Hard II Love ends on a triumphant note with ‘Champions,’ which is featured in the ‘Hands Of Stone’ film. ‘Been through hell, now I’m helpful/Pouring cups of whiskey to get through it/Oh sweet child of mine, gone way too soon/Lost myself and lost my faith too,’ he sings on the uplifting track. ‘Stronger’ chronicles Usher’s pain after the loss of his stepson Kile Glover. His voice soars on the Geniuz League production. ‘Tell Me’ feels like sex in the jungle, under the night sky encapsulated in a jar with fire flies. “This song is gonna get a lot of people pregnant,” Usher proclaimed. ‘Tell Me’ is the standout among the 15 tracks. INOJ’s ‘Let Me Love You Down’ provides a smooth melody on ‘Let Me.’ Hard II Love weaves intricate ’90s samples into songs like ‘Bump,’ which boldly uses the Uncle Luke’s ‘I Wanna Rock’ famous intro. ‘Missin U’ is a daring gem produced by Pop Wansel and Whitfield. ‘Don’t give em my love, you ain’t even like that/ What type of point you tryna’ prove/ You hate to admit it, but you still take me back/ All that shit you was talkin’ it don’t hold no wait.’ Love and sex with his main squeeze and occasional rendezvous with side pieces. The opening track ‘Need U,’ grabs your attention from the first line and sets the precedent for Hard II Love’s lyrical content. He taps producers The-Dream, Metro Boomin, Brandon “B.A.M.” Hodge, and songwriter Bibi Bourelly to lace Hard II Love with headboard banging beats and lyrics that will serenade your soul. The three-year long process was a labor of love. He’s found his sweet spot on this project, which infuses a harmonious blend of new school vibes like trap soul, sexy ballads and his signature falsetto.ĭuring a live-listening session in L.A., Usher revealed he ‘ went through an entire transformation as a man’ while recording Hard II Love. But that formula doesn’t always equal success, as fans expect their favorite artists to evolve with and/or create the trends.īut Usher is in a new place, remarried to Grace Miguel, and at the blissful height of the honeymoon phase. Radio-friendly singles ‘New Flame’ and ‘Climax’ proved, if nothing else, the ‘Nice & Slow’ crooner could stay afloat the wave and release a timely sounding hit. He seemed stuck in the mud, stifled somewhere between heartbreak and recovery. These albums lacked the cohesiveness of Confessions and ballads like ‘U Got It Bad’ on 8701.

His prior three releases, Here I Stand, Raymond v Raymond, and Looking 4 Myself, were recorded after his failed marriage to Tameka Raymond. Hard II Love marks the other side of a difficult transition for Usher. After all, this is the man who blessed us with Confessions, My Way and 8701.

He is to this R&B generation what Kobe Bryant represents to the NBA (sans retirement). It’s like he sat in the booth and said, ‘Gather ’round children of the game, here’s how you make good music.’ And with their noses pointed to the sky, sitting Indian style, they listened intently. Usher strays from the electronic dance music that plagued the last few years of his career on the long-awaited Hard II Love.

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