We chat about what he’s learned from basketball great LeBron James, about why he’s not abandoning his music career, and about a new album finally coming next month. He teeters on the edge of a black leather armchair, leans over, and - as it always is when I sit down with him for an interview - he refuses to drop gaze the entire time of our conversation. On this day, though, Usher is fresh off of a 35-minute helicopter ride from New York City to the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Something shiny, perhaps, to add to Usher’s collection - already, his trophy case runneth over. This film could very well garner a trophy or two.
Very top-note.Īnd Usher? He flat-out nails the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard in the film, and the work he turns out in Hands of Stone is drawing a line in the sand: Usher isn’t here to play any games. The cast is rounded out with actors such as Ellen Barkin and John Turturro. Oscar-winner Robert De Niro is legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel. Duran is portrayed by Golden Globe nominee Edgar Ramirez. The independent film, written and directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz, chiefly focused on a pair of 1980s fights - and Duran’s rivalry - with American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. This weekend he co-stars in Hands of Stone, a biopic about Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran. And his accolade count should absolutely include the championship ring he has for being a minority owner of the 2016 world champion Cleveland Cavaliers.Īll this being said, Usher - one of the biggest and most successful pop music superstars of all time - would like to reintroduce himself. Then there’s the Emmy win (for his work on NBC’s The Voice). This doesn’t include the countless BET Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, the American Music Awards, Kid’s Choice Awards and Soul Train Awards. Usher has collected eight Grammy awards and has 22 nominations. “I’m looking to change the narrative about what your expectations are for African-American people.”Ĭonfessions, his biggest album so far, has sold more than 10 million in the United States, more than 20 million worldwide - and counting. 1 singles on Billboard’s Top 100 songs chart - this places him behind Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder, who have each had 10 No. Raymond, and 2012’s Looking 4 Myself) have all gone to No. His last four albums (2004’s Confessions, 2008’s Here I Stand, 2010’s Raymond v. This scene opened the video for his debut single Can U Get Wit It, and he spends the next four minutes gyrating on the hood of a car, pop-locking in a stairwell, and crooning against candlelit walls to a Devante Swing beat. This was everyone’s first glimpse of Usher Raymond IV - who has a voice and a body roll so commanding that he’s referred to only by his first name. He’s successful, in the way one can be in ’90s music videos - he leaves school and jumps into a drop-top driven by a do-rag wearing Sean (Diddy) Combs.
“Nice of you to join us today,” says the instructor to the student - who’s about to fake a bloody nose in an effort to skip class. Just about everybody who lived and died by BET’s Video Soul in the ’90s remembers the music video moment in 1994 when a 15-year-old popped up in “class,” gold chain dangling over his James Worthy Lakers jersey, as his teacher mocked him for his tardiness.
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