Usher has basically had us all jammin' since he stepped on the scene in 1994 with his self-titled debut. In the nearly 30 years since, Usher has proven to be a hitmaking machine, spinning off platinum-selling hits that continuously and consistently topped the charts. It's only fitting, then, that the superstar is the one to close out the Black Music Month celebration with his debut performance for NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert series.
Usher crowded his band, which included fellow singers Eric Bellinger and Vedo as backing vocalists, behind the series' titular desk as he pulled out some of his best-known tracks. He kicked things off with his 1997 jam "You Make Me Wanna," the arrangement of which he switched up to complement the horns and other instruments in the band, stretching the cut into a slick, jazzy jam.
Obviously having fun, the crooner then gave fans a treat with Confessions album cut "Superstar." The song allowed him to show off his pipes, which are just as immaculate as they were in his youth, hitting falsetto highs and tenor lows effortlessly. He then delved into his jam "U Don't Have To Call," allowing the audience to join in on the vocals as he engaged in a playful back-and-forth and even giving Vedo and Eric a chance to show off their ad-libbing skills.
He then took things back to the sultry and slow with the double-header of "Nice & Slow" and "Confessions, Pt. II." Both songs were crowd favorites, garnering big responses from the audience with each before even getting the opening notes out of his mouth. He then took us back to 1997, reminding us that this year marks the 25th anniversary of his album My Way by closing with a reworked version of that album's title track.
It's been years since we've had a new album from Usher, so this performance was quite the reminder that the 43-year-old superstar still has what it takes to keep us swooning over his talents. If you for some reason ever doubted him, allow Ursh to show you why you most definitely need to put some respect on his name when you press play.
