Songoftheday 5/1/21 - I do any and everything you want to, make your girl say, "Oooh, oooh Why is he so fly?"...
"My Way" - Usher
from the album My Way (1997)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 24
Today's song of the day comes from R&B singer Usher, whose second album My Way had scored a pair of big hits with "You Make Me Wanna..." and "Nice & Slow", which topped the pop charts in the beginning of 1998. For the third single from the set, Usher released the title track "My Way". Written by Usher with producer Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal, Usher is singing to another guy that he's going to take his woman and treat her better. It's a ballsy move from such a young artist singing it, but perhaps it's his youth that gives him bravado. It may not have the memorable moments the other two hits did, but it's not without it's groove. In fact, despite being a Dupri production, it sounds more like something out of the Timbaland camp. The music video gave people a real good look at Usher's dancing skills...
"My Way" became the third top ten hit for Usher in America in August of 1998. The song climbed to #4 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart as well. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in New Zealand (#17) and the Netherlands (#21). At the Grammy Awards in 1999, "My Way" scored the singer a second consecutive nomination for Best Male R&B Performance, losing out to Stevie Wonder for his version of the "Saint Louis Blues", which was actually on Herbie Hancock's Gershwin World album, so kind of like a stolen award to be frank.
There were no more singles released in the U.S. from My Way, but two cuts from the set got enough urban radio love to place on Billboard's R&B chart. First, "One Day You'll Be Mine", another Dupri production that sampled the Isley Brothers, got to #45 on the airplay list in the autumn of 1998, followed by "Bedtime", which Babyface wrote, produced, and sang backup with fellow SOTD artist Shanice, peaked at #66 on the main chart (the rules changed by then to allow non-commercial singles) at the start of 1999.
(6/10)
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Usher performing "My Way" on Letterman in 1998...
Next up, another TV appearance where it's all about the dance and the coat...
Comments