The R&B singer Usher made his debut when he released a self-entitled album in 1994 at the age of 15 (four years after debuting as part of a short-lived local R&B/Hip Hop act). The Atlanta-based artist wasn’t able to make a significant album until the album after this, but here he was able to set-up what would go on to be a reign over the R&B world by 2004. In this case, where the beats are concerned we have input from the likes of Puffy, DeVante Swing (of Jodeci) and Dave Hall.
1. “I’ll Make It Right”
He sets things off with a fly jam that samples the Audio Two’s “Top Billin’” (Milk D rapping rather than the funk “Impeach The President” adaptation and from it you see that you are able to find a strong contrast from thins compared to what you get from this early vocal performance (that he would go on to perfect as his career continued). It sets things up nicely for him with something contemporary.
**Five Stars**
2. “Interlude 1”
3. “Can U Get Wit It”
We move on into the singer’s first single (from this album –as he had been featured on a film soundtrack when he was 13) and here you get a fly jam where DeVante Swing offers some of the kind of stuff that Jodeci had worked with around the time and so has him getting right into that nasty stuff in spite of his age. It all works and it has him working to an extremely high standard that you can’t help but fall for.
**Five Stars**
4. “Think
Of You”
We move on into a Biz Markie and Jazz sampling-single from Usher here. You see that Donell Jones and Faith Evans have a role in writing this big tune that does even more for the artist and gives him the chance to do more of the kind of things that he had opened up the album with as he stays current and does so without being forced into having to sing as a Pop act (to put him at a disadvantage for the rest of his career).
**Five Stars**
5. “Crazy”
We get another track that sounds as if it is perfectly on-trend for the time and done in the distinctive, throwback early nineties style that bring in Hip Hop influences in a manner than shows that it is an advancement from the New jack Swing period and can be done at the opposite end of the tempo spectrum for a very engaging piece that shows how he seems ready for anything in spite of his age.
**Five Stars**
6. “Slow Love”
We get some hardcore beats being thrown in for this one to assist the singer along the way as he does his thing (and keeps things to the high level that managed to stay with him as he did his thing through the ‘00s too. He does well with this kind of material done on some mid-tempo beats that do so much for him. You can’t really fault what you get here as it gives so much and keeps things rolling nicely for him.
**Five Stars**
7. “The Many Ways”
This track stands out quite a bit, possibly do to the fact that it was one of hte singels on the release and I felt that although it was clearly a song that needed a bit more time to really get into (and seemed to take on styles that were heard from a little earlier before this dropped (around 1989-1992) it still does what it should do and gives him another boost along the way as he drill out another hit.
**Five Stars**
8. “I’ll Show You Love”
Sampling James Brown (in typical Hip Hop fashion) we get a groove here from Usher that has him that gives him the chance to come through well with the seductive R&B stuff that he would go on to do much more of as he continued his career, and I personally don’t think that you could fault what you get from it at this stage as it is built up from such heavy production and he comes through well with the vocals.
**Five Stars**
9. “Interlude 2”
10. “Love Was Here”
I felt as though this was the first slip up on the album and although it really wasn’t too much of a dip to the record, it was noticeably a step down from what else had come on the release up to this point on it with the production taking on a eighties feel (even though it remained pretty widespread until the latter end of the mid-nineties) and so brought things down a little for not being as current, but still added here.
We get a little more coming from DeVante Swing on this one, but I can’t say that it felt like it was anything near the kind of thing that we had come to expect from Jodeci works of the time (possibly down to the fact that Darryl Pearson is also a part of the duo responsible for the composition’s overall sound and so it didn’t seem to really recover from the last one and keeps it at the same level.
**Four Stars**
12. “You Took My Heart”
I personally felt that we were back to the sort of level that led to the most impressive joints from the singer (at this stage of his career) as we move on to a track that has some fly beats to lift things at a time when I felt we had rather underdeveloped song writing and so it seemed as though the singer was able to counteract this in the way he performed it in a way that takes you right into the mix.
**Five Stars**
13. “Smile Again”
This is another track on the record that appears to turns towards the Quiet Storm end of things (as you expect to get from LaFace artists (as they had so much input from Babyface and L.A. Reid and I felt that it was a nice little jam that sits as a tune that you can’t really say does much other than add to the variety of the record, but as he is always such a good performer, it seems like such a good one.
**Four Stars**
14. “Final Goodbye”
The album ends on this one as we get a final burst of energy that I felt was really needed to give the album a rounded feel as we revert towards the Hip Hop-styled stuff that came at the start of the album as he sings alongside an unaccredited Faith Evans (who acts as the backing singer to his work). It fits right in with the times and gives it that little extra to leave his debut on a massively high that you can reflect positively upon.
**Five Stars**
Had the gradual move towards not been as experimental as it was, I feel that this could have been a album that competes with greats of the period, but as it stands here, it can’t be said to be that far behind R. Kelly, Jodeci and BLACKstreet albums of the period as he brings so much and is assisted by some of the best in the game.
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