Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is widely recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. Raymond first released his self-titled debut album in 1994 at the age of sixteen, and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and saw similar success with its follow-ups "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success with the number-one singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003.
Confessions is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Usher. It was released on March 23, 2004, by Arista Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2003 to 2004, with its production handled by his longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Lil Jon, among others. Primarily an R&B album, Confessions showcases Usher as a crooner through a mixture of ballads and up-tempos, incorporating musical genres of dance-pop, hip hop and crunk. The album's themes generated controversy about Usher's personal relationships; however, the album's primary producer Jermaine Dupri claimed the album reflects Dupri's own personal story.
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ.
"Burn" is a song by American R&B singer Usher, which he wrote with American songwriters Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. The song was produced by Dupri and Cox for Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions (2004). A downtempo track about the breakup of a relationship, it was originally planned as the album's lead single, but "Burn" was pushed back after favorable responses for the song "Yeah!". "Burn" was eventually released as the second single from the album on March 21, 2004.
"Shake It Off" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). It was written and produced by Carey along with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johntá Austin. The song was serviced to radio on July 11, 2005, by Island and Mercury Records as the album's third single in the United States, while "Get Your Number" served as the album's third single elsewhere. Described by Dupri as "ghetto," the track is a R&B song that makes use of pop and hip hop influences and a simple, sparse production. Lyrically, the song follows Carey as she moves on from her relationship with an unfaithful lover, packing her things and breaking up with him over an answering machine.
"Confessions Part II" is a song by R&B singer Usher, produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox for Usher's fourth album Confessions. Written by Usher, Dupri and Cox, the song is a confession of a man to his woman about his impregnated mistress. This is a continuation of "Confessions Part I" which relates to a man's infidelity. Its personal content evoked rumors and early responses from the public even before its release, believing that Usher was asserting the truth; however, Dupri divulged that the story behind the album is about himself.
Johntá Moore Austin is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and rapper signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is known for collaborating with producers Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri and the production duo StarGate. He won two Grammy Awards for his work on the songs "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey and "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige.
Bryan-Michael Paul Cox is an American record producer and songwriter who is notable for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. Among his most notable productions are "Be Without You" for Mary J. Blige, "Burn", "Confessions Part II" and "U Got It Bad" for Usher, and "Shake It Off", "I Stay In Love" and "You Don't Know What To Do" for Mariah Carey.
"U Got It Bad" is a song by American singer Usher. It was released through Arista Records as the second official single from his third studio album 8701 (2001). It was written by Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, and produced by Dupri, with Cox credited a as co-producer. Released in the United States on August 21, 2001, "U Got It Bad" is an R&B ballad that, according to MTV, incorporates "digi-coustic" guitars, a "slow-burning bass line" and "sex funk" drums. The lyrics notably contain some quick direct allusions to other soul music ballads, mainly Maxwell's "Fortunate" and Prince's "Adore".
American singer Usher has released eight studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 80 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 23 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 100 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It is certified seven-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified four-times platinum in the US for sales of 4 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
"My Boo" is a duet between American R&B singers Usher and Alicia Keys, written by the artists alongside Adonis Shropshire, Manuel Seal, and Jermaine Dupri, the latter of which produced it with an No I.D., who's uncredited. It was included on the re-release of Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions (2004). The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2004.
"Sexify" is a song recorded by American singer Leah LaBelle, which was released on May 1, 2012, as part of the sampler album Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri Present Leah LaBelle (2012). Written and produced by Pharrell Williams, it was the first song that LaBelle recorded with Williams as part of a joint record deal with Epic Records, So So Def Recordings, and I Am Other. It is an R&B song that features throwback elements to 1990s music. In its lyrics inspired by headlines from the women's fashion magazine Cosmopolitan, LaBelle instructs a woman on how to draw and keep the attention of a man.
Ocean's 7 is an American musical collective composed of singer-songwriters, record producers, and rappers consisted of Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael-Cox, Johntá Austin, Usher, Nelly, Trey Songz, and Dupri's assistant Tyrone. The group released the mixtape 3000 And 9 Shit, on May 5, 2009. Formed by Dupri in 1989, the group was modeled after the Rat Pack in the film Ocean's 11. Like the Rat Pack, the group's initial members, Dupri, Michael-Cox, and Austin are all associates and have teamed up to write and produce various hit singles for several artists in their careers.
Ella Mai Howell is an English R&B singer. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she uploaded a four-track solo EP of originals to SoundCloud titled Troubled, and was discovered on social media by American producer DJ Mustard and signed with his record label, 10 Summers Records.
"Come Thru" is a song by American singers Summer Walker and Usher. The song was released as the third single from Walker's debut album Over It, on December 28, 2019. It peaked at number forty-two on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The single has been certified Gold in the United States. It samples the 1997 song "You Make Me Wanna..." by Usher.
"SexBeat" is a song by American musicians Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris, released on April 10, 2020. It is the third song between the trio, following "Yeah!" and "Lovers and Friends". Produced by Jon, the song was written by the artists alongside Jermaine Dupri and Antoine Harris.
"Save the Day" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on August 21, 2020 as the lead single from her eighth compilation album, The Rarities (2020) by Columbia and Legacy Records. The music was composed by Carey, and the lyrics and melody were written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, James "Big Jim" Wright, Charles Fox, and Norman Gimbel. Carey and Dupri produced it.
"Bad Habits" is a song by American singer Usher. It was released as a single on September 10, 2020, via RCA Records. The song was written by Usher, Pierre Medor, Theron Thomas, and Keith Thomas, and samples Zapp's 1986 hit song "Computer Love". It was produced by Lxrd Rossi and Medor. A music video for the song, directed by Chris Robinson, was released simultaneously with the single.
The 2020 Soul Train Music Awards took place on November 29, 2020, to recognize the best in soul, R&B and Hip-Hop music. The ceremony aired on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2, with actors Tisha Campbell & Tichina Arnold hosting the ceremony for the third time.
This is the production discography of Ocean's 7.
