Lo, among other late ’90s/early aughts stalwarts. The palpable nostalgia wave of 2014 will see new albums from Mariah Carey, Diddy, and J. It is a near-impossible feat to follow this many years of reliably chart-topping pop music with anything particularly left-field, but if anyone can do it, it’s Usher, who has largely written his own rules and insulated himself from the typical pop star’s tragic trajectory. The album proved to be a disappointment, but his ambitions for his still-untitled forthcoming project appear to be a return to the kind of vintage R&B with which he got his start. When he led 2012’s Looking 4 Myself, his seventh, introspection-premised album, with the unexpected Diplo- and Ariel Rechstaid-produced breakup slow burner “Climax,” his falsetto tantalized in a way it hadn’t in years. His staying power is a testament to the poptimist adage that if someone likes something, it must have some merit. And, to his credit, the trend-chasing never gave way to desperation, as it so often does with stars who’ve been around as long as he has. Still, while Usher may not be making challenging music, he’s invested in executing things well, even if he’s done those things a million times before. Much of his work is interchangeable-uniformly good enough but inherently uninteresting: here is Usher doing his signature slide-and-glide, here is a trendy synth-driven party beat, here is a delightfully sticky hook whose most striking quality is that it sounds familiar the first time you hear it. During that time, his success mounted but he seemed to be distancing himself from cultural relevance. Raymond, he adopted the pop-EDM crossover formula that quickly became a go-to for other stars, including, yes, Chris Brown. With songs like “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” and “OMG” from 2010’s Raymond v. Eventually, Usher shifted slightly toward the then-bourgeoning dance trend.

There’ve been hits-songs like “Love In This Club” and “Lil’ Freak” were radio and club staples and perfectly encapsulated the sound of the post-autotune R&B era. He was once presumed to be the heir to Michael Jackson’s King of Pop throne, but, since Confessions, the 10-times platinum 2004 concept album loosely based on the pseudo-fictional premise of getting one’s mistress pregnant, he hasn’t been nearly interesting enough to deserve the title. Following the release of “Good Kisser,” I was quickly reminded that, while it has been practically impossible to avoid his music, Usher has ridden the industry’s crests rather than spurred them.

1’s and 18 Top 10’s charting on Billboard’s Hot 100.īut, despite the ubiquity of his music in spin classes, grocery stores, shopping malls, and other venues that are safe spaces for Top 40 radio-did you go anywhere in 2010 without hearing “OMG”?-Usher has skirted the periphery of real cultural impact. Through it all, he has been a consistent purveyor of carefree party anthems and tawdry bedroom fare, with nine No. and more than 65 million globally, making him one of the world’s highest-selling artists. Over seven albums, he has shipped more than 23 million records in the U.S. But, somehow, Usher-known by the nickname Ursher, baby-has managed to stay pretty close to the top for the better part of two decades. The pop landscape is a treacherous one to navigate a nominal glance at the current career status of his protégé, Justin Bieber, suggests that the law of gravity applies to celebrity as it does matter.

The arrival of “Good Kisser,” the excellent new single and video heralding his forthcoming eighth album, is a reminder of just why: The song, on which he sings euphemistically and in multiple registers about “lipstick on his leg,” is plain good.

Today, 20 years after his debut and at a still-baby-faced 35, he is practically an anomaly, one of the only artists from that era still standing, reputation untarnished. It was the ’90s and as R&B and hip hop made the transition from niche genres to entertainment staples, Usher was an appropriately friendly proposition. Usher, much like a young Chris Brown before he was derailed by an inability to keep his hands to himself or otherwise stay out of trouble, was birthed by the music industry a perfect leading man: cutely dimpled with a voice like honey and moves like a technically trained dancer. All the while, Usher Raymond IV grew from middling R&B novelty-the young, preternaturally talented 14-year-old he was on his first, self-titled album, released in 1994-to veritable pop star, pyrotechnic-ed out stadium tours and all.

Songs like usher burn