Veteran American singer-songwriter Usher Raymond IV, mononymously famed as Usher, has had an acclaimed three-decade circuit in the contemporary R&B scene whilst showing minimal signs of cooling off since his Confessions days. With eight Grammys, a diamond-selling album, and legions of fans racked up over the years, he has evolved from being a babyfaced charmer to a formidable doyen who’s name has been consistently volunteered in “King of R&B” debates along the R. Kellys and Chris Browns of the game. And now, the Texan has dropped his ninth full-length album, Coming Home, his first as a solo act since 2016’s Hard II Love, and a chronological follow-up to A (2018), his collaborative effort with fellow countryman Zaytoven.
With Coming Home, Raymond has hewn a twenty-song strong monolith of progressive R&B as byzantine and conflicted in nature as the man of the hour. Flavoured with hints of trap, bounce, afrobeats, and new jack swing, Usher’s new offering is a kaleidoscopic piece of work brought to life with the assistance of Grammy-honoured producers Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, and Jermaine Dupri – a squad that not only understands and has mastered modern sound but has enough enough sentimentality for retro sounds, a quality that peeks through every now and again.
However, sound aside, Usher puts on polished vocal performances and inspired showings with his writing that make a strong case for him as the album’s main character. The power struggle isn’t even a contest despite having to divide the pie with stars still revving up major clout with their creative powers such as H.E.R., Burna Boy, 21 Savage, and Summer Walker. The living icon doesn’t hide behind his ear, if anything, he welcomes the challenge and rides the wave that his guests have been surfing on.
A good exhibit of Usher playing his cards openly and with confidence is on the H.E.R.-assisted “Risk It All”. Singing over sparse piano keys, the pair skate over H.E.R.’s strongest terrain of threadbare R&B, yet Usher matches her with poise before following up the song with “Bop”, a solo performance over a minimalistic Hit-Boy beat that accents the sincerity of his output. He also shows that he is very much at home on top of afrobeats on the sultry “Ruin”, even though Nigerian producer and singer Pheelz keeps him company. His versatility, or rather his experience-shaped understanding of what works and what doesn’t, sets up the album as a journey of crests and troughs which are equally enthralling to keep up with.
Watch “Ruin (feat. Pheelz)” Here:
Outside the project’s sonic complexion, the bones of the album give it a full and dichotomous structure. Themes of loyalty and healthy detachment (“Good Good”) are conjoined to those of betrayal and resentment (“Cold Blooded”). Where Usher feigns groundedness (“Coming Home”), glimpses of hedonism stick out in contradiction (“On the Side” and “I Am the Party”). The scaffolding of the album is one with two faces looking in two directions in total conflict with the interest of the other. But there’s cohesion to this duplicity hidden in the steady arrangement of the tracks, imparting on Coming Home an artistic texture of conflict rather than that of incompetence and confusion.
Coming Home is a mixed bag of modern and antique R&B held together by masterly penmanship and dynamic production. In as much as the record reaches for the attention of those familiar with present-day trends, it doesn’t do so with a sense of desperation that comes with selling out. Usher’s a songwriter at heart, and him staying true to that core is what makes his ninth lap a curious but relevant foray.
