In 1997, when he was still a baby-faced teen, Usher’s voice sounded like it had weathered the storms of a thousand failed relationships. His breakout album, My Way, cemented his place among then-peers who have since gone on to become legendary reminders of a bygone era of R&B. But Usher has played the long game by reinventing himself over and over, a heartbreaker balladeer turned mega pop star. Just shy of his 40th birthday, he found a new form, a splashy composite of youthful aesthetics.
“A”, his “collaborative project” with iconic producer Zaytoven, is an homage to their beloved Atlanta roots and the city’s sound that has permeated just about every corner of popular music. The pair first connected on the 2009 Raymond v Raymond single “Papers” for a smoldering elegy of a marriage turned sour. Back then, the singer was figuring out his crossover act while the producer was trying to cement himself outside of trap circles. Now, they have witnessed and inspired several eras of Atlanta-propelled music. (Consider that this year alone, Zaytoven has worked on several rap albums, a gospel album, and now, an R&B release; we’re a long way from “Icy.”) But longevity can be a bittersweet pill: fail to evolve and get phased out, adapt too much and nostalgia becomes the enemy. Usher has stared down the dilemma for over 20 years, but here, he sounds liberated from expectations and outcomes.
Opener “Stay At Home” presents a loosened-up Usher, less concerned with proper singing than channeling the blistering energy of the A. Future sounds right at home among Zaytoven’s racing hi-hats, but braggadocious Usher is jarring. It’s not so much that he sounds dated or inept; it’s that the teacher taking lessons from his students always feels like regression. The R&B coming out of Atlanta—6LACK’s hybrid soul, Jacquees’ referential crooning—is immediate. It may owe plenty to Usher, but it remains a more swaggered version of the genre that doesn’t exactly deal in tact or displays of raw vulnerability.
“Peace Sign” is a steamy sex song that finds him propositioning a lover over an astral synth line. The risque track—named for the position of his lady’s legs—is a logical progression from 2016’s “No Limit,” which featured another ATLien, Young Thug, and saw Usher leaning into more of a melodic sing-rap cadence. He deploys that style all across “A”: on the confident flirtation of “ATA,” the club-ready “Birthday,” and the Gunna-assisted “Gift Shop.” But occasionally, he does return to form. “You Decide” sounds like vintage Usher, ever convincing as he pleads for another chance. However, the production, which went well with the bravado, is a little too bright for his lyrics of atonement.
Ultimately, Zaytoven’s minimalist trap isn’t always the ideal match for Usher’s traditional R&B capabilities, but when they push both to their extreme, something magical happens. On the standout “Say What U Want,” Usher’s buttery voice floats between a cool falsetto and a warm tenor, sliding up and down a bed of dreamy keys. It’s here that the pair find the sweet spot. It’s Zaytoven’s most stripped beat and Usher’s most balletic vocal performance, a reminder that the two of them have plenty to offer outside of imitation.
Legacy artists folding in what’s hot right tend to make things uncomfortable because it forces us to take stock of what a genre has become. In Usher’s case, he’s up against the towering legacies of his 8701 and Confessions and a period of R&B that the new generation idolizes. The odds were never in his favor, but he masters the concept. Whatever “A”’s shortcomings, they are perhaps not an indictment of Usher or Zaytoven but of what R&B—or at least the perception of it—has lost along the way and only recently begun to correct.
