Usher Says ‘Confessions’ Album Has a Great Deal of Truth – The Hollywood Reporter

Two decades after Usher made fans question if every time he was in L.A., he was with his ex-girlfriend, the R&B sensation finally gave an answer.

In a People cover story following his Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher opened up about his Confessions album, which features several songs with lyrics about a man cheating on his partner with his ex.

“There is a great deal of truth in that album,” Usher told the publication. He noted, however, that it wasn’t just his truth, explaining that he reached out to multiple male friends in the industry at the time, and they had “talk sessions” and came up with the lyrics.

“We would sit around, and I would say, ‘Yo, check your egos at the door, and let’s just really be honest,’” he recalled. “‘Everybody has to speak their truth.’”

But there were definitely parts of the album based on his own life. He admitted that he did, in fact, have a relationship that resembled the one in Confessions but wouldn’t reveal which one.

“The reality of where it landed and the expression of what that was about, it wasn’t exactly in order of the way or better yet in the moment when I delivered that song,” Usher said. “We go through things in life and sometimes we make decisions based off of what we feel is best or right, and more than likely, will best serve the child. But the reason why I talked about it is because I’m not the only person who will experience that as men.”

At the time the album was released, Usher was romantically linked to rapper Chilli, but she previously told People that the two songs that most blatantly address infidelity — “Confessions (Interlude)” and “Confessions Part II” — were not based on their relationship.

Elsewhere in the interview, Usher also shared that he was inspired to create the album after a conversation he had with his publicist, Chris Chambers, who motivated him to think about who he was and what people knew about him.

“The result of that was Confessions,” the artist said, adding that before they had that conversation, “I had always felt like I would be judged as a result of being vulnerable, Black man. We deal with this.”

Two decades after Usher made fans question if every time he was in L.A., he was with his ex-girlfriend, the R&B sensation finally gave an answer.

In a People cover story following his Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher opened up about his Confessions album, which features several songs with lyrics about a man cheating on his partner with his ex.

“There is a great deal of truth in that album,” Usher told the publication. He noted, however, that it wasn’t just his truth, explaining that he reached out to multiple male friends in the industry at the time, and they had “talk sessions” and came up with the lyrics.

“We would sit around, and I would say, ‘Yo, check your egos at the door, and let’s just really be honest,’” he recalled. “‘Everybody has to speak their truth.’”

But there were definitely parts of the album based on his own life. He admitted that he did, in fact, have a relationship that resembled the one in Confessions but wouldn’t reveal which one.

“The reality of where it landed and the expression of what that was about, it wasn’t exactly in order of the way or better yet in the moment when I delivered that song,” Usher said. “We go through things in life and sometimes we make decisions based off of what we feel is best or right, and more than likely, will best serve the child. But the reason why I talked about it is because I’m not the only person who will experience that as men.”

At the time the album was released, Usher was romantically linked to rapper Chilli, but she previously told People that the two songs that most blatantly address infidelity — “Confessions (Interlude)” and “Confessions Part II” — were not based on their relationship.

Elsewhere in the interview, Usher also shared that he was inspired to create the album after a conversation he had with his publicist, Chris Chambers, who motivated him to think about who he was and what people knew about him.

“The result of that was Confessions,” the artist said, adding that before they had that conversation, “I had always felt like I would be judged as a result of being vulnerable, Black man. We deal with this.”