Usher Apparently Almost Never Recorded ‘Yeah,’ Until L.A. Reid Told Him To ‘Do The F*cking Song’

It’s crazy to think, but Usher‘s biggest hit apparently almost never happened. Rico Love, a producer on Usher’s Confessions album, revealed the backstory behind the track during a recent appearance on Home Grown Radio (via TMZ).

Love pointed out that Usher’s first listen of the demo, which Sean Garrett wrote, resulted in him not liking the song — and he flat out did not want to record it. Specifically, Usher also started laughing because he thought the song’s opening lyrics were too cheesy.

While Usher had planned for “Burn” to be the first single from his album, it was L.A. Reid who pushed him to not only make the song his own but drop it as a single. Love said that Reid told Usher to just “do the f*cking song” during a call, and then hung up.

Eventually, Ludacris and Lil Jon joined Usher on “Yeah,” the track dropped, and the rest was history. It was cemented as a dancefloor anthem that spent twelve weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

And now, Usher will likely even treat this weekend’s crowd at the Super Bowl to a “Yeah” live rendition, as Ludacris and Lil Jon appeared in an Apple Music Halftime Show teaser earlier this week.