Usher is on the verge of his next era after teasing his new single “GLU,” and incessantly hinting at his next album. However, the 44-year-old King of R&B also has another goal: to make the beloved genre “more endlessly consumable,” which he intends to do for a host of reasons and in a few different ways.
In his recent GQ profile, Ursher shared that he reunited with his longtime friend, record producer L.A. Reid in 2021. The two were instrumental in each other’s careers before falling out after Confessions was released. Now, things have come full circle. “It felt like it could be spontaneous, but I swear it could have been by design,” Reid said.
The two are set to start a new record label with Usher as its first signee. “His system is what created that expectation for me, as a young artist,” stated Usher. “So now, damn near 25 or some odd years later, we feel inspired to go out and create more artists.”
As for the future of R&B, the Diamond-certified superstar said, “For some reason, hip-hop has always been aspirational, period, because of its defiance and going against the grain. It feels disruptive. And R&B? It might not always feel that way. So I’m working on that part.”
When it comes to the next installment of Usher’s Vegas residency, he wants fans to think of it as a narrative. “It’s this hero’s journey of this person who finally comes to grips with who and what he is, and where he’s been, and owning some of the pain that he’s caused,” said Ush. “All of that happens in the second show. The third show is the next chapter of that story.”
New dates were announced earlier this week with the show now running from February 2023 through October.