Far beyond the extraordinary levels of success that Usher has already achieved in his meteoric rise to global superstardom as singer, composer, producer, film and television actor, businessman and philanthropist, 2004 managed to add even further levels of accomplishment to his profile. Consider the phenomenal success of his fifth album, Confessions, which (as of this writing) is certified 8-times RIAA platinum in the U.S. alone, has surpassed 11 million copies worldwide, and continues to sell about one million copies per month.
Released in March 2004, Confessions scanned a record-breaking 1.1 million units in its first week out, giving Usher his first #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and his first simultaneous #1 pop/#1 R&B entry. (The full extent of the album's historic first week will be detailed further, below.) The CD dominated the album charts throughout the year ? spending a total of 12 weeks at #1 ? as it spun off three consecutive #1 Pop/#1 R&B hit singles: "Yeah!" (featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris), "Burn" and "Confessions Part II."
Confirming the album's chart-busting success was the decision, seven month's after its initial release, to issue Confessions (Special Edition), a deluxe repackaged, redesigned, limited-edition version of the album (with a distinctive 3-D lenticular cover and 2x2 panel fold-out poster inside the jewel box) also including four bonus tracks. Among those bonus tracks was a fourth #1 pop/#1 R&B hit single, "My Boo," an electrifying duet with J Records artist Alicia Keys, produced by Jermaine Dupri for So So Def Productions, and co-produced by Manuel Seal. The video was directed on location in New York City by Chris Robinson.
"With every album, I try to better myself," Usher said before the release of Confessions. "I'm a perfectionist and with the success of my last record [2001's 8701], I wasn't sure about where my growth should be ? as a performer, as a vocalist. I always felt like I held something back on my albums ? on every album, I was playing a ?role'. This time, I decided to shake my fears and allow my personality to come through."
Usher, who turned 25 during the recording of Confessions, had already experienced a lifetime under the lights ? but was ready for more. Signed in 1993 by Antonio "L.A." Reid and Babyface to their LaFace Records label in Atlanta, Usher was poised to begin his second decade as a recording megastar in 2004. This realization had a profound impact on him.
"I'm 25-years old," he said, "and I'm dealing with my responsibilities as a man and I'm not afraid to speak, to be realistic and talk about the issues men deal with." The new album's title was no accident. "I'm telling on myself," he admitted ? confessed ? and more than one song dealt with the paradox of honesty and dishonesty in personal relationships. Few artists are willing to tackle such weighty material, but Usher had matured into a different person in the intervening years between albums, a new man who was willing to confront life's changes.
