In June 2009, co-writer and producer of the song, Xavier "Zaytoven" Dotson revealed to MTV News that he worked with Usher on a song. Usher gives great histrionic, but one Jon Gosselin is more than enough.The song peaked at number thirty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, giving Usher his tenth number one song on the chart. 2” more than the sniveling of a privileged manchild (plus those dinky keyboard fills work like auditory salt peter). In any case, “Papers” is smart and strong enough to merit a worthy addition to his career best-of and should certainly pack enough oomph to get Usher back on the charts.Īnthony Miccio: Returning to human-scale romantic drama is commercially astute after the failure of Here I Stand‘s emotional gigantism, but this bitchy divorce ballad lacks the smolder that made “Burn” and “Confessions Pt. Raymond could be Usher’s Here, My Dear some strife might prove the right grist to get the mill turning again. I’m a little psyched by the possibility that Raymond vs. “Papers” is in the same classic “tortured decision” style that Usher has trafficked in from jump but it’s been some time since I’ve heard him sound so driven and present. John Seroff: The jittery, high-pitched burble of declining melody sets the scene for a nervous, regret-filled breakup told unconventionally without accusation, rancor or cockiness. Barbara Mason followed it up with a mistress’s answer song called “She’s Got The Papers (But I Got The Man).” Usher, who should probably take a lesson from all that, does not have such cool friends. But Usher’s anguished vocals and his way of hurrying past certain key admissions of loutishness make it clear that he still loves her.Ĭhuck Eddy: In 1981, Richard “Dimples” Fields had an r&b radio hit with a great song called “She’s Got Papers On Me,” in which he yearned for the other woman but Betty Wright kept interrupting to remind him who he was contractually obligated to. Maybe Ne-Yo should step in.Īlfred Soto: I can’t think of another singer who can redeem a scenario this bathetic - not only did he lose his mama, but he’s become a Sally Jesse Raphael worthy show guest forced to sign a few nettlesome documents. But he sounds self-conscious about it still “turn into the man I never thought I’d be” is a great topic but not one he explores fully enough. Michaelangelo Matos: I feel for him on this one, because he’s clearly trying to take the next step toward real maturity: voice deeper, lyrics more responsible. “For you I gave my heart and turned my back against the world” is the moment where the hurt and resignation become too convincing and real to brush this off as a meta publicity stunt. So even though Usher might technically be using the same confessional template, he’s being more boldly and verifiably autobiographical than before, so frank about the tawdry tabloid tale his life’s become in the last couple years that it’s actually kind of disarming. This isn’t a bad thing, but hypocritical claims of realness are shameful.Īl Shipley: I always thought that the ‘controversial’ backstory behind Confessions and its title track seemed a little manufactured, and probably got too much credit for the blockbuster sales that “Yeah!” really brought in. But if you’re pouring your heart out to your fans after your divorce, why would you do it with boilerplate I-tried-I-really-did lyrics that give the listener no hint as to why the relationship went south? And if it’s all about you, why would you allow your producer to recycle a track he had used eight months earlier (Gorilla Zoe’s “So Sick”)? It all just screams of image calculation. Martin Kavka: Usher has said that every bit of music on his album comes from a personal place. Could have been interesting with more information. Pharrell WilliamsĪnthony Easton: Weirdly intimate details that are more confessional than a James Taylor song abuts with a kind of generic sadness… almost like he thought better about leaking too much gossip. Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment.I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES.Email (song suggestions/writer enquiries).
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