R&B superstar Usher seems to have finally accepted the title of “King of R&B” that so many people have already bestowed upon the legend over the years.
Accepting The Crown
On August 25th during an interview with Bevy Smith on her show Belevations, the singer spoke on the topic after Smith claimed the singer seemed ready to accept the crown.
“I mean, you call me that, I’ll definitely carry it,” said Usher. “I’m a 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.”
Usher continued: “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.”
Giving Credit Where It’s Due
Smith told the singer that he’s still relevant in todays music scene and is putting out work. Usher agreed with Smith and stated that he’s still able to do it because of those that came before him.
“I am, and I am because I’ve been given a gift, a gift that came from God, man.” Usher said, adding that he’s carrying the voices of other R&B legends. “I’m carrying them, so if anything, you wanna give me a crown? I’m the last of my kind. That’s what I’m a say.
Usher continued: “King, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I been working to the point where I do own that, and I do deserve it, and I ain’t going to ask for it no more, you’re going to give it.”
“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-gga. R. Kelly, I don’t know, did a lot of things that just doesn’t make sense.”
Fellow singer Chris Brown has also been thrown into the topic of conversation regarding who the King of R&B is. YK Osiris even gave him the title in 2019 during an interview with Sway Calloway.
Mario even claimed the crown in 2020 based on pure skill set alone during an interview with WGCI Chicago.
“If we really talking about just straight, pure skill…” Mario said. “We not talking about relevance, we not talking about who puts out 100 songs a year – we talking about, ‘N-gga give me a mic, you get a mic.’ If we just talking about that, there’s nobody fucking with me. I promise you. On everything, I put that on my grave.”
