Over two decades ago Usher once said, “Don’t leave your girl around me, true player for real, ask my n—a Pharrell,” and some people are saying he should have been taken at his word.
His Las Vegas residency has been the talk of many conversations over the past few months after many accused the beloved R&B crooner of breaking up happy homes during his highly acclaimed showcase.
The online chatter about Usher reached its peak after Darius Jackson, the father of Keke Palmer’s son, publicly expressed his disapproval of the outfit she wore to the singer’s show.
“It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” Jackson tweeted on July 5 in response to a viral clip of Usher serenading the former Disney actress.
Initially, some thought Jackson was joking or giving his lady props, but he made it clear it was no laughing matter to him when he doubled down on his stance with a follow-up tweet espousing traditional values.
It only took moments for all hell to break loose on the internet, sparking a debate about what is appropriate behavior for women in relationships. Critics have done everything from writing think pieces to making mini-documentary videos and memes to express their opinion.
For her part, Keke posted even more pictures in her outfit and continued to act confidently about her choice of attire. “After having my baby, I’ve gotten so much more powerful. I’m just so strengthened in a crazy way. Strutting my stuff, enjoying,” she told The Cut in an interview after Darius’ tweets.
And Usher, who is known to always give a phenomenal show, started catching strays. Boosie said Usher is “on a ‘take your girl tour,’” Charlamagne Tha God called him a “godd—n menace,” and others have called the former judge of “The Voice” out for intentionally causing problems in other people’s relationships.
“Everybody in my DM about this Usher s—t. Man y’all know Usher out his top man. Usher ain’t sparing no ni—a. Usher don’t give a f—k,” Boosie said in a video addressing the situation. “Y’all know he’ll sing a b—h drawers off. Y’all setting y’all selves up letting y’all lady go to that s—t, man.”
Boosie then added he would leave his girl at Usher’s concert if she got lost in the singer’s words.
“The real culprit in this is Usher Raymond the fourth. I know some of y’all got smoke for Keke boyfriend and some of y’all got smoke for Keke, but Usher Raymond the fourth is the real villain in all of this,” Charlamagne said on “The Breakfast Club” about the controversy.
“Usher needs to be held accountable for what he’s doing to these households,” Charlamagne continued. “The man walks around the residency scouting on a straight search and destroy mission, looking for women to find so he can pull them out of the crowd, serenade them and destroy their households.”
Model Winnie Harlow even jumped in the lap of her NBA player boyfriend, Kyle Kuzma, to avoid being swept up in any controversy when Usher tried to serenade her.
Even actor and fellow R&B singer Tyrese jokingly issued a warning to his “Baby Boy” co-star Taraji P. Henson after the “Nice & Slow” singer serenaded the Howard University alum at his concert last year.
However, many music lovers who are longtime fans of the R&B and soul music genre believe the criticism is not only unwarranted but unfair. Usher isn’t the first, nor will he be the last R&B icon to have women swooning at his shows.
“Usher isn’t just singling out married women. I see how y’all trying to create the narrative. It looks like Usher is just interacting with the crowd and I don’t see nothing wrong with that,” said YouTuber Forgotten Kingz in a video about the backlash. “I’m pretty sure those tickets are expensive, so he just wants to ensure that the fans have a good time, they get their money’s worth.”
He continued, “This has been going on since the beginning, so I just don’t understand why so many men are upset. Come on, man, y’all mad at Usher for being Usher?”
Many claim this is normal behavior for R&B singers — such as Teddy Pendergrass, Bobby Brown, Chris Brown, and many others — to serenade women during their shows. Some remembered the days when women literally threw their panties and bras onstage at Pendergrass who would kiss his female fans on the mouth between the 1970-1980s.
“R&B singers been doing R&B things for decades,” one Twitter user wrote. “Teddy P was kissing them in front of their men and telling them, ‘Phew, you better hold onto that!’’’ another echoed.
Bobby Brown came much later in the 1990s, but his performance has the same impact. “Folks acting like this over Usher, they would’ve ripped Bobby Brown to shreds (actually, Bobby did catch some heat, but still lol)… and all the other R&B/Soul legends that have been serenading the ladies for YEARS…..,” someone else tweeted.
A third said, “Some of y’all insecure dudes mad at KeKe and Usher better be glad you weren’t around for the Teddy Pendergrass days. Would’ve had to buy full page ads in Jet Magazine to sound this dumb.”
Females arrOne Twitter user even shared an old clip of Toni Braxton to show that trend also works in reverse.
“Toni Braxton sat in this man’s entire LAP singing ‘Breathe Again’ with his woman right next to him! He gracefully put her arm around her too! Usher is being the showman that he is,” she wrote. “If live performances and artists entertaining fans is the test for modern relationships, idk man.”
Another shared a video of a fan at Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope Tour, who was tied down as she seduced and grinded on him. “Y’all mad at Usher serenading Keke like Janet Jackson didn’t use to grope n—as with a fistful on stage.”
Those who came to Usher’s defense said he was just giving people their money’s worth, something he himself attested to in an interview earlier this year.
“That’s because of the time and passion I put into the art,” Usher said, explaining that many fans have told him his shows were memorable. “The art is the show, the music is the offering, right? Because everybody’s going to interpret what I’m saying maybe a different way because of their experience or what they feel.”
He added, “But the art of it and the time where I get a chance to give something to people that they’ll remember forever is in that moment. So that’s what I love about performing live for my fans.”
Some pointed out that Usher is in a relationship with music executive Jenn Goicoechea, whom he shares two children with. He brought her up onstage during one of his residency shows, where he made it clear that she’s “his baby” and he loves her.
There have been a host of celebrities who attended his residency, and he’s acknowledged or serenaded quite a few of them.
He isn’t the only artist this year to cause a major stir in a relationship recently. Before Jackson and Palmer left onlookers wondering if they’re still even together, in March, a man made a since-deleted TikTok video claiming he broke up with his girlfriend after Chris Brown serenaded her and gave her a lap dance at one of his concerts.
So, R&B singers have been doing this forever, and Usher, Chris Brown and their peers are just doing what good entertainers do. What’s really the problem?
The truth is everyone has a different opinion about the whether or not there really is one. But if all else fails, Usher’s non-famous fans have a solution.
