Confessions
LP by Usher
Release	March 23, 2004 (US)
Recorded	N/A
Genre(s)	R&B
Length	N/A
Label	BMG
Producer	Bobby Ross Avila, Jermaine Dupri, Rich Harrison, Valdez Brantley, Andre Harris, Aaron Spears, Terry Lewis, Jimmy Jam, Thicke, Vidal Davis, Juan Johnny Najera, Pro-Jay, Brian Michael Cox, Manuel Seal, Jr., Iz, Usher Raymond, Arthur Strong, Lil Jon, Just Blaze, James Lackey, James "Big Jim" Wright
Professional reviews
AMG (4/5) link
Usher chronology
8701 (2001)	Confessions (2004)

Confessions is a R&B album by Usher released on March 23, 2004. In the following week, it sold 1.1 million copies in the US, the most albums ever sold in one week by an R&B artist and sending to the top of the Billboard 200, R&B/Hip Hop and Internet album charts in the US. It has also topped the charts in the UK and Canada and reached number 2 in Australia. The lead single "Yeah" featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris has topped singles charts around the world. Usher Raymond on the cover of his album Confessions, taken from Amazon. ... 33â…“ LP vinyl record album The vinyl record is a type of gramophone record, most popular from the 1950s to the 1990s, that was most commonly used for mass-produced recordings of music. ... Usher on the cover of his album Confessions Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States), better known simply as Usher, but not to be confused with Usher syndrome, is an African-American singer and actor. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Rhythm and blues (or R&B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. ... In the music industry, a record producer is responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for release. ... Jermaine Dupri (born Jermaine Dupri Mauldin on September 23, 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an African-American record producer and rapper. ... Rich Harrison is a Grammy winning record producer and song writer from Washington, DC. A classically trained pianist and trumpet player, from an early age Harrison demonstrated an exceptional ability to play anything he heard on the radio. ... Jam and Lewis (Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) are R & B writer/producers who enjoyed great success in the 1980s with various artists, most notably Janet Jackson. ... Robin Thicke, born in Los Angeles, California; is the son of soap-opera actress/vocalist Gloria Loring and Canadian actor, songwriter and game show host, Alan Thicke. ... Lil Jon This article is about the American rap producer. ... Just Blaze (born Justin Smith) is an American hip hop music producer. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Usher on the cover of his album Confessions Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States), better known simply as Usher, but not to be confused with Usher syndrome, is an African-American singer and actor. ... 8701 is an album by Usher. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Usher on the cover of his album Confessions Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States), better known simply as Usher, but not to be confused with Usher syndrome, is an African-American singer and actor. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Billboard 200 is a listing of the 200 highest selling music albums in the United States, published weekly in Billboard magazine. ... Lil Jon This article is about the American rap producer. ... Christopher Bridges (born September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois), once known as Chris Lova Lova and best known as Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. ...

Making of the album

Usher told MTV that he was inspired by Augustine of Hippo to make the album sound as if he is confessing to something. "This album had to be a lot more personal than the last. It had to be something different than the last. For the most part, the topics, they're very much so personal. In a way, [I wanted] to play off the name Confessions, to make the entire album seem as if I'm confessing to someone or something. All of us have our Pandora's boxes or skeletons in our closets. I let a few of them out, you know. And with everything that's been happening in my life, I've got a lot to say. I've got a lot of stuff built in me that I just want to let go of." MTV (abbreviation for Music Television) is a cable television network which was originally devoted to music videos, especially popular rock music. ... St. ...

As well, Usher wanted to continue with the traditions of R&B. The second song "Throwback" features a sample from a 1973 Dionne Warwick song written by the legendary Motown songwriting combination of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The album also features songwriting contributions by longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri and R&B hopeful Thicke. However, when Usher presented the songs from the album to Antonio Reid, then in charge of Arista Records, they agreed that the album needed a first single. Usher recorded a couple of tracks with fellow Atlanta, Georgia resident, Lil Jon, including "Yeah" in the crunk style that he is known for. Dionne Warwick on the cover of her Christmas album My Favorite Time of the Year Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940 as Marie Dionne Warrick) is an American singer best known for her work with Hal David and Burt Bacharach as songwriters. ... Motown Record Company, L.P., also known as Tamla-Motown outside of the United States, is a record label specializing in the musical genres of R&B, pop, soul music, and hip-hop music. ... Holland-Dozier-Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. ... Jermaine Dupri (born Jermaine Dupri Mauldin on September 23, 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an African-American record producer and rapper. ... Robin Thicke, born in Los Angeles, California; is the son of soap-opera actress/vocalist Gloria Loring and Canadian actor, songwriter and game show host, Alan Thicke. ... Antonio L.A. Reid is the co-founder of LaFace Records. ... Arista Records was founded in 1975 by Clive Davis, and named after his secondary school honor society. ... Atlanta is the capital and largest city of Georgia, a state of the United States of America. ... Atlanta-based Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz often refer to themselves as the Kings of Crunk. ...

Chart success

Usher released the Confessions album on March 23, 2004. Confessions sold 1.1 million records in its first week of release, the most sales in the first week by any R&B artist and the highest sales by any artist in three years. Along with the success of the Norah Jones album Feels Like Home, it was seen as a sign that record sales were slowly recovering after three straight years of decline in the US. The album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic as well as topping US R&B charts and Internet albums charts and reaching number 2 in Australia. "Yeah" features contributions by Ludacris and Lil Jon and was released as the first single. Confessions has so far spawned the following hits: Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979; she changed her name officially to Norah Jones at age 16) is an American multi-Grammy Award winning pianist and singer-songwriter whose career was launched with her successful 2002 debut album Come Away With Me, a... Feels Like Home is the second album by singer Norah Jones, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music). ...

• "Yeah" has topped the Billboard Hot 100, European, World, US and World R&B charts, World Adult, Australian, Norwegian and Swiss charts and reached number 1 in Canada;

• "Burn" has reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and US R&B/Hip Hop charts as well as number 1 on the Rhythmic Top 40 charts;

• "Confessions Part II" has reached number 1 on the US R&B charts; and

• "My Boo" which has reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, European, World, US, R&B, and Adult Charts.

Confessions, combined with sales of the special edition/re-release, has sold 9 million copies in the U.S. Critics estimate sales of over 18 million in the U.S. if released prior to 2001, due to piracy and illegal file sharing. It has also managed to stay in the top 20 for 36 weeks, unseen since OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Burn is a hit single from Ushers 2004 album Confessions. ... Big Boi (left) and André 3000 (right) possess musical styles that are often as different as their fashion senses. ...

Track Listing (Taken from re-release)

1. "Intro"
2. "Yeah!"
3. "Throwback"
4. "Confessions"
5. "Confessions Pt. 2"
6. "Burn"
7. "Caught Up"
8. "Superstar (Interlude)"
9. "Superstar"
10. "Truth Hurts"
11. "Simple Things"
12. "Bad Girl"
13. "That's What Its Made For"
14. "Can U Handle It"
15. "Do It To Me"
16. "Take Your Hand"
17. "Follow Me"
18. "My Boo" (f. Alicia Keys)
19. "Red Light"
20. "Seduction"
21. "Confessions (remix) (f. Twista, Kanye West)"

Burn is a hit single from Ushers 2004 album Confessions. ... Alicia Keys Alicia Keys (born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981 in New York, New York) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist. ...

External links

• All Music Guide Confessions album page
• MTV Usher page