Usher’s Tiny Desk Concert was a hit. The R&B icon delivered renditions of some of his most popular songs throughout his career, including “Confessions Pt II,” “Superstar,” and “You Make Me Wanna…”. The performance was aided by a talented backing band, which had Eric Bellinger and Vedo on backup vocals.
But there’s a brief moment in the NPR set that it seems the internet has gravitated towards. At one point during his rendition of “Confessions Pt II,” Usher looks directly at the camera and waves his hands in front of his eyes, whispering in a sultry tone, “Watch this.” The move got laughs at the crowd at the time, but he probably didn’t expect it would light Twitter on fire.
Since the performance was released, countless Twitter users have used the clip as a meme. The format is consistent– someone will allege that something’s not possible, and then Usher says… “watch this.” For example, user @kevonstage wrote, “Chick-Fil-A employee: You can’t eat the 8 piece nugget and the spice chicken sandwich. Me: [Usher video].” @ThatZoeJames chimed in, writing, “Her: Don’t go out there entertaining these other hoes. Me: [Usher video].” Even Halle Berry got in on the joke, poking fun at her recent choice of roles in movies. “I know she’s not about to save another kid in this mov…” Berry wrote, and then included the Usher clip.
Usher himself hasn’t weighed in on the meme yet, though he seemed happy with how the performance went. “Thanks for having me Tiny Desk!” He wrote in a tweet. Check out a collection of the Usher memes below.