Hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Usher dropped his debut album. The eternally boyish superstar has made magic on wax, on movie screens, on the Broadway stage, and most recently as the amiable judge on the televised reality show The Voice.
His eight album catalog is inconsistent (to say the least,) particularly when it comes to his more recent efforts. A natural soul singer, recent years have found Usher squandering his gift by leaning heavily on the EDM craze. Like many artists, Usher has gone from “instant buy” status to “proceed with caution” when it comes to my own music purchasing/consumption habits.
A new track called “Good Kisser” was released today, and, thankfully, it’s not another frenetic dance tune. It’s also not a work of vocal and production genius like his last major hit single, “Climax,” was. From a production and lyrical standpoint, “Kisser” is pretty skeletal, essentially Usher just singing over a looped bass line. On one hand, this gives me hope that Usher is leaving the glow sticks behind, but on the other hand, he’s capable of so much better. Folks in our general age range (“our”-myself & Usher) need a little more.
Feel free to comment and leave your thoughts.
6 comments
GG says:
May 5, 2014
It’s okay. I surely hope this isn’t a lead single to anything though.
MJ says:
May 5, 2014
I think it is, sir. I think it is.
Kevin says:
May 7, 2014
It’s aiight. Nothing to get me excited about a new Usher album though. Personally, I actually have liked the last couple of “glow stick” releases, just cause it gave me a reason to shake what my momma gave me.
MJ says:
May 7, 2014
Dude, there is SO much better music to dance to! Usher doesn’t need to bring himself down to the level of…Pitbull. Ugh. I wanna spit just saying that name.
Trey Stone says:
May 8, 2014
I actually liked dude’s last “glowstick” release too, but the parts I liked weren’t the glowstick parts. I did like the will.i.am-electros-Billy Joel track though *shrug*
need to give this a closer listen but sounds like the beat on the hook > the rest of the song
MJ says:
May 8, 2014
will.i.am is an automatic letter grade down for any album that features him. The beat on this track is hot. The rest of the song? Ehhhhhh…