Music superstar Usher Raymond has jumped into a new area of audio performance.
The singer-songwriter, whose entertainment career spans more than 30 years, has teamed with a major audiobook and podcast service to share his personal and professional journey with listeners around the world, straight from the source.
On Monday, Audible Inc. announced its next installment of the "Words and Music" series will feature Usher diving into the origins and his ongoing passion for being onstage, appropriately titled “The Last Showman.”
“A pioneer of the present, the youngest of legends has always been my focus as an artist,” Raymond, who just recently ended the American leg of the Usher: Past, Present, and Future tour, says to introduce the Audible Original program.
“And I live in a very ambiguous space. Creating relevant art is still front of my mind, but I also want to celebrate and relish the 30 years of hard work that has gone into every moment. I never really took the time to enjoy any of the work because I always thought about the next thing.”
Raymond recalls his church choir origins and growing up in Chattanooga, Tenn., and how he immediately found comfort in front of a microphone.
He also talks about moving with his family to Atlanta during his childhood, and how the relocation helped him find footing in the music industry. Marvin Gaye, Gene Kelly and others were role models, as he says he never wanted to be “just a singer” or “just a dancer.”
“You have to express your goals outward. No matter what people may feel or how complicated it may be, the only way it’s going to become a reality is if you see it and say it in your mind and then profess it. Decide to commit,” he said.
“As long as you stay connected to what you are committed to and what you believe, something major will happen. God will show up.”
Credit: Charles Sykes, AP
Credit: Charles Sykes, AP
Partnering with music journalist and critic Gerrick Kennedy, author of “Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston” and co-author of Brandy’s untitled upcoming memoir, Raymond boasts that he performed the most watched Super Bowl Halftime Show of all time.
He also didn’t hesitate to say he’s one of the only R&B artists to have an album be certified Diamond, marking the sale of 10 million copies, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Raymond recounted that the album, “Confessions,” not only changed his career trajectory; it also changed the entire industry. He says by merging the music and cultural scenes of R&B and hip hip-hop crafting an album with “honesty and depth” to which listeners could relate, the album gave him more versatility and sophistication.
“That blurring of lines between reality and fantasy is part of the allure of ‘Confessions,’ even 20 years later,” he said on the Audible Original. “Storytelling comes alive in our imagination.”
Despite his successes and milestones, Raymond says he always found himself asking what was next and had to stop “chasing evolution” in order to be happy in the moment.
“I had to change my mindset, and I’m really learning to not be so concerned about the future. Not that it doesn’t matter, but I can enjoy the present,” he explained in “The Last Showman.”
Credit: Raymond Hagans / Special to AJC
Credit: Raymond Hagans / Special to AJC
“I’ve arrived at this very fortunate place in my life and my career where my past is being celebrated in my present.”
Interspersed with original performances from songs on the “Confessions” album, “The Last Showman” provides an unguarded side of Usher that hasn’t even been explored in much of his music. While sharing his passion for entertaining audiences, Raymond also shows he’s human in the audio program, according to Kennedy.
“Usher was vulnerable and raw in ways I hadn’t heard from him in past interviews,” Kennedy said in a comment to UATL.
“It was a joy to get deeper insight into his life and career.”
“The Last Showman” debuts Feb. 6 on Audible.
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