Produced for Butterman Productions Inc./ByStorm Ent. Publishing/Butterman’s Land (BMI)/Guccizm Music/Universal Publishing (ASCAP) Recorded and mixed at The Hit Factory, NYC (ASCAP)Ĭo-produced/vocals arranged for Flyte Tyme Productions, Inc.
“How do I say hello? I just wanna talk to you / How do I say you’re beautiful when I can’t take my eyes off you? / I don’t wanna say the wrong thing, I wanna use the right words to impress you,” he timidly sings.Published by UR IV Music/EMI-April Music, Inc. Speaking of favorites, another underrated track on the album helmed by Jam & Lewis is “How Do I Say.” Here, a speechless Usher tries to find the right words to describe how he feels towards a crush. I know it was one of Usher’s favorites, too.” Of course, when you write a song for an artist and with an artist and watch them bring it to life, that’s always the coolest thing. It’s definitely one of our favorite songs that we wrote. “There was never really a video done or anything for it. “That’s one of our favorite songs that was never a big single or anything,” shares Jam. He also mentions Usher wanted to make a song to evoke the feeling of ballads they wrote and produced, such as New Edition’s “Can You Stand The Rain” and Force MDs’ “Tender Love,” while adding his unique spin. He can really sing.” When we wrote ‘Can U Help Me, that was kind of the idea of it.” “We wanted to make sure we had songs that really showed off his voice, where when you heard it, you went, ‘Wow. Even if he was just sitting on a chair singing, he was amazing,” says Jam. “Being in the studio with him, we were impressed by his vocals. Since Jam & Lewis were familiar with Usher’s vocal ability from working with him in years prior, they wanted to craft a song that would allow him to solidify himself as more than an entertainer. “Can you help me? Tell me what you want from me / Can you help me? Tell me why you wanna leave,” Usher croons on the standout track. For nearly six minutes, Usher pleads to his woman to work with him on saving their relationship. Take “Can U Help Me,” for instance, another track produced by Jam & Lewis. Hits aside, 8701 was a solid album all-around. The latter tune also earned Usher a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 45th ceremony. The album also spawned the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “U Got It Bad,” co-produced by Dupri and Cox, and The Neptunes-produced “U Don’t Have to Call,” which peaked at No. “U Remind Me” wasn’t the only hit on 8701. But then he’s taken the reins of that and built an amazing career from that.” He’s like a musical student that’s been mentored by a lot of great creative people in his life. Then, the maturity from that into the Jermaine Dupri My Way era, into the 8701 era. “Then he went from that to the DeVante Swing- ‘Can U Get Wit It’. It sounded like little Michael Jackson,” he recounts. “I look at Usher and I think about when I heard his first song, ‘Call Me A Mack’, where he had the little boy voice. Jam goes into describing how Usher naturally evolved over the years prior to 8701. He contributed his skills on “Intro-Lude 8701” and “Without U (Interlude),” with support from Jam & Lewis.Ī post-teen Usher, 23 at the time, had told JET Magazine that 8701 reflected his “evolution as an artist.” Looking back 20 years later, Jam agrees, citing it was “a moment of growth.” Usher showing his growth as an artist wasn’t anything new, though. Similar to his sophomore album, My Way, Usher was involved with the songwriting process of 8701 - and production, too. In addition to working with Jam & Lewis on his third LP, he teamed up with other producers such as Babyface, Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Mike City, Soulshock & Karlin, The Neptunes and Soulshock & Karlin.
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