The ornoy of this post.
First off, there was no shelved album. It's [i]8701[/i]. This was to be the lead single off of it but they decided against it because (here's the irony) it was to 'Pop' for him.

Usher has always adapted and owned whatever sound was current. That's why he's still churning out hits when other R&B acts at that time (Monica, Brandy etc) fizzled out over the years.

He IS a King and who doesn't like it will deal.