i am pleasantly surprised at what a great cd this is from usher. i had all but written him off after that catastrophic performance at the 2010 nba all star game. but raymond v. raymond finally arrives as a solid, mature, well produced album.

jimmy jam and terry lewis show that they still have a hit-making formula, producing 4 of raymond v. raymond‘s best tracks, including the propulsive opening cut, ‘monstar.’ still, one of the more interesting songs on the new cd samples soft rock classic ‘into the night.’ ‘making love (into the night)’ is a mid-tempo hybrid love song/club song. very catchy.

i’ve been so critical of usher lately that ne-yo beat him out for top male r&b artist of the decade. the new pecking order starts behind trey songz. what a year he’s had. with this exceptional new cd, usher has overtaken ne-yo for runner-up. still ne-yo has a film project & album due this summer that’s sure to be a hit. unfortunately, chris brown’s escalating woes have seen him tumble into 5th place, after the-dream, with robin thicke quickly gaining.

yep. so i’ve spent the weekend welcoming usher back to the head of the class. lol how productive…what a dark, windy & wet weekend it’s been here in nyc.

usher’s cd raymond v. raymond becomes widely available 3.30.10.