'Ushering' the women in

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

IF THERE'S a male artiste who has the right package - sight and sound - and sells sex perfectly, it's R&B singer Usher. And Jamaican women know it. They have been salivating in anticipation of his Reggae Sumfest performance on International Night 2, Saturday, July 24.

One of the most successful R&B singers, Usher, born Usher Raymond IV, continues to blaze trails since his start in the business back in the 1990s. The singer burst on to the scene as a teen sensation with hits such as My Way and You Make Me Wanna and has since developed into a mature crooner with hits such as Yeah, Confessions and the more recent OMG.

The artiste released his sixth studio album in March of this year, titled Raymond v Raymond, and was in Beijing, China when The Gleaner caught up with him to discuss his upcoming visit to Jamaica. Reggae Sumfest will mark the singer's second appearance in Jamaica, having performed at Sashi a few years ago. He disclosed that he will be planning a special set for his Jamaican fans - and stay a while.

He said: "Everytime I come to Jamaica, I never get to enjoy the sights. More than anything, I'm so focused on performance and what I'm doing. This time, I'm not only going to enjoy the performance; I'll be able to take my time, but also I have a few extra days there to really just enjoy the sun, enjoy the beach, enjoy the energy."

Usher has a wide catalogue of music to perform, as well as utilising his noted dancing abilities. The singer is an all-round entertainment package and his skills are still being enjoyed around the world. Usher recently made headlines in China where he performed for the first time and in Chinese, to boot.

According to the singer, the response to his latest album has been good across the world. He said, "So far so good, people are loving it all over the world. I just performed for an audience of 50,000 in Manila. We played Beijing, we played South Korea, we played Malasyia ... Everywhere I've gone in Asia they loved it. In America they're loving it, in Europe they loved it, I went to Australia, they loved it."

He invited all to come and hear music from Raymond v Raymond and also previous albums, "'cause I'll be doing music from my previous albums in Jamaica. It's good, it's great to be able to collect that experience all over the world".

Usher describes his latest album as a new chapter for him with new spunk and energy and, so far, it has been paying off. The first promotional single, Papers, topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart for two consecutive weeks, becoming his 10th number-one single on that chart. Success continued with Hey Daddy reaching the Billboard charts and OMG number-one in Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. The song became his ninth number one in the United States, making him the first 2010s artist to collect number-one singles in three consecutive decades and only the fourth artist of all-time to achieve the feat.

Despite his success, the singer is always humble and encouraging others, having recently signed young sensation Justin Bieber to his label, Raymond Braun Media Group. His advice for entertainers who want to stay in the business as long as he has is "keep up the good work. I mean hard work pays off in this game. You know the longer you stay in it, the more recognition you get".

 Fun fact for Usher's female fans:

What does Usher like in a girl? The Gleaner found out recently as the singer disclosed:

"Honestly, I look for a woman who knows how to move her hips. She's gotta be able to dance; that's definitely important for me. She has to be comfortable in her skin, you know what I mean? I want a woman who is very confident. I don't like women who have too much attitude where they're almost conceited and not approachable."

Listen to our full interview with Usher at www.jamaica-gleaner.com/videos.