Usher Raymond remembers an important bit of advice he received from his mother, Jonnetta Patton, who also happens to be his manager.
"She always told me you have to work hard for everything that you get in life and you've got to be humble," Usher recalls.
That down-to-earth philosophy is undoubtedly being put to the test these days as he is in the midst of one of music's biggest hot streaks ever.
His latest CD, Confessions, exploded onto the charts this spring, rocketing to No. 1 with first-week sales of 1.1 million. It has so far spawned three No. 1 singles—"Yeah," "Burn" and "Confessions Prt. 2"—with all three in the top 20 at the same time, a feat previously managed only by the Beatles and the Bee Gees.
Can Usher now claim the title "king of pop."
His response shows that while he doesn't lack for self-confidence, he hasn't forgotten the importance of humility, either.
"I don't think I ever want to be the person who is self-proclaiming myself as the King of Pop," Usher says. "If I was given that title, I would accept it and I would hope that I would represent it properly because Michael Jackson held it down for almost 40 years. So I hope that I would last that time and then some."
"I'm just extremely happy," he adds later, "and I'm humbled by each and every thing that happens every day."
The R&B singer began his career a dozen years ago at age 13 when his mother moved him to Atlanta, where an appearance on a local Star Search competition led to an audition for Antonio "LA" Reid, then president of the Arista-affiliated LaFace Records. Reid signed the teen and sent him to work with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.
The experience became something of a boot camp for the young singer, as he learned the ropes of singing, recording and living the performer's life. But Usher had just gone through puberty, which hit him with the double whammy of a voice change and severe case of acne. He also wasn't sure that the powers-that-be at LaFace were still behind him.
With his confidence already shaken, it didn't help having Combs take control and shape the music on his debut album.
"Although it was a great introduction for me to be associated with a major producer, it kind of tore down my personality and it made me submissive in a way, even though I was still very outgoing as a performer," Usher says. "Going through a vocal change, losing my voice, feeling like there was a sense of betrayal or people turned their back on me, it kind of threw me."
Two albums later—1997's My Way and 2001's Grammy-winning 8701—Usher had regained his confidence and was ready to assert himself more strongly than ever.
He shares writing credits on 14 of Confession's 17 songs with such heavyweights Jermaine Dupri and the teams of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Andre Harris and Vidal Davis. This resulted not only in his strongest collection of grooving R&B tunes, but also his most personal CD yet.
One song that has been the subject of considerable speculation is "Confessions, Prt. 2," (currently No. 3 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart), which includes an admission about getting "his chick on the side" pregnant.
In January, Usher ended his highly publicized relationship with TLC singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, and the lyrics of "Confessions Prt. 2" prompted plenty of speculation that an outside dalliance (perhaps complete with the sung-about pregnancy) had ended their romance.
Usher denied it, saying he drew inspiration from the experiences of men he has known who have found themselves in that situation.
The next challenge, Usher says, will be cementing his stature as R&B's top star with his current arena tour, featuring fast-rising newcomer Kanye West as opener.
"You've seen the videos, you've seen the performances on the television," he says. "I'm trying to bring every bit of those elements back to the stage to make it a special moment, a night to remember for everybody.
"As a stage performer, I feel like I'm at the top of my game" Usher says. "I hope that this show will allow me to get closer to my fans and hopefully help me out in the aspect of, you know, just really bonding."