Z. B. Hill - Usher

Usher

by Z.B. Hill

Usher

by Z.B. Hill

Mason Crest

Usher

Mason Crest 370 Reed Road Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 www.masoncrest.com

Copyright 2013 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hill, Z. B.

Usher / Z.B. Hill.

p. cm. (Superstars of hip-hop)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4222-2531-8 (hard cover) ISBN 978-1-4222-2508-0 (series hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4222-9233-4 (ebook)

1. UsherJuvenile literature. 2. Rhythm and blues musiciansUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. SingersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title.

ML3930.U84H55 2012

782.421643092dc23

[B]

2011019650

Produced by Harding House Publishing Services, Inc.

www.hardinghousepages.com

Interior Design by MK Bassett-Harvey.

Cover design by Torque Advertising & Design.

Publishers notes:

All quotations in this book come from original sources and contain the spelling and grammatical inconsistencies of the original text.

The Web sites mentioned in this book were active at the time of publication. The publisher is not responsible for Web sites that have changed their addresses or discontinued operation since the date of publication. The publisher will review and update the Web site addresses each time the book is reprinted.

DISCLAIMER: The following story has been thoroughly researched, and to the best of our knowledge, represents a true story. While every possible effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher will not assume liability for damages caused by inaccuracies in the data, and makes no warranty on the accuracy of the information contained herein. This story has not been authorized nor endorsed by Usher.

Contents

Alicia Keys

Beyonc

Black Eyed Peas

Ciara

Dr. Dre

Drake

Eminem

50 Cent

Flo Rida

Hip Hop:
A Short History

Jay-Z

Kanye West

Lil Wayne

LL Cool J

Ludacris

Mary J. Blige

Notorious B.I.G.

Rihanna

Sean Diddy Combs

Snoop Dogg

T.I.

T-Pain

Timbaland

Tupac

Usher

Hip-Hop lingo

R&B stands for rhythm and blues. Its a kind of music that African Americans made popular in the 1940s. It has a very strong beat. Today, its a style of music thats a lot like hip-hop.

Billboard is a magazine that keeps track of which songs are most popular.

Passion is a strong feeling for a certain activity or thing that drives you to act on its behalf.

Talent contests are where people perform for judges. The best performer wins a prize.

Potential is someones power to do something that he hasnt done yet.

Mainstream music is music enjoyed by almost everyone.

Gospel is a type of music that started in African American churches.

Funk is a style of music started in the 1960s. It has a strong beat and is often used as dance music.

A person who auditioned sang or performed for someone to see if that person liked his work and wanted to give him a job.

A contract is a written agreement between two people. Once youve signed a contract, its against the law to break it. When a musician signs a contract with a music company, the musician promises to give all his music to that company for them to produce as CDs and then selland the music company promises to pay the musician a certain amount of money. Usually, a contract is for a certain period of time.

A vocalist is a singer.

A single is one song taken from an album and sold by itself.

A producer is the person who oversees the creation of an album.

An album goes gold when it sells more than 500,000 copies.

The year is 2004. Usher has just released another hit album. Rolling Stone calls him an gives him eleven awards. Hes on top of the world. Hes just twentysix years old, but hes been making music for over fifteen years!

How did it all begin? Where did this star come from? Usher says on his website, I have been building my career since I was a little boy. Singing had always been what I wanted to do.... Its my biggest and my biggest joy.

Today, Usher has made his dreams come true. But it wasnt easy. He came a long way to get where he is today.

Childhood

Usher was born on October 14, 1978, in Dallas, Texas. His full name is Usher Raymond IV. He is named after his dad, Usher Raymond III. His parents had no idea their son would go on to make the name Usher so famous.

Ushers music career began by singing in church choirs directed by his mother, J-Pat. Today, Usher, his mother, and younger brother James remain close. In this photo, J-Pat and James are shown at the launch party for Ushers Truth Tour.

Sadness visited Ushers life early. When he was one year old, his parents divorced. His mom, Jonetta Patton, moved them to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jonetta was also known as J-Pat. Usher would never really know his real dad.

In Tennessee, J-Pat married another man. J-Pat had a baby with her new husband, and they called him James. Now Usher had a stepfather and a baby brother. It was the start of a whole new family.

Ushers mom was a musical person. Early on, she noticed her oldest son liked singing. So she put him in the church choir when he was just six years old. As it turned out, this boy could really sing! At age nine, he entered . And by the time he was eleven, he had won a contest. He was very proud. He was only in middle school, and the contest had high school kids in it. He had beaten kids who were many years older than him!

But this was only the beginning. Usher had a lot more awards headed his way. No one knew that better than Ushers mom. J-Pat wanted her to son to succeed. She saw great in him. She also saw that Usher needed a bigger city where he could really shine. So she made a decision. She moved herself and her two boys to Atlanta, Georgia.

J-Pat kept pushing Usher to succeed. She got a job leading a choir in Atlanta. She pushed him to enter more talent contests. When he was twelve, he joined a local R&B group called NuBeginnings.

The Hip-Hop Scene

As Usher grew up in the 1980s, hip-hop grew up, too. Hip-hop began in the 1970s. At first, it was mostly just music for the inner city.. It fit Ushers young voice well.

Fame Comes Early

His hard work finally paid off. Usher met an important person at one of the Atlanta talent contests. His name was Bryan Reid. Bryan was the brother of L.A. Reid, the owner of LaFace Records. Bryan liked what he heard from Usher. He wanted his brother to meet the young man. So in 1992, when Usher was only fourteen years old, he for LaFace Records.