Confessions (Usher album)

When he began recording Confessions in 2003, Usher claimed he did not want to work with any new producers.[4] Production began between Usher and Jermaine Dupri, who produced his last two albums, My Way (1997) and 8701 (2001).[4] In spite of his vision, Usher stated, "With this album I chose some new producers who I figured would definitely allow me to really articulate myself in a different way ... Every album you gotta grow. You gotta look for something different."[5] Dupri also invited his frequent collaborator Bryan-Michael Cox. The album features productions by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Just Blaze, Usher's brother James Lackey, Dre and Vidal, among others.[6]

When Usher felt that the album was completed,[6] with forty recorded songs, he submitted the album to his record label, Arista.[7] However, he and the company's then-president, L. A. Reid, who listened to the record, thought something was missing in it. "You know what, there's like one or two more records that we just gotta get."[6] Usher was displeased with the decision; he felt returning to the studio was the hardest part and needed to re-motivate himself.[7] He went on recording a few more tracks with help from fellow Atlantian's Lil Jon and Ludacris. Eventually, the team was able to produce songs like "Red Light" and "Yeah!". He also recorded songs with P. Diddy and The Neptunes during one of those sessions, but those songs were not released.[7]

One of Usher's first steps in recording Confessions was deciding to reveal "his own little secrets".[4] Friend and former A&R rep named Kawan "KP" Prather thought the album would let the public know Usher personally. Prather said, "The music has never been the question, but people tend to buy into the artist. The more they know about you, the more they feel like they're there with you."[4] Primarily because of the album's personal content, Usher said that this is his chance to be real.[8] He named the album Confessions because he felt it is his most personal record to date: "All of us have our Pandora's boxes or skeletons in our closets. I let a few of them out, you know. I've got a lot to say. I've got a lot of things and stuff built in me that I just want to let go of."[9] He wrote more songs than he contributed to his previous album.

Several of the songs in this album were conceptually based on a situation. For instance, "Burn" was built around the winding down of Usher's two-year relationship with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas from American R&B-Hip hop girl group TLC.[10] Dupri and Cox were talking and felt that there was a song in it, and started writing.[4] Similarly, with the title track "Confessions Part II", they were conversing about an impregnated mistress, and its concept was written down.[4] Usher recorded "Confessions Part II" during July 2003 recording sessions in New York City. When Usher sang the song's lyrics, the theme of cheating inspired him and Dupri to create two parts; "Confessions Part I" and "Confessions Part II". "Confessions Part I" can be heard at the beginning of the video for "Confessions Part II".[8]

Usher on April 23, 2004.

Confessions was slated to be released on November 6, 2003. However, due to marketing issues, the scheduled date was moved to March 23 of the following year.[4][6] With several songs recorded, Usher faced the challenge of determining the final track listing. Usher, Dupri, Reid, and then-A&R rep Mark Pitts each had their favorites among the forty, but decided to choose those which "came up consistently more".[4] The collective was able to settle on fifteen of them, with two interludes completing the seventeen track list. Many songs were set aside for future use, including "Red Light" and a remix of "Yeah!". Usher and Arista held advance listenings for the album, a few months before its actual release; he also appeared on TV guestings to promote Confessions.[7]

With strategies to boost the album's sales albeit threats of stealing music in the internet, Usher and his management readied a follow-up release of Confessions with an additional marketing blitz.[14] The idea was considered "musically driven" after Zomba, who absorbed Arista, management was excited about "My Boo", a song that was recorded for the original version of the album but failed to meet deadline.[14] However, it actually began when American R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys, who is featured on the track, "brought in that the talk of repackaging started".[14] With the inclusion of "My Boo", they thought of the album as complete.[15] While they knew of other artists releasing special editions of their albums, the label felt that Confessions had the edge because of its previous success and its physical changes, including new cover art, an expanded CD booklet, a pullout poster and a letter to fans from Usher.[14] The new version includes "My Boo" and "Red Light", which were leaked alongside other songs that did not appear in the album,[16] and a remix of "Confessions Part II", and "Seduction"; original tracks were also improved like the extended version of "Confessions Part I" and a rap added by American rapper Jadakiss in "Throwback". The label itself treated the version a new album, with full media advertisements.[14] The album was re-issued in October 2004,[17] seven months after its initial release.[18]

After Usher and his label held a few listening parties for the album,[23] controversies spread about the mistress-impregnating concept of "Confessions Part II".[7] Although Usher did not foresee such a reaction to the album,[23] Dupri already guessed, while making the album, what the public's reaction would be: "People are gonna question [Usher] on a couple of little lyrics ..."[8] Coincidentally, Usher ended his relationship with Chilli early in 2004.[24] People speculated about their breakup given the content of the album and Usher's early interviews about its themes. With lyrics Usher admitted to have written because of his guilty conscience, people assumed that he and Chilli broke up because he was unfaithful.[24] In a February 2004 radio interview, Chilli claimed that Usher "cheated" on her, and that caused their relationship to split.[25]

Amidst widespread rumors, Usher stated, "People assume things, because as I said, I pull from my personal experiences to make my music."[8] He added that he loved Chilli, however, "... it just didn't work out. But cheating is not what caused the relationship to collide and crash ..."[24] Although "Burn" is a reference to his dying relationship with Chilli[10]—hence the title—Usher answered the press that the impregnating issue was not taken from a specific situation in his life.[9] He also revealed that his friends who went through similar situations inspired him to write those songs: "... it's just something that I collectively got energy from everybody around me that had been through it."[23] In early 2006, Dupri revealed that the story behind the album is his: "... me cheating on my steady girlfriend, having a baby with that other woman and having to confess to everything that happened to my main girl."[10]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100[26]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[27]
Blender	[28]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[29]
The Guardian	[30]
Los Angeles Times	[31]
The New Zealand Herald	[32]
Pitchfork	9.0/10[33]
Q	[34]
Rolling Stone	[35]
USA Today	[36]
Vibe	3.5/5[37]

Confessions was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 13 reviews.[26]

Matt Cibula of PopMatters wrote that it "might be the best English-language pop album of the year".[38] Entertainment Weekly's Jem Aswad said that Usher "reveals his new-found maturity by opening with the grittiest song he's ever done."[29] Laura Checkoway of Vibe said that, "Though Confessions doesn't bring Usher all the way to the artistic maturity one might hope for, tracking this star's progression definitely has its satisfactions."[37] Q magazine observed "addictive R&B hooks and all-dancin', all-lovin' subject matter boosted with hot production tweaks."[34] Amy Linden of The Village Voice commented that "Usher's (alleged) character flaws are easily forgiven, though, because he can sing his cheating ass off," and concluded, "Like 2002's big-selling but underrated 8701, Confessions is a top-of-the-line pop-soul showcase that ... manages to be commercially savvy without coming off as too desperate. Sorta like Usher himself."[39] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times said that near the end, the songwriting "fails" Usher on a "heavily front-loaded" R&B album, but felt that his performance is solid throughout:

The pleasure of listening to Usher is the pleasure of listening to a singer who knows exactly what he's doing. 'Truth Hurts,' a seemingly innocent (if plaintive) 1970s throwback, turns nasty when the narrator suddenly reveals that the first two verses were full of lies. Which raises the question: are these supposed 'confessions' true? He loves toying with his audience this way, loves telling us exactly how bad he is, then daring us to believe him.[40]

In a mixed review, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian criticized its "production gloss" and said that, although Usher's "fluid delivery" redeems weak tracks, there are only two "great songs"—"Yeah!" and the title track—and "17 less so."[30] Rolling Stone writer Laura Sinagra said that he "is coming of age, again", but "still doesn't quite cut it as a horny roughneck".[35] Jon Caramanica of Blender viewed that Usher's songwriting "isn't a strength, and his ballads often drown in their own inanity".[28] The Washington Post's Elizabeth Mendez Berry called Confessions "Usher's strongest recording to date" but found the more sexual songs mundane.[41] Robert Christgau from The Village Voice cited "Confessions Part II" and "Bad Girl" as "choice cuts",[42] indicating "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money".[43]

Accolades

Usher at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards before winning his first two awards.

The album earned Usher numerous accolades. At the 47th Grammy Awards, he was nominated for eight categories and won three: Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for "My Boo") and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Yeah!"). Usher won awards at the 2005 Soul Train Music Awards: R&B/Soul Album, Male (for Confessions); R&B/Soul Single, Male for ("Confessions Part II"); R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo (for "My Boo"); and R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut (for "Yeah!").[44] At the 2004 American Music Awards, he won four, including Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist. At the 2004 Billboard Music Awards, Usher racked up eleven awards, more than any other artist in one night at the time. These include Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, and Hot 100 Song of the Year for "Yeah!". In December 2009 it was ranked as the best solo album and second best overall album of the 2000–2009 decade.[45] Its singles Yeah!, Burn, and My Boo were all ranked as some of the best songs of the 2000–2009 decade, respectively placing in order at number two, number 21, and number 36.[46][47][48]

Confessions was commercially successful, selling 1.096 million copies in the United States in its first week of release.[49] It became the highest-ever first week sales by an R&B artist,[49] the second-highest first week sales for a male artist, and the seventh-highest first week sales of the recorded album charts history by SoundScan at the time of its release.[7] It also equates the combined first-week sales of his four previous album releases, including his live album called Live.[50] The feat also carved history in Arista records having the first in any of their released albums to reach such sales. The success of the thirty-year-old record label, however, was attributed to its merging with Zomba Records.[50] As of March 2013 it has the tenth highest first week album sales in history.[51]

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Usher's first number-one album.[50] Confessions also hit number-one on the Canadian Albums Chart and the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[52] Its early, and successive, progress on the chart was said to be partly sustained by its strong single releases and plenty of press appearances and promotions.[50] With "Yeah!" propelling the album's debut atop the chart,[50] "Burn", the second single off the album, facilitated Confessions's continuing dominance as well.[53] The first two released singles were competing on the Billboard Hot 100; the latter ended the twelve-week number-one chart run of the former.[54] As the album's third single, "Confessions Part II", was about to top the chart and Usher to join with English pop and rock group The Beatles as the only acts to achieve three consecutive number-one singles, American R&B singer Fantasia Barrino's debut single "I Believe" prevented it from happening.[55] Despite this, Usher became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay with three consecutive number-one singles.[55] "Burn" achieved only eight non-consecutive weeks on the Hot 100 after "Confessions Part II" topped the chart; it became Usher's second time to replace his own single at the top.[55] "Yeah!" and "Burn" were 2004's top best-selling singles in the United States, placing at number one and two respectively on the Billboard Chart Year-Ender. Again, it honored Usher being the first act to achieve the feat since 1964 with the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You".[56]

The album continued its dominance on the chart. D12 World by D12 ended its five consecutive weeks run at the top spot;[57] however, Confessions reclaimed the position the following week.[58] The album spent a total 9 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest-running number one album of the millennium until 2009, when country singer Taylor Swift spent 11 weeks atop the charts with Fearless.[59] Over one month after its release, Confessions was certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for three million US shipments.[60] Confessions topped the list of the most-shipped albums of 2004 in the United States and was the best selling album of the year with 7,978,594 copies sold.[61][62] Confessions was the sixth best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the US.[45] In November 2008, it reached 10 million shipments in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.[63]Confessions sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album by a Black artist in the 21st century.[3]

With sales of nearly eight million in 2004,[64] Confessions was the most-shipped album of the year in the US.[65] Along with the success of the American singer Norah Jones's second album, Feels like Home (2004), as well as breakthroughs albums by many new and old artists, it was seen as a sign that US record sales were slowly recovering after three straight years of decline due to competing DVDs and video games and the prevalent music piracy. By the end of 2004, the industry had sold 667 million albums, an increase of about 1.6 percent, as recorded by Nielsen SoundScan. Compared with sales records in 2003, the figures showed eight percent increase.[64] The album's success also exemplified urban music's commercial dominance during the early 2000s, which featured massive crossover success on the Billboard charts by R&B and hip hop artists.[66] In 2004, all 12 songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100 were by African-American recording artists and accounted for 80% of the number-one R&B hits that year.[66] Along with Usher's streak of singles, Top 40 radio and both pop and R&B charts were topped by OutKast's "Hey Ya!", Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot", Terror Squad's "Lean Back", and Ciara's "Goodies".[66] Chris Molanphy of The Village Voice later remarked that "by the early 2000s, urban music was pop music."[66]

In a year-end article for The New York Times, writer Ben Sisario dubbed 2004 "the year of Usher".[17] The success of the album put Usher in the mainstream, becoming the biggest artist of 2004.[65] Others also said that Usher might be the successor of Michael Jackson.[67] Uproxx says Confessions "has gone on to establish itself as one of the landmark albums in pop culture", describing it as "an irreplaceable pillar in R&B lore".[68] According to Vibe magazine, the album is credited for having "birthed" many contemporary albums such as Adele's 21,[69] Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream,[70] Drake's So Far Gone,[71] Omarion's O,[72] Jason Derulo's self-titled debut[73] and others.[74]

Bryan-Michael Cox, who co-wrote and co-produced "Burn", earned credibility in the music industry for his role in the album.[75] Cox had been producing records for several notable American artists, including Alicia Keys, B2K, Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child, among others, but he considered "Burn" as his crowning moment, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations. With 2004 deemed to be his introduction to a larger, more mainstream audience, Cox stated in an interview for MTV that many people were starting to recount what he had done.[76]

In 2020, music industry magazine Billboard ranked Usher the "Greatest Pop Star of 2004". Referring to a 2008 article from MTV, writer Shaheem Reid declared that "with Confessions, Usher has made the Big Connection…. That connection our parents felt when Marvin Gaye sang on the Here, My Dear album."[77] Billboard pointed out how most of the secrets revealed and storytelling in the album was inspired by Jermaine Dupri's situation, but they also noted Usher's marketing and "dalliances outside of his public relationship with TLC's Chilli that provided the material for Confessions". The writer praised Usher's commercial power during the Confessions era, as he would influence future pop stars: "Even if you didn't listen to R&B, you knew this album. And if you did listen to R&B, this was the blueprint for all your favorite stars to come: Drake, Justin Bieber, Miguel, Chris Brown and Omarion have all cited Usher's influence. And though Beyoncé spoke about Thriller as the touchstone for her career-defining self-titled release in 2013, the way the lyrics tease revelations about her personal life with her husband, both good and bad, feels more indebted to Confessions than anything Michael Jackson wrote."[78]

According to an editor of web publication Bustle in an article on March 22, 2019 to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Confessions, the album was a "catalyst that propelled him to superstardom" and "forever changed the landscape of music". The editor noted the album's impact on R&B and pop music with the success of "Yeah!" leading "countless R&B stars, from Ciara to T-Pain, to launch careers on the foundation of Crunk&B". The writer also noted the album's influence on trap music and future generations of R&B and hip-hop artists.

Think of trap soul as Crunk&B's mellowed, more subdued successor. Like crunk, it's punchy and heavily steeped in hip-hop influences. But like Usher's take on songs like "Yeah!" and "Follow Me," trap soul has contoured edges and smoother textures. From 6LACK's acerbic laments on love to H.E.R.'s dark, smoky vocals, current trends in R&B can be traced back to Usher's techniques. In this regard, Usher's mark on R&B is indelible; he not only inspired countless artists in the early 2000s, but also charted a course for today's stars.

The editor also pointed out the album's influence on the music industry and pop culture as a whole, as Confessions changed how albums are marketed and "proved that gossip can sell records". Later albums such as Beyoncé's Lemonade, which was fueled by infidelity and divorce rumors with her rapper husband Jay-Z, relationship rumors around Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer, and Ariana Grande's thank u, next coming off the heels of her public break up with comedian Pete Davidson were used as examples of how Usher's Confessions brought "the relationship between the gossip pages and the album charts... stronger than before".[79]

Confessions ranked 2nd best album of the 2000s on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of the Decade 2000s list, higher than any other solo album. The album is also ranked as the 16th best album on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of All Time.[80] In 2020, the album was ranked number 432 on the Top 500 Albums of All-Time by Rolling Stone.[81] With global sales exceeding 15 million, Confessions is the best-selling album by a black artist in the 21st century. Confessions makes Usher the only male solo R&B artist to sell 10 million copies of a single album in the United States during the Soundscan era and the first of only two black artists to reach this mark since the year 2000. (The other black artist being American rapper Nelly with his debut album Country Grammar.) After Confessions was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 10 million copies in the US, no new album was certified diamond until Adele's 2011 album 21 reached diamond-status, the longest between any two new diamond albums since the inception of the association.[82]

A songwriter was awarded $44 million in a lawsuit involving a song from Usher's diamond-certified album Confessions after a jury sided with Daniel Marino in a claim that his "Club Girl" became Usher's hit "Bad Girl"[83]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a vocal producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies a co-producer.

Sample credits

• "Throwback" contains a sample of Dionne Warwick's song "You're Gonna Need Me" (1973)
• "Superstar" contains a sample of Willie Hutch's song "Mack's Stroll/The Getaway (Chase Scene)" (1973).
• "Take Your Hand" contains a sample of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes's song "Is There a Place for Me?" (1973).
• "Whatever I Want" contains excerpts from Preston Love's "Chili Mac".

Credits for Confessions adapted from AllMusic and album's liner notes.[84][85]

• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• Truth Tour

• Confessions at Discogs (list of releases)