Due to what Usher calls “internal conspiracy,”
several tracks purported to be from his upcoming LP have been leaked. Among them
are unmastered versions of a Ludacris-featured
track “Dat Girl Right There,” the Timbaland-assisted
“Moving Mountains,” and a song entitled “Crazy.”
But according
to an MTV report, the latest track—“Love In This Club,” featuring Young Jeezy—was
admittedly leaked by its producer, Polow
Da Don.
“When I
spoke to Usher, he was like,
‘Maaaan, why’d you do it?’” recounted Polow,
who has also produced hits like Rich Boy’s
“Throw Some D’s” and Ciara’s “Promise.”
“He knew I leaked the record, he didn’t have to ask. … He wasn’t mad, but
he was like, ‘Why’d you do that?’ Because everything has to be set up on their
end. A video should be in place with an artist like that as soon as it drops.
Those are the things you risk, but it’s working out beautifully.”
Polow said that he leaked the song because
he was tired of label politics procrastinating on releasing it themselves.
“Usher has people around him like, ‘He’s
Usher. He can’t do a song like that,’”
Polow said. “… Ain’t really no young
people around him besides his assistant and the guys he runs with. But as far
as the corporate people, they not out here in the street. They don’t know. I
felt like me being best of both worlds — half-corporate, half-producer, all
real nigga — I’m in touch with what people want.””
The new
album, Usher said, shows personal
growth throughout the disc.
“It starts
in one place, then matures in another direction,” he said. “As you know, this
has been a very tumultuous year for me. So I have a lot of great stories to
tell. But more than that, as far as music and the contribution I wanna make, I
wanna make sure it’s very wide. You’re gonna get a great variety on this album,
and I promise to make the wait worthwhile. “
