In this episode, Natalie and Vanessa sit down with Jazmine Hughes, celebrated writer and cultural commentator, to dive into her deep admiration for R&B legend Usher, plus the questions around his relationship with Diddy. From "Yeah!" to Confessions and beyond, Jazmine unpacks Usher's enduring impact on music, pop culture, and Diddy's current legal troubles. Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Infamous show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. To connect with Infamous's creative team, plus access behind the scenes content, join the community at Campsidemedia.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
This episode contains candid and explicit conversations about sex. So if you're listening with children around, you may want to wait until later.
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From Sony Music Entertainment and Campsite Media, this is Infamous. I'm Natalie Robomed. And I'm Vanessa Gregoriotis. So when I was growing up, one singer really soundtracked my middle school existence. Usher. Whether it was Yeah or My Boo or Confessions Part Two, Usher was everywhere in the early 2000s.
You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing his silky smooth tenor crooning over an R&B beat. Usher's music was this stomach-churning mix of sex and love and longing, one that made you feel something somewhere.
Since then, Usher's never quite topped the peak of his 2004 album, Confessions, but he's since come back around in our culture as a nostalgia act, first with a Las Vegas residency, and then as the halftime performer at the Super Bowl.
The National Football League welcomes you to the Apple Music Super Bowl 58 Halftime Show. The Apple Music Administration advises the following performances rated U may cause singing, dancing, sweating, gyrating, and possible relationship issues.
But there's a dark speck on his lover boy image, one that's pretty uncomfortable to talk about. And that's the fact that when he was a teenager, Usher was sent to live with Diddy to learn about the music business. And ever since Diddy's indictment on sex trafficking charges in September 2024, Usher's connection to Diddy has been back in the spotlight.
Now, to be clear, Usher has not been accused of anything in relation to the Diddy case. Diddy himself has denied all accusations against him and pleaded not guilty. He's currently in jail in New York after being denied bail. But Vanessa herself actually wrote the first major profile of Usher in which he discussed his relationship with Diddy.
Back in 2004, Usher was going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone and Vanessa was in his house in Georgia, talking to him about living with Diddy. Hardest days of my life, he said of that time. I had to knuckle up, figure shit out in New York by my motherfucking self. There was always girls around. You'd open a door and see somebody doing it or several people in a room having an orgy.
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