Usher’s teenage sons were his advisors on his new album ‘Coming Home’.
The ‘My Boo’ hitmaker has revealed Usher Raymond ‘Cinco’ V, 16 and Naviyd Ely, 15 – whom he has with his ex-wife Tameka Foster – gave him lots of ideas for his latest LP, which is out today (09.02.24), and he finds it heartwarming that they care so much about their father’s work.
Speaking to ‘Entertainment Tonight’, he said: “By the way, they both advise me all the time.
“What’s beautiful is that they care enough to give an opinion and that they feel comfortable sharing it. That’s the other thing because parents at some point become uncool and don’t understand or don’t listen or won’t pay attention. So, I give them the space to.”
He added: “It took a minute, right? ‘Cause I’m like, ‘Man, you just sit in the room. You want to play video games and you want to make TikToks all day. ‘
“But eventually, they were beginning to come up with ideas.”
‘Coming Home’ is a star-studded collection, including ‘Good Good’ featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage, ‘Risk It All’ featuring H.E.R., and ‘Standing Next To You (Remix)’ featuring BTS’ Jungkook.
The R’n’B superstar’s 20-track collection also boasts the title track with Burna Boy, ‘A-Town Girl’ with Latto, ‘Cold Blooded’ with The-Dream, and ‘Ruin’ with Pheelz.
Meanwhile, it was Naviyd who came up with the idea to have “Ush Bucks”, the singer’s fake currency, at his My Way Las Vegas residency.
Usher – who also has daughter Sovereign Bo, three, and son Sire Castrello, two, with partner Jenn Goicoechea – said: “Ush Bucks, that came from Naviyd.
“He’s a little genius. He’s like, ‘You should do Ush Bucks and you should like give them out like, you know, make it rain,’ My mom was like, ‘No, you gotta make it rain.’ So we came up with this idea. But it’s great that family can sit around and talk about creative ideas. How I launch my album, a lot of the creative ideas they come from my kids believe it or not.”
And they have a very clear vision for their dad’s Super Bowl VIII Halftime Show performance at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday (11.02.24).
Usher shared: “Cinco’s like, ‘You know I’m trying to turn up, man,’ and Naviyd’s like, ‘No, we gotta make sure that everybody can do the dances, you gotta play this number, you should start with this.’
“I’m like, ‘Why don’t you play the Super Bowl then?’ You know what I’m saying?”
He continued: “They have an opinion and it’s real. Like this is what I feel and this is what I look at, this is what we are. So yeah, in some way, it’s authentic but it’s not trying to just fit in, like, ‘No, this is what I like and this what I would like to see you do.'”
Usher’s little girl, Sovereign, is also featured in his music video for ‘Ruin’.