Did Confessions stagnate Usher's career with albums?

[Formerly known as...]

He got married and derailed him. The following album wasn't good. Usher is the type to have solid tracks tucked away but releases to many commercial shyt to appeal to an audience he no longer needs to. Give us then RnB jams breh

 

[Ziggiy]

first week numbers mean nothing in the long run. lol. I don't even know when it became important. Look up Ready to Die's first week numbers. Also, when Fergie dropped her solo, the first week wasn't that good, but with each hot single, it stayed doing thousands each week for over a year.

You completely missed the point. Good day sir or ma’am

 

[Pazzy]

If we are keeping it G, usher became more of pop than r&b as he was pushed in that direction around 2001. When he got that crossover attention with confessions, he pretty much was done. Confessions being an oversuccess ended his career because he didnt have that drive anymore to make music.

 

[Ziggiy]

Here I Stand sold 1.25 million. Sasha Fierce nearly went diamond; Wayne sold over 8 million; Kanye sold over 3 million; T.I. sold over 2 million.

Ne'Yo sold more than him.

Big artists were still selling real albums in 2008.

808’s and Heartbreak sold a million within the year of release, which is the same as Here I Stand. 808’s wasn’t certified triple platinum until 2020. If we’re going by an albums legs Here I Stand is now at 2X Platinum. Wayne sold over 8 million because again, the stars aligned for him and Tha Carter 3 was HIS “Confessions” moment. Neyo didn’t outsell Usher in 2008 I have no idea what you’re talking about on that front.

 

[Amo Husserl]

I think Usher was a casualty of that era of R&B ending.
Confessions dropped in '04, he dropped his next project in '08...
Maybe like '04 and probably '05 was the last year of a kind of vibe in R&B.
Confessions is probably the last great R&B album from an era where R&B was still R&B.
After that... there was a shift in the music landscape where sonically the pivot was more electronic and for the charts.

 

[JustCKing]

People forget that Usher was 10 years deep when Confessions dropped. Most artists' careers don't peak that late in the game. His did. He was a rarity in that regard, so whatever he put out beyond that wasn't going to be as successful.

 

[LiveFromLondon]

Just came in to say TP2 and Chocolate Factory>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[tehparadox]

He's been chasing pop tunes ever since forever

 

[satam55]

NO, I'm not asking if Confessions ended or even hurt Usher's career because he's still touring putting on great shows and releasing dope tunes to this day. I'm just saying was Confessions so goddamn great that he made it impossible to even do an album half as good as it going forward. First album was dope. It was released when I was still in high school. I actually used "can you get with it" for a couple months in my cd alarm. My Way was an instant classic. 8701 was better than My Way and it was another instant classic. Then 3 years later Confessions dropped and I feel like he's been chasing that album ever since cuz it was too good..

The same happened to Public Enemy. After Fear of a Black Planet, there was no way they could top that shyt and sample laws changed everything as well.

Of Usher's big 3 albums ("My Way", "8701", & "Confessions") 8701 is the worst album. But 8701 does have the best group of singles out all those albums.

 

[Marlo Barksdale]

Like others said, the marriage torpedoed his brand and he’s been chasing trends ever since then.

He’s only just now recovering from marrying a much older lady and the std rumors where he settled and said some WILD things.

Usher Seeks Dismissal Of Herpes Suit, Says Plaintiff Knew Of Unprotected Sex Risks

Usher claims Laura Helm should have known the risks of unprotected sex, but a Georgia court isn't likely to dismiss the case just yet.

www.forbes.com

He chased the pop audience and got away from what made him him.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

People forget that Usher was 10 years deep when Confessions dropped. Most artists' careers don't peak that late in the game. His did. He was a rarity in that regard, so whatever he put out beyond that wasn't going to be as successful.

I disagree with your TI takes but aside from that you’re pretty measured (pause)

How many big hits/albums is an artist supposed to have?

You’re lucky if the stars align and it happened once much less multiple times

 

[H. Selassie]

I’m going to pivot from the sales discussion. I feel like that’s been covered enough here.

Artistically, for as greatly talented as he is…a good bit of Usher’s music for the longest time has been lacking in depth/soul. Maybe my perception of him has been clouded by his overt chasing of pop hits but something has been missing for a while. That almost-gospel like feel you get when other R&B GOATS really get in their bag…I haven’t gotten that from Usher in a long time.

Maybe the “Papers” joint after he divorced the old chick was the last time it really seemed like he was baring his soul through his music. Confessions was the last time he did it throughout an entire project. Since that time period…it’s been mostly soulless hits and attempts at hits accompanied by projects full of filler.

He’s on an Eminem type trajectory where while has remained a megastar in his field…the majority of his work after his first 3,4 albums has done ZERO for his legacy imo.

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

Getting herpes, marrying his beard and dropping EDM tinged garbage "stagnated" his career.

 

[28 Gramz]

No. He stopped working with JD and lost some magic, game thing happened to Ginuwine after he cut Timbo off.

 

[get these nets]

Monster hits put you at a level where the expectation for followup are sky high.

Happened to MJ

Happened to Bobby Brown on Dont Be Cruel

Impossible to match the impact or sales of monster albums, and artists, producers , and labels second guess everything