Usher finally released his eighth studio album Hard II Love on September 16th. All of the lucky Tidal subscribers got the pleasure of listening to his LP 3 days earlier.

It’s been four years since his last effort Looking 4 Myself  and one thing I’ve learned about Usher throughout the years is that he is always trying to stay with the trends. He knows how to stay current with the ever changing music while at the same time, experimenting with different sounds. He is constantly evolving which is no surprise that he consistently remains one of the top R&B male artists to this day.

There are only three featured artists on this album: Young Thug, Future and Ruben Blades which is great. Nothing is more irritating than an album that is loade d with features. He enlisted the help of some of the top producers in the game, such as The-Dream, Metro Boomin, Tricky Stewart and PartyNextDoor.

Usher is the king of sexy slow jams. With this album, he definitely delivered. One that stands out is “Tell Me.” This song is 8 minutes and 29 seconds long, but when you listen to it, it doesn’t feel lengthy. He showcases his beautiful falsetto in this song as well as the song “Crash.”

While none of his albums will ever amount to the success of 2004’s Confessions, Hard II Love definitely has that vibe. What I would love to see or hear more of is versatility in topics. Usher is very commercial to me which is not necessarily a bad thing. Usher is not going anywhere anytime soon. He’s at the point in his career where he can take chances without affecting his career. In saying this, I would love it if he was more organic with his sound. Overall, I rate this album a 4 out of 5.

 

My favorite tracks: Missin U, No Limit, Bump, Make U A Beliver, FWM, Tell Me, Hard II Love

Victoria Dickson
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