Preloading

A Teenage Usher's Fight for More Studio Time

Season 6 Episode 603
Aired on 09/23/2017 | CC tv-pg
When R&B prodigy Usher first signed with LaFace Records as a teen, his mentor was none other than hip-hop artist Sean "Diddy" Combs. As Diddy took Usher under his wing, he showed the 13-year-old what it meant to be an artist—including the club scene and champagne lifestyle. But Usher had other priorities. He wanted to work.

"I'm 13 years old, like, banging on this man as though, you know, I am the manager," Usher says. "I'm telling him, 'Look, you're going to put me in the studio, man. You got Biggie Smalls in there. You got Craig Mack in there. You're going to make me a priority too. I'm not here to party with you. I don't want to go to the clubs.'"

Here, Usher opens up about why he felt he didn't yet belong in that party scene, and reveals what compelled him never to stray far from the recording studio.

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