Terius took the same approach to what is arguably his best album, 1977. Thus “Burn” was born, although Dupri would later claim that songs like “Confessions Part I & II” were actually inspired by his own experiences of infidelity, not Usher’s.
At the time of recording Confessions, Usher was going through a rough breakup with Rozonda “Chili” Thomas of TLC, and together with Jermaine Dupri, he decided to let some of those real-life situations inform the songs he was making. The-Dream – 1977It’d be remiss not to mention one of the most influential R&B acts currently doing it. Confessions allowed Usher to find strength in truth, and Drake amplified that strategy to make a career out of it. For a rapper it was somewhat unheard of, but for a singer it’s well-traversed ground. 60% rapper, 40% R&B vocalist, Drizzy emphasized his vulnerability, his mistakes, and his weaknesses on his breakout project. Usher wasn’t the first to do that on Confessions, but he did pave the way for a new generation to trace similar paths in their music.ĭrake – So Far GoneDrake must have taken Usher’s breakup pretty hard, too. His debut full-length Pineapple Now-Laters features the kind of hip-hop infusion that fueled Confessions’ success, but it also has a similarly bare vulnerability in songs like “I Want You Back” and “His Pain.”īJ takes all of life’s lumps with a hung head and turns those experiences into a beautiful R&B journey. Confessions not only made it okay to include more pop-leaning rap sounds on an R&B album, but it made those sounds hot through “Yeah!”īJ The Chicago Kid – Pineapple Now-LatersCreeping into the collective rap conscious on songs with Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Freddie Gibbs, BJ The Chicago Kid is one of the most slept-on R&B acts out. Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, Fabolous, Mikey Rocks, Twista, YG and E-40 all feature as well, making the tape something of a rap showcase. Producers like FKi and Mike Will Made It provide pointedly non-R&B beats that Jeremih makes work within the tapestry of the project. Lil Jon injected the song with crunk juice, and though Jeremih didn’t ingest the same formula, he incorporated trap, the Southern successor to crunk, into Late Nights With Jeremih. Jeremih – Late Nights With Jeremih“Yeah!” was the outlier on Confessions, becoming the biggest single on the album while stylistically straying from the rest of the project.
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