Parlour Exclusive: Usher–Aged to Perfection.

Our boy—ahem, our man—Usher, was in New York recently and Parlour got the chance to kick it with the triple-threat chiseled entertainer. Don’t even try escaping his single “Love In This Club,” and his album, Here I Stand, hits shelves May 27th. With wall-to-wall club joints and slow jams made for quickies, this latest disc should knock as hard as its 2004 predecessor Confessions. But there’s a more mature Usher at its helm. It’s still the same Ursh who used to drop his pants during shows, except he’s married now (for which he’s attracted some hate) and just had his first child, Usher Raymond IV. Along with addressing the haters, Usher also let Parlour in on the mind state of a married man and how he’s getting better with age. Parlour: Where’ve you been hiding? Usher: I need you to miss me [he smiles]. If I stay in your face all the time you’ll get tired of seeing me. I went to Broadway (Chicago, the musical), did a movie. I had a label and still do. But when I’m in another area of entertainment I’m missing what I do the most. So I’ll be on stage playing Billy Flynn but singing records that I came up with or doing new dance choreography. Or if I’m on the set and supposed to be in character, I’m somewhere off in the corner singing and dancing. P: How has your marriage and fatherhood affected your music? U: This album, to me, is a staple in time. I like to make music about where I am, but I also try to make records that will be like soundtracks to life. So that people will be able to relate to them, maybe one day grow from them, learn, love from ‘em. This one particularly is more special than all of the others. I know it sounds cliché to say that! But honestly it’s the pivotal moment for me as an artist, as well as a husband in a way, and a father. These are all new journeys for me, the most meaningful, because they’re the most rewarding. P: How exactly have you grown? U: The knowledge that rests in the mistakes slowly but surely become wisdom, so that’s really the process that I’m going through as a man. Where I stand as a husband, as a father, as an individual, as a businessman, is all a testimony to what I’ve been through and where I’ve been. SOURCE:PARLOUR MAGAZINE