Usher and his girlfriend, Jenn Goicoechea just had their second child together! Goicochea debuted her baby bump on the red carpet at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards, which Usher hosted. Usher Has A New Addition To The Family Usher and his current girlfriend Jenn already share a daughter Sovereign Bo, who they welcomed to the […]
Vinyl Me, Please has established themselves as an essential ally to vinyl collectors over the years, as they regularly offer exclusive editions of revered albums, pressed in unique colors and accompanied by delightful extras. There are only three months left in the year, and today, VMP has shared the roadmap for how they’ll be handling their monthly releases for October, November, and December.
October’s albums of the month are Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest (as the month’s Essentials release), Teddy Pendergrass’s Life Is A Song Worth Singing (Classics), Three 6 Mafia’s When The Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1 (Hip-Hop), and Sam Hunt’s Montevallo (Country). Following that in November will be Usher’s Confessions (Essentials), Freddie King’s My Feeling For The Blues (Classics), Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury (Hip-Hop), and Gram Parsons’s Grievous Angel (Country). Closing the year in December are The Meters’s Rejuvenation (Essentials), Roberta Flack’s Quiet Fire (Classics), RZA’s RZA as Bobby Digital In Stereo (Hip-Hop), and Buck Owens & His Buckaroos’s Carnegie Hall Concert (Country).
All of the releases are bound to be special, and in particular, Usher’s Confessions represents something new for VMP, as Alexandra Berenson, their Head of A&R, notes, “We’re really excited for the opportunity to run a record like this because we haven’t really done a massive R&B crossover hit in our Essentials. It’s a very cohesive album and it has been totally underserved on vinyl. It hasn’t had a reissue since it first came out and we figured, ‘Let’s give this the VMP treatment. Let’s try to make the most definitive version of this record that we can.’”
Learn more about the upcoming Essentials releases here, the upcoming Classics releases here, the upcoming Hip-Hop releases here, and the upcoming Country releases here.
With the latest VERZUZ of Fat Joe vs. Ja Rule behind us, major celebrities are chiming in who they would like to see do the next VERZUZ. During the show, Jermaine Dupri challenged Diddy to do a VERZUZ which prompted a response from Usher. USHER CHIMES IN TMZ caught up with Usher and questioned him […]
Vixen Amber Rose’s bae Alexander “AE” Edwards is all about becoming a helping hand or – in this case – shoulder. The hip-hop executive shares footage of himself chilling alongside Usher at a packed event. But things quickly switch up. What seemed like him attending turned into becoming a stage prop. Usher actually leans on […]
Toward the end of June, a clip from Netflix’s This Is Pop made its way to social media. in it, T-Pain detailed a past conversation he had with Usher where the Confessions singer allegedly told him that he “really f*cked up music for real singers” as a result of his auto-tune style.
T-Pain added that the conversation “started a four-year depression for me,” but he also insisted that he still has “love and respect” for Usher despite his comments. Nearly two months later, Usher offered a response to that conversation being made public during a profile with Billboard.
“I’m happy that T-Pain said something,” the singer said to Billboard’s Gail Mitchell. “I’m not sure if it was before or after our actual conversation, after I heard what was said. It was very hurtful to know that he had experienced that kind of hardship in life.” Responding to T-Pain’s claim that the conversation led to his depression, Usher said, “I wouldn’t wish that on any person.”
“Private conversations for me have always been intended to uplift,” Usher added. “But when or if people get pieces of it, they can always have some other interpretation. But we’ve spoken since and we’re good.”
The conversation with Billboard came after Usher launched his Las Vegas residency. He previously spoke about the string of shows and somewhat revealed what fans can expect when they attend.
“I want you to guess,” he said. “I want to keep you bubbling with anticipation until I have dropped the first record and you hear the first moment. When the lights go down and you feel the energy. I promise the classics and also new stuff.”
You can read Usher’s full profile with Billboard here.
Last spring, Live Nation, Snoop Dogg, and Bobby Dee announced the Lovers & Friends festival, a massive showcase that would bring some of the best singers and rappers of the 1990s and 2000s to one stage. The festival flyer was equipped with names that included Lauryn Hill, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris, Ciara, Nelly, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, Brandy, and, Monica — and that’s just on the first two lines of the poster.
Then the pandemic arrived and forced the postponement of the festival, as it did for many other big name showcases. Luckily Lovers & Friends announced that the festival — with all the artists that appeared on the original flyer — would return on May 14, 2022. Now, the showcase has unveiled a second date for the show.
Lauryn Hill, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris, and the rest of the crew will take the stage for the festival in Las Vegas for an added show on May 15, 2022. Those who signed up for access to presale tickets for the May 14 date will now have access to the “First Dibs Presale” for the May 15 date which begins on Saturday, August 7 at 3 p.m. EST / 12 p.m. PST. Another presale for the second date will begin on Monday, August 9 at 1 p.m. EST / 10 a.m. PST while tickets for the general public will be made available starting August 9 at 5 p.m. EST / 2 a.m. PST.
For more information, check out loversandfriendsfest.com.
Just before the pandemic started, one of the most anticipated festivals of the 2020 season was Lovers & Friends, a new but nostalgic festival that popped up out of nowhere and caused mass havoc and confusion on Twitter as fans clamored to figure out if the stacked lineup was real. Furthering the confusion, some of the billed acts, like Lil Kim, claimed to have not been booked, adding a layer of intrigue and attention that had anticipation sky-high when they finally confirmed.
Unfortunately, as we all know, Corona came through hating and we all missed out on seeing every elder Millennial’s favorite artists return to the stage alongside contemporary artists like Jhene Aiko, Megan Thee Stallion, Saweetie, and Summer Walker (all heavily influenced by 2000s-era sounds and aesthetics). It looked like Lovers & Friends was a wrap, a fever dream we all shared for a bit before the world collectively went to hell.
But apparently, Live Nation, Snoop Dogg, and Bobby Dee had to do it again (see what I did there?), bringing the festival back for a new date, May 14, 2022. The venue has changed as well; while the original was scheduled for Carson, CA (a smaller venue that prompted the show’s organizers to add a second day) the 2022 iteration will take place in Las Vegas. Presale begins August 2 at 10 am PT. For more information, check out loversandfriendsfest.com.
Earlier this week, the internet was shocked by an anecdote T-Pain shared during an interview for the upcoming Netflix film This Is Pop. In it, he detailed a depression-sparking conversation he had with Usher during a flight together to the 2013 BET Awards. “I was like, ‘What’s good?’” T-Pain recalled. “I thought he was about to tell me something real. He sounded real concerned. He was like, ‘Man, you kind of… you kind of f*cked up music.’” He added, “I didn’t understand. Usher was my friend. He was like, ‘Yeah man, you really f*cked up music for real singers.’”
I hate how the world did T-Pain. pic.twitter.com/6Ib9dzHTjY
— FKA Carly Beth (@LoggingInIsBad) June 21, 2021
I still love and respect @Usher telling that story was in no way meant to disrespect that man. Ppl talk shit about me 24/7 but when it comes from someone you truly respect it hits very different. I never said f*ck Ursh it was a drop in the ocean of shit I was already goin through
— T-Pain (@TPAIN) June 22, 2021
The news T-Pain fans to rush to social media to give Usher a piece of their minds. Less than 24 hours after the clip from the upcoming This Is Pop film arrived on social media, T-Pain returned to Twitter to clarify his feelings towards Usher. “I still love and respect @Usher telling that story was in no way meant to disrespect that man,” he wrote. “Ppl talk sh*t about me 24/7 but when it comes from someone you truly respect it hits very different. I never said f*ck Ursh it was a drop in the ocean of sh*t I was already goin through.”
T-Pain is a talented vocalist, as he has proven on many occasions. His 2014 Tiny Desk Concert stands out as a shining example of that. Ultimately, though, he is best known for his songs that make use of Auto-Tune to alter the sound of his vocals. His Auto-Tuned voice dominated the music landscape in the latter half of the 2000s, but not everybody was a fan. The way T-Pain tells it, that group includes Usher, who allegedly accused T-Pain of ruining music, a moment that sent T-Pain into a long depression.
I hate how the world did T-Pain. pic.twitter.com/6Ib9dzHTjY
— FKA Carly Beth (@LoggingInIsBad) June 21, 2021
In a clip from Netflix’s This Is Pop, T-Pain tells the story about the time he and Usher were on a plane, on their way to the 2013 BET Awards:
“We were actually going to the 2013 BET Awards, and we were all in first class and I went to sleep. I was awakened by the flight attendant. She said, ‘Usher would like to talk to you in the back.’ So I got up and went back and he was like, you know, ‘How’s everything going?’ Quick small talk, no big deal. And he was like, ‘Man, I want to tell you something, man.’ I was like, ‘What’s good?’ I thought he was about to tell me something real. He sounded real concerned. He was like, ‘Man, you kind of… you kind of f*cked up music.’
I didn’t understand. Usher was my friend. He was like, ‘Yeah man, you really f*cked up music for real singers.’ Literally, at that point, I couldn’t listen. ‘Is he right? Did I f*ck up music?’ And that is the very moment… I don’t even think I realized this for a long time, but that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.”
Watch the clip above.
A couple weeks ago, Usher went viral after it was alleged that he paid a stripper with fake money that had his face on it. It was later reported that he didn’t actually do that, but rather, he and his team were just leaving the phony bills around town to promote his upcoming Las Vegas residency. Now, in a new interview with Billboard, Usher has discussed the now-infamous “Usher Bucks.”
Usher spoke about how the fake money is part of his broader promotional campaign, saying:
“The idea behind Usher Bucks was really as a way of promoting the residency. And since then, there has been more conversations, thus proving roads lead to Las Vegas. Stay tuned. We’ve been working on the merchandise for the night and that was the start of it. […] I have a really great team, behind the scenes and on the stage putting together the show promoting the show, coming up with ideas of how to promote the show and market the merchandising. A lot of great detail and thought has gone into the experience. From the moment you walk into the Coliseum to the moment you leave the Coliseum we’re going to definitely make it an environment to enjoy, experience, and celebrate.”
He also spoke about his residency, saying it will feature a live band and fresh choreography. He added, “The anticipation is beautiful. I want you to guess. I want to keep you bubbling with anticipation until I have dropped the first record and you hear the first moment. When the lights go down and you feel the energy. I promise the classics and also new stuff. It’s about celebrating the years about celebrating the records, and celebrating the ones that brought us all together. And also to introduce new ones.”
Read the full interview here.
