Usher – Looking 4 Myself
The latest offering from Usher gets Liana Gow-Killingbeck a bit hot under the collar:
For his seventh studio album, Looking 4 Myself, Usher embarks on quite an adventure! Dabbling into a wider range of styles than with his previous records (undoubtedly due to working with quite a number of different and versatile artists), Usher has certainly fashioned an album which by all means showcases his eager experimentation, his self exploration, and of course, his downright im-freakin-pressive vocal abilities.
Though this album is quite lengthy (18 tracks, yikes), it is still pretty good fun. I myself have no shame in getting my party booty on to the delights of the RnB genre, and Usher has sorta been a guilty pleasure of mine since he won me over with Confessions in 2004 (I mean COME ON, you’ve got to admit Yeah is a top track to busta move to on the D-floor after a few shots).
Looking 4 Myself also offers a variety of dance tracks, to which in my opinion, surpass those from its forerunner, Raymond v. Raymond. With the aid of the Swedish House Mafia boys, Numb and Euphoria will most definitely be well received by the mainstream clubbing population and the cheeky and ridiculously catchy, Scream is equally dance-worthy.
I confess Scream is my personal favourite, and I can hear some of you “tsking!” behind your computer screens, but it’s just so hard for me not to move to those giggle-inducing lyrics, “Got no drink in my hand but I’m wasted, getting drunk on the thought of you naked.”
Haha, oh Usher!
Yeah, this album is overtly sexual. Yes, realistically if someone uttered some of these lyrics to me I would quite possibly give them a tight slap on the wrist or spit laughter in their face, but isn’t that just half of the appeal of it?
Usher’s collab with Rick Ross in Lemme See frankly gets me a little hot, and Hot Thing featuring A$AP Rocky is a little bit naughty too. As for the track Twisted, well, it features my number-one-man-crush Pharrell, so imaginings of myself in a nice intimate situation with the both of them seems utterly unavoidable. Oh how muscular… Hem, hem.
On a more serious note, Looking 4 Myself does delve into emotional areas with What Happened to U, Lessons for the Lover and of course, the gorgeous Diplo-produced hit, Climax.
So it’s safe to say that besides being an amazing performer, Usher translates his feelings through these slow jams, and successfully depicts his equally amazing body, um oops… I meant personality. Giggle.
Review by Liana Gow-Killingbeck
