Usher delivers the dapper on the cover of GQ Hype.
And beyond posing it up for the colorful shoot, the R&B icon also delivered an update on his long-awaited new album.
The superstar, whose last LP ‘Hard II Love’ was released in 2016, has been lighting up the Las Vegas strip with his ‘My Way’ residency – which he says has been reinvigorating on a seismic scale. Speaking
Billing Sin City as “a place where I can dream, where I can incubate ideas. A place where I can be creative,” the stage blazer says it’s given him perspective about his next body of work.
Initially teased in 2019 as a possible sequel to his Diamond-selling ‘Confessions’ LP, now Ush says he’s driving in another direction.
Full story below…
Speaking to GQ, he said of the decision to ultimately not christen his next album ‘Confessions 2’:
“I can’t be who I was. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be better than what I was. That might be a problem [laughs]”
Continuing, he added:
“I don’t want to make Coming to America 2, I don’t wanna do that. What was done is done. 8701? There will not be an 8702.”
Elsewhere, it’s confirmed that Usher and L.A. Reid have reunited to launch a new record label on which the performer “will be the first signee.”
Reid also spilled on Ush’s present-day record process (which has included sessions with Lil Jon, Sean Garrett, and Bobby Avila):
“He’ll stay behind the mic literally for five, six hours without even a bathroom break. He’ll stand there and sing and sing and sing.”
Usher said of re-teaming with Reid:
“His system is what created that expectation for me, as a young artist. So now, damn near 25 or some odd years later, we feel inspired to go out and create more artists.”
Peep more pics:
