INTERVIEW: Usher Reveals How Hip Hop Made Him a Mega Star

The 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival is quickly approaching, folks. Going down on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, this star-studded event has everything needed to make it the best musical celebration of the year – like it has been for the past 5 years.

This year’s festivities will be headlined, per usual, by some of the biggest names in music. They are Drake, U2, Britney Spears, Sam Hunt, twenty one pilots, Billy Idol, Usher, Florida Georgia Line, OneRepublic, Sia, Cage The Elephant, Zedd, Tears For Fears, Ariana Grande, Pitbull and Los 5.

One of the iconic performers of the festival, Usher, recently spoke to iHeartRadio before his much-anticipated show at the festival. In the sit-down, the entertainer spoke about his start in music, how he busted his behind to be the musical icon he is today, and his favorite memories from past iHeartRadio Music Festival performances’ he’s done.

Check out Usher’s interview below. See you at the show!

You’ve been performing since a very young age so tell me, why are you a musician? Why is this your career?

I think my passion came by way of religion first. I sang in the church and I kind of found my way to that. Of course, I liked the music that was playing on the radio and that was the first connection. I think that not all of u are affluent and have enough money or the means to go out and purchase CDs - tapes, at the time - but we could all turn on the radio. And there was a radio to facilitate us with the vision of the artist.

Curating a story that is significant to what the artist's vision is or what the record label's vision was for that artist -- it became motivational for me. It then gave me a point of reference, a means to have some passion and direction. I think [it] established a goal and from that I guess the journey was the job. The more I did it, the more I loved it. The more I learned about it, the better I got at it, obviously. I had some wins and still am having some wins, thank God. But, I don't know if I had a choice. I think that the moment that I recognized that it was something that I loved, I went after it like I loved it.

Listening to the radio...there [was] Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. All of these artists who have created this mixture by way of just that love and that passion. I didn't know that at the time, but eventually when I began to make enough money to go out and buy CDs or talk to people who knew of the artist, or looked at the back of the vinyls that my grandmother or my mother had, I would read. I would find out information that would lead me deeper and deeper in the passion of what I really loved about music.

In those earlier days when your 1997 single “You Make Me Wanna” blew up and really started connecting across all different kinds of audiences, when did you realize that your fan base was really exploding?

I realized that I had become somebody when I couldn't go to the mall by myself. When I went to the mall and I had fans chasing me, I was like, ‘Oh, they worked. Oh,  I'm actually somebody right now. Hey, you want my autograph? Okay. Sure, of course.’ And after all of those years of preparing and doodling it in class when my teacher was telling me, ‘You should really be paying attention to the lesson,’ and meanwhile I'm practicing writing my autograph. (laughs) I realized that it worked.

When you were growing your career, were there artists that you opened in concert for and who helped you along the way?

Yeah, Mary J. Blige was an artist that I opened for. Janet Jackson, that was a major break for me after "My Way." That tour gave me the type of confidence that you need as an artist. 

Not many people know this, but I opened up for P. Diddy and the Family and there [were] nothing but hip-hop artists on this entire tour. That means Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, Nas, all on one stage, Mase, Foxy Brown, The LOX, all of these guys, and I opened up for them. That was my first major tour.

What did you learn from being around those types of artists?

That being cool matters. Taking myself out of the space of being like a traditional R&B artist gave me confidence to experiment and try other s**t. As a result of being in that environment with those people, I couldn't just go to what I knew was my comfort zone which was dancing and singing R&B s**t because that's not what that audience needed or wanted to hear. I had to figure out how to entertain them. I had to figure out how to move in a way where I would get their attention to the point where they wanted me to move my show later on in the set, even though I didn't have a hit record. And then, I had a hit record: “You Make Me Wanna.”

Being on that tour, it just helped me understand being different. There were many artists that I ended up touring with. I toured with Immature. I toured with friends of mine, Subway, I mean I've been doing this s**t a long time, man. (laughs) And as long as I've been doing it, I've always managed or wanted - or, actually, ended up - in situations where I had to figure out how to make myself blend. I had to figure out a way to make who I was work for that audience, while being authentic in who I am as a performer no matter where it was.

All of those opportunities gave me the confidence and the chutzpah to figure it out, man. Work it out.

We've been so honored to have you perform at three of our iHeartRadio Music Festivals. What are your favorite memories of playing at past shows?

The iHeartRadio Music Festival is one that I always enjoy whether I'm on the stage or whether I'm watching from the audience for two reasons. One, I performed with Chris Brown which was a great pleasure. It's great to be able to play hit records that this audience, obviously, has celebrated and made the success that it is. But when you're able to put the right type of production and the right group of people together to create the story and the stage performance, it's great.

And I always love the production. I always feel like it's a lot, but it's not too much. I've been able to be experimental and create new ideas, new music, to show my collaborations on stage - I love that. Swedish House Mafia and myself, there was a song, "Euphoria." I never got a chance to perform that record anywhere else but the production that we put together for that show [2012 Festival] made it one of my favorite moments. I really did enjoy it and I appreciate the audience there in Vegas and iHeart for giving me that opportunity to convey that passion.

I think that it's a responsibility for iHeartRadio to articulate the artist's vision through radio. The same thing goes for this [Festival’s] performance. You get an opportunity to do things that you might not normally experiment with if it [was] a normal awards show because there's the pressure of performing the hit record. The moment kind of drives the sale of the CDs, or the download, or the tour. You get a chance to just be yourself and just have a good time at the Festival. So, to me, that's why I love it.

Photos: Courtesy of iHeartRadio