Album Review: Usher’s ‘COMING HOME’ Showcases His Multi-Faceted Appeal Ahead of His Superbowl Performance

On Usher's ninth studio album, he returns to R&B ahead of the Superbowl with his first release in over eight years. 

Written by Rachel Joy Thomas 

Photo courtesy of Bellamy Brewster

In previous interviews, Usher called COMING HOME a sonic exploration of his newly found single status after the end of his marriage to Grace Miguel in 2018. As the archetypal R&B artist remembered fondly in the 90s and early 2000s, Usher has an intense and often scrutinized legacy. The Confessions singer hasn’t released a solo album in eight years, with his last album, Hard II Love, coming out in 2016. Hard II Love, while somewhat R&B-focused, displayed a fusion of genres and a pop-focused center. The album was generally well received but had the most eager fans waiting for a true return to the roots of R&B music, along with a few cheesy songs. 

Usher’s comeback began when he released tracks “Good Good” and “Kissing Strangers” during his 100-show Las Vegas residency, reintroducing him into the music world’s stratosphere. His other single, “Ruin,” a collaboration with Nigerian producer Pheelz, subtly conveyed a new direction for the artist, with Afrobeat seamlessly interlayed in the track. 

COMING HOME is easily one of Usher’s best albums since the early 2000s, with many writers, sound engineers, and producers returning to work with him for this album, including his previous video director David Meyers, and producers The-Dream and Jermaine Dupri. 

According to an interview with HipHopDX, COMING HOME aims to tell a story that connects with people, something open to the interpretation of fans and critics. 

“Margiela” is one of the best tracks on Usher’s COMING HOME, with composer Terius Gesteelde-Diamant producing the song and adding incredible string instrumentals alongside continued synthesizers. “Margiela” details Usher’s compulsive thoughts as he laments about his relationship. He softly sings to himself, “Get a grip, that's what I'm doing / Paint her lips, that's what I'm doing,” as he processes a new, growing relationship while thinking about an old flame. The flow leans more experimental, with Usher ignoring convention, speaking low, and syncopating past the rhythm. 

“Bop,” produced by Hit-Boy, who previously worked on projects by Drake, Nas, and Jay-Z, leans heavily into contemporary R&B alongside some traditional rap beats. The song takes a melancholic approach and expresses Usher's genuine regret regarding his relationships. Even though the lyrics insist, “Don’t let this turn into a bop,” the song is incredibly catchy while delving into Usher’s emotional vulnerability.

“Please U” exemplifies quintessential bedroom R&B with a sexy chorus and impeccable production. Usher’s romantic, lightweight tenor hits high notes as he begs: “Please let me / Please let me / Please you.” As a choir sings, “Listen to my heartbeat, baby / Listen to my heartbeat looking for you,” the song slowly fades into a superb choral ending. 

“Luckiest Man” returns to form, feeling the most like pre-2010s Usher with classic production and sound mixing, sequencing incredibly well with “Please U” as standalone bedroom tracks. The song compares well to tracks like “Superstar” from Confessions, feeling like a natural evolution from the older track and others from that era.

Photo courtesy of Mega/Gamma

Despite its definitive features, COMING HOME has a few problems that distract from its hard-hitting appeal. For one, the album falls into a common issue amongst Usher’s discography — a lack of cohesion between songs and unsuccessful sequencing. 

Some tracks add collaborators or samples that don’t feel necessary with the rest of the album, like “Good Good’ and “A-Town Girl,” two pop-centric tracks that feel less compelling than Usher’s solo tracks without collaborations. 

“Good Good” features Summer Walker and 21 Savage. Walker's influence on this song is a positive component to the track, adding much-needed female vocals that compliment excruciatingly well with Usher’s incredible, smooth voice. In contrast, 21 Savage feels like a last-minute tack and takes the flow out of the song before finally warming up to it. 21 Savage’s deadpan performance leaves much to be desired, downplaying the impact Walker and Usher have on the track. 

“A-Town Girl” samples “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. It’s an unusual sample, and other than Latto’s reference to Lemon Pepper Wet Wings (an Atlanta favorite), it falls incredibly flat compared to other tracks. “A-Town Girl” shows off its pop influence, creating a noticeable difference between Usher’s more pop-centric tracks and those that focus on the album “coming home” to his R&B origins. 

Some songs are unsuccessful, even without other collaborators.“Big” is cheesy, with an overwhelming amount of horns throughout the song and cringe-inducing lyrics, “When I was a kid I would go to Mcdonalds / I would never order a small.” 

COMING HOME also has an overarching problem of Usher not presenting like a principal artist. For instance, the R&B singer takes second place on “Risk It All” from the original motion picture “The Color Purple.” H.E.R. feels more present in the song even though it is a duet, with the song fitting her discography more than Usher’s. That’s not to say the song isn’t beautiful, with a harmonious chorus that showcases the best of both artists’ vocals, but it lacks some of the production style and influence Usher usually brings to his songs. 

“Standing Next To You (remix)” was originally a song by Jung Kook from the K-pop band BTS, released on his 2023 album, Golden. Understandably, Usher’s influence is lacking, considering the song wasn’t initially his, but for that reason, the song shouldn’t have appeared on this album. The track has no new tangible additions, with only minor mixing and sound engineering shifts alongside Usher’s vocals. 

With the track having very little meaning to COMING HOME’s messaging, it feels unfitting as an end to the album. Considering the record’s sequencing, its placement marks it as the end, finishing out the tracks and somewhat besmirching the message that Usher is genuinely “coming home” to the roots of his original music.

The song’s new iteration is another opportunity to develop a tending dance, with the music video racking up 23 million views within two months. Still, the album should have ended with the stronger, Usher-centric track “One Of Them Ones,” a song that feels like a return to form for the 45-year-old pop veteran. 

When the album is at its best, it compares well to Confessions and Here I Stand. At its low points, COMING HOME tends to dip into mediocrity. With a whopping 20 songs, it can feel like Usher combined different nonsensical elements to formulate this project. Some tracks work exceptionally well together while dipping into different genres. For instance, the slight influence of afrobeat on the title track, “Coming Home,” elevates the song to a greater level, and the influence is slight enough for the song to blend well with Usher’s R&B-forward focus. 

Essentially, Usher’s COMING HOME is an excellent lesson on killing your darlings. There are more than a few utterly skippable tracks that didn’t need to be on the album and detract from the story Usher is trying to tell: the story of him returning to his roots, one that sometimes feels forgotten in the album’s development.