Usher embraces the “King of R&B” title.
When we talk about the greatest R&B artist alive, Usher often comes into the conversation, and he gets props from his fellow artists. After responding to Diddy‘s “R&B Is Dead” remark recently, the “Confessions” legend is ready to take the crown of R&B king.
“I mean, you call me that [King of R&B], I’ll definitely carry it,” said Usher in an interview with Bevy Smith. “I’ma tilt my crown knowing that, and I’ma tilt my crown knowing that I’m standing on the shoulders of all of the icons of our time. It is Michael [Jackson] that I stand on the shoulders of, it is James Brown that I stand on the shoulders of, it is Ronald Isley I stand on the shoulders of, it is Luther Vandross, it is Barry White, it is Teddy Pendergrass—it is all of these incredible artists like Marvin Gaye that will never be forgotten as long as there’s a breath in my body to breathe. It’s all of them.”
“And as a result of that, yeah, you wanna give me that crown, you tell me who gon’ do it better,” he continued as Smith mentioned he’s still a relevant artist who is making music. “I am, and I am because I’ve been given a gift, a gift that came from God, man,” he added. “I’m carrying them, so if anything, you wanna give me a crown? I’m the last of my kind. That’s what I’ma say.”
Usher made his remarks after YK Osiris just referred to him as such in a VladTV interview. Even after the show’s host mentioned R. Kelly, the native of Florida insisted that Usher was deserving of the honor. “I love Usher,” YK said. “R. Kelly, he’s one of the greatest. I like Usher. It’s just certain things like R. Kelly is fire, but there’s just certain things that turns me off a little bit. Like you can be great all you want to, it just certain things you gotta uphold. It’s cool; I just love Usher. Usher is that n—a. R. Kelly, I don’t know, did a lot of things that just doesn’t make sense.”
Check out his interview
