Usher and Eric Bellinger

Do you remember when Eric Bellinger was introduced to The Lava Lizard via our Burning Up feature? Well, even if you’ve lost interest in his own songs, you’re about to get familiar with his talent in a different context – songwriting. That’s right, Bellinger is crafting material for Usher’s new album and it’s clasic R&B.

Bellinger revealed to Billboard that Usher is determined to return to the “timeless” R&B sound that made him a superstar. However, don’t expect the new music to be dated because it will be progressive and geared toward mainstream audiences. Read Bellinger’s comments below:

What sound is Usher going for this time around?
Usher is at a place where he’s more comfortable. With his other projects, I think he was like, “Okay. I’m going to do this because I think people may want to hear this.” But, I think this time around, he’s going to do what he wants to do in his heart and that’s R&B, the stuff that got him here in the first place. He’s done so many genres of music and excelled in every area, so now he’s like, “Cool. What’s left for me to do? I’ve done everything. So, I’m going to take it back to R&B, timeless music.”

Considering the current state of R&B, do you think Usher will be able to successfully implement that?
I definitely do. He has always done R&B, even on the last project. We did “What Happened to U.” All of those were R&B, but with a different beat. We were able to experiment on “I Care For U,” with some next level, futuristic, dub step type of music, but still with the touch of smooth R&B within the melodies. [The album] is definitely still very commercial. It’s going to be for the radio and the club. He’s still Usher. He has to lead the pack.

As one of the people who greatly appreciated the experimentation that Usher did on Looking 4 Myself, this news has made me quite excited to hear his new music. “Climax” and the fan bonus “Go Missin’” were brilliant, and although “I Care for U”, which was co-written by Bellinger, wasn’t Usher’s best effort, it depicted an artist who wasn’t afraid to test the limits of his sound.

Hopefully, Usher sticks to his goal and distances himself from generic Pop songs. He is far more talented than most of his peers and he should focus his energy on being a pioneer in the industry. Listen to “I Care for U” below:

Thoughts?