Usher! Backstage with the hottest teenager in music

Ebony, August, 1998 by Kevin Chappell

THE breathtaking young woman sat inside Atlanta's trendy Cheesecake Factory, so intent on her luncheon milkshake that she didn't notice Usher walking her way.

But he couldn't help noticing her. Oozing with the confidence of a 19-year-old singer with a multiplatinum album, he walks straight to her table. "That looks good," he said, raising his sunglasses, exposing his inviting jet-black eyes. "Maybe I can join you a little later. Maybe I can share that [strawberry milkshake] with you. Would you like that?"

It was an old line, too cheesy to work for the average Brother. But it sounded as smooth as butter flowing from Usher's mouth--at least her smile seemed to suggest that she thought so. Then again, Usher's not the average Brother. He's today's hottest teenage heartthrob, a young man who could look cool taking his yo-yo or his Porsche for a spin.

Maybe that's why everybody loves Usher Raymond IV. The ladies say he's sexy because he's the perfect mix of maturity and sophistication, youth and innocence. Fellows say he's cool because of his laid-back nature. "I'm more or less just chilled out," he says. "I ain't a cornball. I know what's going on. I know what's hot and what's not, and I'm in the loop and stay surrounded around people who are officially cool in the game."

If being cool in the game means making hit records (his current CD My Way has sold more than 4 million copies and earlier this year was nominated for a Grammy), it definitely makes him a player. His No. I smash hit "You Make Me Wanna ..." broke the record for the number of times an R&B song was played on the radio in one week, and even caused a feeding frenzy in Europe, where pirated copies were being sold well before the scheduled international release date. He has toured to packed houses with Mary J. Blige and was chosen to be the opening act for Janet Jackson on her much-anticipated nationwide concert tour this year. Riding his music success, he now is looking to conquer all media. "I'm the hardest-working man in show business," he says. "I'm the ultimate entertainer."

The mania surrounding Usher has helped him rise to the upper echelon of young entertainers and move into other areas such as acting. Building on the success of his reoccurring role as Brandy's boyfriend "Jeremy" on TV's Moesha, Usher recently landed an acting gig, becoming a cast member on the CBS daytime drama, The Bold and the Beautiful, playing the role of a teenage singer. He also has a starring role in an upcoming science-fiction horror movie, and recently he inked a lucrative deal with EMI Publishing to produce and write for other artists. "Responsibility is running up on me quick, fast and in a hurry," he says. "I'm trying to do it all, as well as live my life."

Saying things have happened fast for Usher is an understatement. At 9, he was a cut-up and singing as part of the St. Elmo Missionary Baptist Church youth choir his mother directed in Chattanooga, Tenn. By 14, he had a record deal and was learning how to be cool while living with Bad Boy Records CEO Puff Daddy in his New York City bachelor's pad.

In between, he got his big break when he was spotted performing in an Atlanta talent show by Bryant Reid, brother of LaFace Records co-president Antonio (L.A.) Reid. It wasn't long before Usher, then 13, was invited to the record company's Atlanta headquarters to sing for L.A., his partner Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds, and several ladies form the office. "I guess they wanted to see if I would get intimidated by older and younger women," says Usher, who would routinely compete in talent shows in Tennessee and Georgia, usually singing Tevin Campbell's song "Tomorrow." "They knew that I was confident with them, but they wanted to see how I would act around ladies ... I took them over the top. I had them screaming, right there in the office."

Usher was offered a record deal that same day. Now, five years later, LaFace executives, like senior vice president of marketing Lisa Cambridge, say Usher has the potential to be the biggest artist to come out of LaFace. "He's developing as an actor as he is developing as a recording artist. His career has a dimension to it that we have never really had at this label before," says Cambridge, who says being in the spotlight comes naturally to Usher. "His film opportunities are coming into play not because he has hit records but because he can really act. That is going to provide him longevity. We've already outgrown the present success, and we are trying to figure out how to take him to next level."

In 1994, no one was sure if there would be a next level for Usher, after his self-titled debut album fell short of the expectations of many in the record industry, only producing one hit record, "Think of You." LaFace executives had tapped Puff Daddy, on of the industry's hottest producers, to work on Usher's first album. L.A. had even sent Usher to New York City to live with Puffy to hang out with him and learn the ropes of the record industry. But none of that produced the desired result. Critics panned the album, some complaining that the lyrics were too explicit for a 14-year-old boy to sing.