Usher (album)

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Usher is the debut studio album by American singer Usher, released on August 30, 1994, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. As executive producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs mostly handled production work on the album, as additional production was provided by Chucky Thompson, DeVante Swing and Al B. Sure!, among others. Despite underperforming on the charts, debuting at number 167 on the US Billboard 200, the album reached number 4 on the US Heatseekers Albums Chart. The songs "Can U Get wit It", "Think of You" and "The Many Ways" were released as singles to support the album.

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings Billy Johnson Jr. of Yahoo! Music called the debut album "an enjoyable ride."<ref name="YahooMscRvw">Template:Cite web</ref> Anderson Jones of Entertainment Weekly in a negative review of the album called the songs "sophomoric" and "remarkably dull."<ref name="EWRvw" />

Commercial performance

Usher debuted at number 167 on the US Billboard 200 chart.<ref name="BllbrdAlbms">Template:Cite web</ref> The album has sold over 500,000 copies in the United States to date.

Track listing

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^{Template:Note} denotes co-producer

Sample credits

"I'll Make It Right" contains a sample from "Top Billin'" (1987) by Audio Two.
"Slow Love" contains a sample from "The Show" (1985) by Doug E. Fresh.
"I'll Show You Love" contains a sample from "Blind Man Can See It" (1973) by James Brown.
"Final Goodbye" contains a sample from "Nobody Beats the Biz" (1988) by Biz Markie.

Personnel

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Assistant engineering – Daniel Beroff
Drums – Alexander Richbourg
Engineering – Al B. Sure!, Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander, Bob Brockman, Larry Funk, Gerhard Joost, Tony Maserati, Brian Alexander Morgan, Nasheim Myrick, Rob Paustian
Executive production – Sean "Puffy" Combs, L.A. Reid
Guitar – Darryl Pearson
Keyboards – Herb Middleton
Mixing – Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander, Bob Brockman, Sean "Puffy" Combs, David Dachinger, DeVante Swing, Rob Paustian, John Shrive

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Multi-instruments – DeVante Swing, Brian Alexander Morgan, Tim Mosley, Darryl Pearson
Photography – Michael Benabib
Production – Al B. Sure!, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Ward Corbett, DeVante Swing, Edward "Eddie F" Ferrell, Kiyamma Griffin, Dave Hall, Isaiah Lee, Brian Alexander Morgan, Darryl Pearson, Alexander Richbourg
Songwriting – Ward Corbett
Vocals – Usher
Background vocals – Darren Benbow, Mary Brown, Faith Evans, Dave Hollister, Crystal Johnson, Darryl Pearson, Laquentis Saxon, Usher, Levar "Lil' Tone" Wilson