Usher has finally accepted the “King of R&B” title that so many people have bestowed upon him over the years.
During an interview with Bevy Smith on her show Bevelations on Tuesday (August 25), the Confessions singer spoke on the whole craze after the host claimed the singer seemed ready to accept the crown.
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“I mean, you call me that, I’ll definitely carry it,” said Usher. “I’m a tilt my crown knowing that I’m standing on the shoulders of all of the icons of our time. It is Michael [Jackson] that I stand on the shoulders of, it is James Brown that I stand on the shoulders of, it is Ronald Isley I stand on the shoulders of, it is Luther Vandross, it is Barry White, it is Teddy Pendergrass.”
He continued: “It is all of these incredible artists like Marvin Gaye that will never be forgotten as long as there’s a breath in my body to breathe. It’s all of them. And as a result of that, yeah, you wanna give me that crown, you tell me who gon’ do it better.”
Smith told Usher that he’s still relevant on the music scene and is putting out work, to which the “Burn” hitmaker agreed and claimed he’s able to do it because of those who came before him.
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“I am, and I am because I’ve been given a gift, a gift that came from God, man.” Usher said, adding that he’s carrying the voices of other R&B legends. “I’m carrying them, so if anything, you wanna give me a crown? I’m the last of my kind. That’s what I’m a say.
He continued: “King, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I been working to the point where I do own that, and I do deserve it, and I ain’t going to ask for it no more, you’re going to give it.”
Usher’s comments come after YK Osiris recently gave him the title during an interview with VladTV. The Florida native said Usher deserved the title, even after the show host threw R. Kelly’s name in the mix.
“I love Usher,” YK said. “R. Kelly, he’s one of the greatest. I like Usher. It’s just certain things like R. Kelly is fire, but there’s just certain things that turns me off a little bit. Like you can be great all you want to, it just certain things you gotta uphold. It’s cool; I just love Usher. Usher is that n-gga. R. Kelly, I don’t know, did a lot of things that just doesn’t make sense.”
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Chris Brown has also been thrown into the King of R&B commotion by various people, including YK Osiris, who gave him the title back in 2019 during an interview with Sway Calloway.
Mario also claimed the crown based on pure skill set during an interview with WGCI Chicago on Instagram Live in 2020.
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“If we really talking about just straight, pure skill…” Mario said. “We not talking about relevance, we not talking about who puts out 100 songs a year – we talking about, ‘N-gga give me a mic, you get a mic.’ If we just talking about that, there’s nobody fucking with me. I promise you. On everything, I put that on my grave.”
