In reply to eric.

Agreed. Usher had a winning team with Jermaine Dupri and Jam & Lewis as his primary producers...with sporadic others like Babyface, Pharrell, Lil John. Then he fucked it up by replacing them with bland ass Rico Love and Jim Jonsin, then fucked up even worse by trying to go pop with Max Martin, RedOne, will.I.am and Diplo.

Usher lost his identity by trying to do "something different," was soundly rejected by his core fans and is now scrambling to get back to where he was.

This is a cautionary tail to artists: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.