# Usher (album)
**Usher** is the debut studio album by the American R&B singer Usher, released on August 30, 1994, on [LaFace Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/laface-records).[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) Coproduced by LaFace co-founder Antonio "L.A." Reid and the New York rap magnate Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, it introduced the Chattanooga-born singer at 15 years old and produced the gold-selling single "Think of You," which established him as an up-and-coming R&B star.[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | August 30, 1994, LaFace Records, U.S. standard edition[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) |
| Format | 14 tracks, 1 hour 3 minutes[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) |
| Producers | Coproduced by L.A. Reid and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) |
| Singles | "Can U Get Wit It," "Think of You," and "The Many Ways"[3](https://usherraymond.com/music/) |
| Commercial result | Second single "Think of You" went gold and carried the disc to gold status[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-29-ca-58676-story.html) |
| Artist's age | Released when Usher was 15 (born 1978)[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) • [2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) |
## Background and recording
Usher Raymond IV (born 1978 in [Chattanooga, Tennessee](https://www.edgepedia.org/chattanooga-tennessee)) honed his voice in the St. Elmo's Missionary Baptist Church choir and moved to Atlanta with his mother, [Jonnetta Patton](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonnetta-patton), in 1990 to pursue a record deal.[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) A victory on the nationally televised *Star Search* program prompted a scout for the LaFace label to arrange an audition with producer [L.A. Reid](https://www.edgepedia.org/l-a-reid), who signed him to the roster with little hesitation to begin recording a full-length album.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher)
The studio sessions were guided by Sean "Puffy" Combs, at that point himself a young figure in the business, and the album emerged in 1994 under the straightforward title *Usher*. Combs served as a guide to the even younger singer, and the two subsequently toured together.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher)
## Music and reception
The album was recorded while Usher was still a teenager, and it contains what Apple Music's editorial note describes as earnest light-voiced crooning about the adolescent pursuit of love, over production that blends boom-bap rap and soul music.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288)
Despite his age, the material was not strictly juvenile. Pitchfork notes that Usher was ahead of his peers at 15, singing "Can you get wit' it/It's like that/It's only a sexual thing" on the 1994 debut.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/usher-confessions/) Other identified tracks include "I'll Make It Right," a promise to a love interest to do whatever is necessary to secure long-term affection, and the slow, brooding "Smile Again," in which he lends his shoulder to a girl upset by a man who took her for granted.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288)
Commercially, the album reached gold status, driven by its second single, "Think of You," which followed the lead single, "Can U Get Wit It," and also found favor with international audiences.[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-29-ca-58676-story.html) Critical reception was cooler: the release drew little critical fanfare, and its 14 tracks have been described as at best a training ground for the singer's emerging style.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher) Sources differ on Usher's age at release, with Apple Music, the artist's own fan archive, and AP placing it at 15 and one biographical account at 16; the album came out in August 1994, two months before his sixteenth birthday.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) • [6](https://apnews.com/article/05a21fe7663feff1368bba8e8ba7c47b) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher)
## Role in Usher's career
The debut established a fan base that Usher consolidated between 1994 and 1997 with solo and collaborative projects, including a jingle for [Coca-Cola](https://www.edgepedia.org/coca-cola) and the single "You Will Know" with the R&B vocal group Black Men United.[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) His second album, *[My Way](https://www.edgepedia.org/my-way-usher-album)* (1997), produced with [Jermaine Dupri](https://www.edgepedia.org/jermaine-dupri) and Babyface, became the commercial breakthrough, reaching multiplatinum sales on the strength of "You Make Me Wanna" and "Nice and Slow."[2](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/) • [3](https://usherraymond.com/music/)
Looking back, Usher framed the debut as a beginning he did not fully control. "I decided around the age of 12, 13 that this is what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing," he told Apple Music in 2022, "and I really left it in the hands of someone else to kind of curate what that beginning was."[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288) AP has described him as "charting his own unique course" ever since his debut at the age of 15.[6](https://apnews.com/article/05a21fe7663feff1368bba8e8ba7c47b)
## References
1. [Usher – Album by USHER, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/usher/250502288)
2. [Usher, New Georgia Encyclopedia (Darren Grem)](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/usher-b-1978/)
3. [Usher Discography: Albums & Track Lists, Usher Raymond Archive](https://usherraymond.com/music/)
4. [Usher, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/usher)
5. [Usher: Confessions Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/usher-confessions/)
6. [Usher to headline the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/05a21fe7663feff1368bba8e8ba7c47b)
7. [Young Star Is Building His Own House of Usher](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-29-ca-58676-story.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › R&B and soul albums › 1980s and 1990s R&B albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license