For Real: New Usher - "OMG"

Usher's sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond, is set for national release this Tuesday. I got a first listen this week, actually just a few hours after I listened to his 2004 album, Confessions, for the first time. The music on this album is noticeably softer than the larger-than-life 2004 set, which sold almost 10,000,000 copies. There is nothing on the CD that comes close to the sharp pounce of "Yeah," or even clever Pop/R&B fusion numbers, like "Caught Up." Most of the tracks are more up the alley of "Burn," that is, moderately slow R&B ballads.

In some way or another, Jive/LaFace has already domestically released four of the tracks from the new album - "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" was the first official single and "Lil Freak" the second. "There Goes My Baby" and "Papers" were also released as promotional singles. Each of these singles are R&B ballads - and to be honest, nothing special.

There is one track on the album however, that has the potential to bring Usher back to the top. Unsurprisingly, it also has the potential to push him further away. "OMG feat. Will.I.Am" was recently released in Europe as the first international single of the album. Between the echoed chants of what sounds like 9 guys clapping in a recording studio & the legit 80's synth that comes and goes, the song is a trip. It's weird & somewhat awkward. The beat doesn't sit still & the resulting mash-up doesn't really match anything you could hear on the radio right now. Also the words are pretty darn stupid. But can you think of another track like that? Jive Records CEO Barry Weiss can.

Do you remember the first time you heard Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack?" Did you like it? How many people were actually positive it was him singing? That single ended up shooting from #33 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its second week of release. In doing so, it created it's own sound & didn't have to follow the trends of similar sounding songs. That is the idea with "OMG"...after your first listen, do you think it's the next "SexyBack," or should Usher just leave the song in the U.K.?

But Let's Be Real: Jive has yet to announce that the single will be released domestically, but if its success in the U.K. is any indication, it will be next up to the plate. It has already hit #13 there. My guess is that the single will be released, and that its fresh approach will briefly make it an "item." It's fun to listen to, but I don't think the song has the power to hit the top ten.
What It Is: Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100

Listen to "OMG feat. Will.I.Am" here.

at 9:12 AM