Today’s From The Vault pick comes courtesy of Usher and his breakthrough hit single, ‘You Make Me Wanna’.

The launching release from his sophomore effort, 1997’s ‘My Way’, ‘Make’ stands as the first of many touchdowns scored by the dynamic duo of Ush’ and the great Jermaine Dupri.

Released right at the tail end of the New Jack Swing craze, it became a template for what R&B would go on to sound like in the late 90’s.

Shooting straight to the #2 spot of the Hot 100, the sizzling track was only held back from the pole position by Elton John monumental ‘Candle In The Wind’ – which charted at #1 for 14 weeks. Elsewhere, it was a Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B #1 and also reached the top of the UK Singles Chart tally, it peaked at #6 in both Canada and Australia.

The music video, directed by Bille Woodruff, is a colorful affair mixing solo shots with elaborate dance moves including a chair routine. It was also quite the event because in similar fashion to Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ and Destiny’s Child’s ‘Lose My Breath’ several years later, it featured multiple Usher-clones engaging in synchronized choreography. A 90’s classic.

*************

With Usher’s last album ‘Looking 4 Myself’ not exactly setting the charts alight and R&B seemingly on the up, it will be rather interesting to see which path the entertainer will embark on next go round. Are we in for a dance-athon in the vein of his latest hits ‘DJ Got Us Falling In Love’, ‘Scream’ and ‘OMG’? Will the talented triple-threat take us back to the pure R&B sound of ‘My Way’ and ‘8701’? Is Usher about to unleash something totally different upon us? We sure can’t wait to get the answers to our questions.

What is certain is that the ‘Yeah!’ singer stands as one of the (if not the) most talented male entertainers of the last few generations; an act who always gives it a 100% and truly lives up to his stage-blazer status — hence why we’ll forever be rooting for him.

Bring it on, Ush’!

Your thoughts