that
he is one of the few producers that can actually rap. SOO many producers could
definitely learn something from him!

Next Review- Tamia

CD Shopping List
Mario Winans
8 Ball and MJG
Missy (yes I know I'm late)
Twista (probably the next short rap review)
Janet Jackson (review probably coming after Tamia)

Rumored to be coming soon
Tweet
Brandy (really feelin the new single "Talk About Our Love")

Hope you enjoyed the review. Have a good week!!














FAITH EVANS, THE QUEEN OF R&B











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