Star construction of Usher; A2 Media studies coursework.

1. Star Construction:
Usher
By Aminatta Sylva 13H

2. Biography
• At age 13, Usher competed on Star Search and was
spotted by an A&R representative from LaFace
Records; he then arranged for an audition for Usher
with L.A Reid. Reid signed Usher to the company,
and his mother left her job as a medical technician
to manage him; however Usher broke up their
relationship as manager-client in 2007.
• At age 15, Usher recorded on the soundtrack “Call
Me A Mack”; a song recorded on the soundtrack
album of Poetic Justice the 1993 drama-romance
film.
Usher is a R&B/Soul/Pop singer that was born Usher Terry Raymond IV
on 14th October 1978 to parents Jonetta Patton and Usher Raymond III
in Dallas, Texas, US. Since the age of nine Usher has had huge interest
in singing; his family discovered his ability to sing at the time and
decided to move to Atlanta in order for him to showcase his talent.
Usher frequently attended the local church choir prior moving to
Atlanta in search of a career, while in Atlanta Usher attended North
Springs High School.
At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local quintet; NuBeginnings which was
created by local music Darryl Wheeler. Usher managed to record 10
tracks on the NuBeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV in 1991. The
album was only available regionally and by mail order. However, the
album was released in 2002 by Hip-O Records.

3. Music Ventures- 1994-2001
Usher then went on to release his second album My Way which was co-produced
and written by Jermaine Dupri; the album was released on September 16th 1997.
The album featured leading single “You Make Me Wanna”; which reach #1 in the
UK- this became Usher’s first #1 single. It also became Usher’s first gold and
platinum certified single in the U.S.
The second single “Nice and Slow” peaked #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; giving
Usher his first #1 single in the U.S. Later in 1998 the single was certified platinum;
My Way has been certified six time platinum in the U.S.
Aged 16 Usher released his self-titled debut album that sold over 500,00 copies
through LaFace records in 1994; which was produced by P Diddy. The album
managed to reach #25 on the billboards for Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It
featured three singles: “Can U Get wit it”, “Think Of You” and “The Many Ways”.
Usher ‘s third album “All About U” was released early 2001; included the single of
“Pop Ya Collar”- this became a #2 hit in U.K. The album was pushed back and later
released as 8701 and featured the singles of “U Remind Me” and “U got It Bad”-
both singles topped the Billboard Hot 100 for more than four weeks. 8701 has
been certified four time platinum in the U.S. Usher also won a Grammy for ‘Best
Male R&B Vocal performance’ for “U Remind Me”. The next year he won another
Grammy for “U Don’t Have to Call”.

4. Music Ventures- 2004-2008
On 23rd March 2004, Usher released his fourth album Confessions this
featured the single “Yeah!” which stayed #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six
weeks. Other singles included “Burn” and “Confessions Part II”; they also
topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. Usher became the first artist to
top the Billboard Hot 100 Air play with four consecutive number one singles.
The album sold nearly 1.1 million copies within the first week making it the
first highest sales made by an R&B artist and the seventh best Nielsen
SoundScan history. The album sold 20 million worldwide; earning a Diamond
certification by the RIAA.
Here I Stand was released on May 27th 2008 and the album debuted #1
on the Billboard 200 chart with the five week sales of over 433,000
copies. It was certified platinum by the RIAA. In total Here I Stand sold
over5 million copies worldwide. To promote Usher’s fifth album, the
single “Love In This Club” was released on February 2008 and reached #1
on the billboard Hot 100. It spent three weeks at the top; becoming
Usher’s eighth number-one single and fastest rising song of his career. It
also became huge international success for Usher.

5. Music Ventures-2010
In 2010 Usher released his sixth album Raymond v Raymond ; it was released
only months after Usher’s divorce with Tameka Foster. The first single
“Papers” a song about separation, was released for the album on October
2009; it topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two weeks- becoming
his tenth number one single on that chart. “Hey Daddy” was released on
December 2009 and peaked #24 on Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Lil Freak” ft Nicki Minaj was released in 2010 as
the album’s official second single; and it reached #8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs chart, and #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“OMG” featuring will.i.am was released as the album’s third official single and
first international single; it reached #1 in Ireland, New Zealand, UK and many
more. This song became his ninth #1 in the U.S. “There Goes My Baby” was
released to airplay as the album’s fourth single on June 2010; it reached #25
on the billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Making
it Usher’s eleventh #1 hit on the US billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at
#1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming his third #1 album and sold 329,107
copies on the first week. A month after its release The album was certified
gold by the RIAA on June 2010; by the end of June the album was certified
platinum.
On July 2010 Usher announced a follow up extended play to Raymond v.
Raymond and he titled it Versus and a deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymond
were both released on August 24th 2010. The deluxe edition of Raymond v.
Raymond featured appearances of Justin Bieber, Pitbull and Jay-Z.

6. Music Ventures- 2012-present
Usher released his seventh album Looking 4 Myself on
June 2012; he describes it as “revolutionary pop”. The lead
single for this album was “Climax” which was released on
February 2012, the second single was “Scream” which was
later released in March.
Since 2013 Usher has currently working on his eight album
UR . “Good Kisser” is the first single from this album,
other three releases have also been made; “She Came to
Give It to You” ft Nicki Minaj, “I don’t Mind” ft Juicy J and
“Still Got It! Ft Migos.

7. Musical style and influences
Usher has a leggero tenor vocal range and frequently
uses his falsetto in most of his songs. Usher’ music is
generally of the R&B genre but he often incorporates
pop, dance and hip-hop elements into his work. The
albums Raymond v. Raymond and Looking 4 Myself
Usher expresses electro pop and dance pop into his
music. Usher is also a profound dancer and dances in
his music videos.
Usher’s influencers are Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye,
Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly, Luther Vandross and Bobby
Brown. Usher believes that Michael Jackson has deeply
influenced him in many ways; as a humanitarian,
philanthropist and as an artist. Usher was able to dance
and perform at Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary

8. Other Ventures
In 2002 Usher founded his own record label- Vanity which is a
subsidiary of Clive Davis’s J Records, which is distributed by Sony
BMG. The label’s acts are Rico Love, Justin Bieber, One Chance and
Rayan.
Usher also owns several restaurants and is a
part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers
professional basketball team; the reported
purchase price for this team was $375 million.
He became the third pop artist to own a large
stake in an NBA team.
Usher starred as a mentor in
American Idol, he also appeared on
ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, and
recently joined as a coach in The
Voice which was first aired on
march 2013, on NBC. He also
became a mentor on the Voice.
Usher also has an acting career; he featured in The Faculty(1998), Light It Up,
In The Mix. In 2002 he starred on Twilight Zone revival as a police officer. He
also acted on stage, making his debut on Broadway in 2006 in Chicago as a
lawyer; he also joined the cast of the off-Broadway play Fuerzabruta in 2012.

9. Fashion
Through his career Usher’s fashion has evolved from street wear; Nikes and Timberlands to high
end fashion labels such as Balenciaga and Prada. When Usher stepped on the stage during the 90s
he rocked the baggy 90’s look; but over the years as he matured he developed his own look;
making him a modern day fashion icon. Usher’s hair is usually cut short with waves, recently he
grew a Mohawk in his “Good Kisser” music video.
1990s 2000s 2005 2010 present

10. Target Audience
• As Usher began his career at a young age, he and his fans have
grown up with him through his journey; at the same time he has
gained fans within the young adult bracket through the visuals of
his music videos and his songs. Usher produces songs for
different audiences; he produces both nature content and pop
content to suit his varied target audience.
• Because of his sex appeal, the majority of Usher’s fans are
women because they find him attractive and objectify him; the
minority is men as they would aspire to be like Usher according
to the uses and gratification model.

11. Social media presence- YouTube
Usher’s YouTube channel gives fans the chance to watch his latest and official music
videos/lyric videos. We can tell from the viewing figures that this music video was
well perceived by his target audience. It also gives the viewer information on where
they can buy the song from.

12. Social media presence- Facebook and Twitter
We can tell that Usher is very
popular on social media as he
has millions of fans; it also
suggests to us that he is a
frequent user of social media
as it allows him to directly
reach out to his fans. It is also
an easy way for his fans to
reach out to him, and see what
he is up to.

13. Social media presence- website
Usher’s homepage is very cool as the background is playing the behind
the scenes footage of his tour and life. It also lists the next tour dates
available to view. The website links everything together; we can see
the iconic symbols of social media on here- Facebook, twitter, YouTube
etc.