Usher.

'Bring it, smell it, live it, love it, Yeah. '
 
 

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Usher Raymond IV was born October 14, 1978 in Dallas Texas the son of Jonetta Paton and Usher Raymond III.  Usher spent the majority of his young life in Chattanooga his father left the family when Usher was one, and they relocated to Chattanooga, where Usher lived with his mother, then-step father, and half-brother, James Lackey, born in 1984.  As a child, Usher joined in their local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old, as directed by his mother, in which event his grandmother discovered his ability to sing, although it was not until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally.  Ushers family moved to Atlanta Georgia where there was a more conductive environment for beginning singers.  While in Atlanta Usher attended North Springs High School.

At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local quintet called NuBeginnings, which was organized by music svengali, Darryl Wheeler. Usher recorded 10 songs with the group in 1991, and the ensuing album, Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV, was only made available regionally and mail order.  However, Patton took him out because, according to her, it was a "bad experience".  The album was re-released nationally in April 2002 by Hip-O Records.  At age 13, Usher competed on Star Search, where he was spotted by an A&R representative from LaFace Records, who arranged an audition for Usher to L.A. Reid, the co-founder of LaFace; Reid signed Usher a contract with the record company. Usher's mother left her job as a medical technician to manage his career, but later broke-up their relationship as manager-client in May 2007. Usher was introduced on "Call Me a Mack", a song he recorded for the soundtrack album to the 1993 drama-romance film Poetic Justice.

After graduating from high school, Usher continued to develop his skills as a stage performer and laid the groundwork for his second album. He also appeared on their version of "Let's Straighten It Out", a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist Monica; and on "Dreamin'", from LaFace's 1996 Olympic Games benefit album Rhythm of the Games. He was also featured on "I Swear I'm In Love" off the 1996 Kazaam soundtrack.

Usher's new release, Raymond v. Raymond, was supposed to be released in December 2009, however, it has been pushed back due to the record company wanting the proper "setup" for it. It's currently scheduled to be released on March 26, 2010 in Germany, on March 30, 2010 in the US, and on April 26, 2010 in the UK. The new album is expected to follow in Usher's Confession's album's footsteps, as the album will be released only months after Usher's divorce to Tameka Foster. The album's buzz single, "Papers" was released in October 2009. The song appears to be loosely based on his failed relationship with soon to be ex wife Tameka. The song only peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. It saw greater success on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it reached number 1, becoming his tenth number-one song on that chart. The album's official first single, "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)", was released in December 2009

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usher_(entertainer)\