Running head: Artist Portfolio Project

Usher the Artist Portfolio Project
Aieshah Pittman
Aieshah.grissett@gmail.com
BUSA 2510
November 29, 2012 2012

Artist Portfolio Project
Abstract
Usher Raymond IV also known as Usher, an American recording artist, dancer, lyricist and actor was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. Usher was born to Jonetta Patton and Usher Raymond III. Usher became famous during the later part of the 1990s after the release of his second album “My Way”. His next album 8701 produced number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 such as, “U Remind Me”, and “U Got It Bad” which were certified 4-times platinum by the RIAA (“Gold & Platinum”, 2012).
As far as Usher's personal life is concerned, his father left the family when Usher was just a year old. Usher grew up and spent most of his life in Chattanooga. Usher's grandmother discovered Usher's singing talents and she realized that he could sing professionally when he joined a singing group. In order to provide greater opportunities for Usher to showcase his talents, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, which was an ideal environment for beginners in singing.
Usher joined the Rhythm and Blues (R&B) group called NuBeginnings at age 11, and recorded some ten songs with that group in 1991, but the songs that were part of the album Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV were available only at the regional level and that too by mail order. Usher competed in Star Search, a reality show to identify talented singer at the age of 13. In that show Usher was spotted by an Artists and Repertoire (A&R) representative from the recording label LaFace Records, which after an audition by Usher with its co-founder Reid, “signed the gospel choir boy to a recording contract” (Lane, 2012). Some of Usher's most popular albums are “My Way”, “Confessions”, “Here I Stand”, “Raymond v. Raymond”, “Versus” and “Looking 4 Myself”.
Usher was married twice, first to Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas and next to Tameka Foster. Usher had two children through Tameka Foster, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely Raymond. Usher divorced Tameka Foster in 2009, and a Fulton County Court in the United States granted Usher the primary custody of his two sons.
New Look, an organization founded by Usher, was founded with the motto of providing “young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience”. New Look is a not for profit charity organization, and it ran a project called New Look from July 11 to July 23, 2005 in Clark Atlanta University. The charity organization started another initiative called Our Block, which rebuilt and revitalized city blocks in New Orleans. Usher also participated in “Challenge for the Children”, a charity basketball game organized by 'N Sync and in Hurricane Katrina Relief Concert, besides in the public service announcement for 'Do Something', a campaign for civic engagement.
Introduction
Usher Raymond IV better known as Usher, born in Dallas, Texas, United States on October 14, 1978 is an American recording artist, dancer, lyricist and actor. Usher rose to fame during the later part of the 1990s after the release of his second album My Way. His “Nice & Slow”, which was part of My Way, became the number hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified platinum six-times by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His next album 8701 produced number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 such as, “U Remind Me”, and “U Got It Bad”, which were certified 4-times platinum by the RIAA (“Gold & Platinum”, 2012). In this assignment, a portfolio on artist Usher that contains information on Usher's early life, his musical career, his personal life, philanthropy, two Excel charts that highlights interesting information about Usher's career as an artist, and some 8 to 10 PowerPoint slides that highlights Usher as an artist is prepared.
Early Life of Usher
Usher was born to Jonetta Patton and Usher Raymond III, Usher's father left that family when Usher was just a year old. Usher grew up and spent most of his life in Chattanooga. Usher's singing talents were discovered by his grandmother who realized that he could sing professionally when he joined a singing group. Prior to joining the singing group, Usher was part of the local church youth choir at Chattanooga. In order to provide greater opportunities for Usher to showcase his talents, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, which was an ideal environment for beginners in singing. Usher attended the North Springs High School in Atlanta while at the same time pursuing his singing career.

Usher's Musical Career
Usher joined the Rhythm and Blues (R&B) group called NuBeginnings at age 11, and recorded some ten songs with that group in 1991, but the songs that were part of the album Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV were available only at the regional level and that too by mail order. Usher's mother Jonnetta took him out of the group because she felt it was a bad experience, but the album got a “national release by major-label distributed Hip-O Records” (D'Angelo, 2002) in April 2002.
Usher competed in Star Search, a reality show to identify talented singer at the age of 13. In that show Usher was spotted by an Artists and Repertoire (A&R) representative from the recording label LaFace Records, which after an audition by Usher with its co-founder Reid, “signed the gospel choir boy to a recording contract” (Lane, 2012). Usher recorded the song “Call Me Mack” as part of an album for the Romantic-Drama movie “Poetic Justice” (D'Angelo, 2002). Later in 1994, LaFace released Usher's album that was named after him “Usher”. It contained three singles namely “Can U Get Wit It”, “Think of You”, and “The Many Ways”. The album “Usher” sold as many as 500,000 copies till date.
Usher continued to enhance his skills as a stage performer and readied himself for his second album. In the meantime he also appeared in “Let's Straighten It Out”, a duet that he recorded along with recording artist Monica in Atlanta, and also in “Dreamin” that was part of the “Rhythm of the Games” album that was recorded by LaFace for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games. He also appeared in “I Swear I'm In Love” song of the Kazaam album in 1996. Some of Usher's most popular albums are “My Way”, “Confessions”, “Here I Stand”, “Raymond v. Raymond”, “Versus” and “Looking 4 Myself”. Some 20 million copies of the Confession was sold worldwide out of which some 10 million were sold in the United States alone as show in the chart below.

Here I Stand sold some 5 million copies worldwide and some 1.5 million copies in the United States as shown in the chart below. More information about these albums is presented in the PowerPoint presentation provided.

Personal Life
Usher was married twice, first to Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas and next to Tameka Foster. Usher had two children through Tameka Foster, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely Raymond. Usher divorced Tameka Foster in 2009, and a Fulton County Court in the United States granted Usher the primary custody of his two sons. This means that the children will be spending most of their time with their father, but Tameka Foster has some custodial rights that are unclear.
Usher's Philanthropy
New Look, an organization founded by Usher, was founded with the motto of providing “young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience”. New Look is a not for profit charity organization, and it ran a project called New Look from July 11 to July 23, 2005 in Clark Atlanta University. The charity organization started another initiative called Our Block, which rebuilt and revitalized city blocks in New Orleans. The projected was executed in one street at time in New Orleans, and the funds for the project was raised from Usher's tie-up with Armani Exchange through the “Love 4 Life” dog tags that were sold at the company's stores and through its website. Usher also participated in “Challenge for the Children”, a charity basketball game organized by 'N Sync, and American boy band. This event raised $50,000 for local charities. Besides the above, Usher also participated in Hurricane Katrina Relief Concert, and also in the public service announcement for 'Do Something', a campaign for civic engagement.
Conclusion
From Usher's portfolio one becomes increasingly aware that Usher is not only a successful singer but also a good dancer, lyricist, actor and businessman as well. In addition to it, Usher is also a philanthropist, and this is evident from the charity work that his non-profit organization – New Look does.

References
“Artist Chart History – Usher”. 2008. Billboard. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/artist/usher/chart-history/36758#/artist/usher/chart-history/36758 as on November 21, 2012.
D'Angelo, Joe (February 5, 2002). "Early Usher Recordings Get A Nubeginning". MTV. Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452594/nubeginning-early-usher-tracks.jhtml as of November 21, 2012.
D'Angelo, Joe (March 31, 2004). "Usher Makes Record-Breaking Debut Atop Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
Finn, Natalie (April 2, 2008). "Usher Stands on New Release Date". E!. Retrieved from http://www.eonline.com/news/57946/usher-stands-on-new-release-date as on November 21, 2012.
“Gold and Platinum”. 2008. Retrieved from http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Usher&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 as on November 20, 2012.
“Gold & Platinum”. 2012. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Usher&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 as on November 21, 2012.
Hasty, Katie (June 4, 2008). "Usher Scores Second Best Sales Debut Of '08". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
Lane, Lynda. 2012. "Usher: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/usher-mn0000303506 as of November 22, 2012.
Sexton, Paul (March 22, 2004). "Usher, Michael Notch U.K. No. 1s". Billboard. Retrieved http://www.billboard.com/news/usher-michael-notch-u-k-no-1s-1000468801.story#/news/usher-michael-notch-u-k-no-1s-1000468801.story as on November 20, 2012
Susman, Gary (November 15, 2004). "House of Usher". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
"Usher: Raymond vs Raymond – The National Newspaper". Thenational.ae. April 28, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
"Usher: Raymond vs Raymond – The National Newspaper". Thenational.ae. April 28, 2010. Retrieved November, 19, 2012.
"2004 Billboard Music Awards Winners". Billboard. December 8, 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2012.