Before meeting Diddy, Usher was just a kid who believed he was destined for greatness.
“I want to make a name for myself,” he would say. “If I don’t believe it, nobody else will.”
At just 13, the world started recognizing his talent. People said, “This young man is going places. The next Michael Jackson.” But to become a star, he had to spend a year with a man he barely knew.
“You’ve changed your name to Love.”
“I have become Love.”
“Okay.”
“We’re sending you to New York City, to something called Puffy Flavor Camp. Do you feel like that took away from your childhood at all?” For Usher, Flavor Camp was his last shot at a career. “Giving up is not an option in life. There’s always a way.”
“The allegations are absolutely horrific. Were you the only kid at Puffy Flavor Camp? What were we doing there? We can’t really disclose.”
Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs is accused of serious misconduct and assault. But Usher didn’t just survive Flavor Camp; he thrived there.
“I’ll never forget the first day. I was getting ready to showcase for my record company. My golden ticket was my voice, and I lost it. ♪ This girl is changing my mind ♪ ♪ So what, I really don’t care ♪ I got a headache from hitting all those high notes. ‘Hey man, it’s just puberty, you’re gonna go through it.’ But when you raise your voice to sing, and it was so easy before, now it’s gone. And you don’t know if it’s gonna come back. I waited my whole life for this opportunity, so I performed before this audience.”
“I think I ran about 10 miles, making a sacrifice. When I got back, my mom said, ‘I know this is hard, but we’re going to fight for it. We’re going to get through this, and I’ll make sure they don’t drop you.'”
At just 13, Usher’s mom was determined to make him a star. “Man, my mom was strict.”
“She’s a big influence in your life, right?”
“Oh, definitely. She’s my manager, and I take her with me everywhere.”
But during their next meeting with the label, Usher had to make a big sacrifice to keep his dream alive. “They didn’t want me. They actually said, ‘You’re too close to the project.’ Oh, Puffy was there. I didn’t know him, and he said, ‘You’re going to have to trust me.'”
Puff Daddy became young Usher Raymond’s legal guardian. “He’s going to mentor you and show you the ropes. We’re sending you to New York City, to something called Puffy Flavor Camp.”
“I’m going. I want to entertain.”
“My mom said, ‘You’re not going to be one of those people just sitting around and sleeping on my couch.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be gone by 14.'”
But working with his new mentor, a talented producer, came at a cost. “You can believe the hype. We’re bangin’, baby. As you can see, it’s female-friendly. We’re showing off tonight. You spent a million and a half dollars on this party? I think they’ve never been to a Diddy party.”
Usher was quickly thrown into a world he didn’t understand. “You know, most kids would be excited about it. I’m around grown women, and I’m seeing them do things.”
Rumors about rapper Diddy’s parties have been circulating, with allegations describing them as filled with drugs, orgies, and suspicious behavior involving children.
In a surprising turn of events, Diddy recently adopted a white child. He made a controversial statement, saying, “You still have beautiful parents, but you’re my child also. How did the Me Too movement miss this? Where we’re hanging out and what we’re doing, we can’t really disclose, but it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream. I don’t have legal guardianship of him. I had legal guardianship of Usher when he did his first album. But for the next 48 hours, he’s with me. We’re going to go full crazy.”
When asked how he ensured the child’s safety, Diddy replied, “My mother used to tell me, ‘You need to stop telling people you’re going to be a big artist.’ But I believed in myself. If I didn’t, nobody else would.”
Despite his controversies, Diddy did give Usher a sense of freedom he never had before. Usher said, “Greater than just being an artist, he helped me understand life and what it means to be passionate about something.”
Usher, who grew up longing for a father’s love, reflected on his childhood. “There’s nothing like a father’s love. I made decisions based on not having a dad. I always sought attention, whether through dancing or singing, which turned into my talent.”
When Usher and Diddy began working on Usher’s album, Diddy made Usher feel accepted, despite his changing voice. “You may not be able to rap or sing, but there’s something else you can do. Many young people lack guidance through the business.”
Usher found a father figure in Diddy. “Puff Daddy kept my dream alive. Being around him, I learned the value of hard work. He never slept, sometimes writing songs for days. That commitment rubbed off on me.”
“And the winner is, Usher. Usher!”
Usher’s journey to becoming one of the industry’s most dedicated artists also earned him a reputation for his sex appeal. “I just felt confident enough to tell anybody, ‘This is who I am.'”
“Have you or do you make love to your own music?”
Mr. Steal Your Woman has come a long way from his beginnings as a church singer. “If you wanna make it in this business, you have to be willing to make the sacrifices that come with it.”
But even with all his success, something still felt missing. “You know, there’s accolades saying, ‘Hey mom, I made it.’ Yeah. Where’s Dad?”
Usher was about to become a father, but he had never known his own. “I began to think about what life would be like if I just decided to never know him, and I didn’t want my life to go that way. So I reached out to him.”
“Losing my father was so hard. It was hard because I had to decide whether he lived or died. That right there killed me. It’s like, I’m not ready for that. He was in intensive care at the time. They said he needed this transplant. So imagine if you decide at this moment to just let it go and not try. I put my anger aside and I did it. And within the process of undergoing a liver transplant, he slipped into a coma and he didn’t make it back.”
“I guess the hardest part of this story is the fact that while making the decision of whether my father lives or dies, my son was being born across town. The whole purpose of trying to fix this relationship was to make sure my son knew where his name came from. But I lost that opportunity. He never got a chance to meet him.”
“I tried my best to right the wrong that was my father. He chose not to be in my life. So now I choose to be in my children’s lives.”
Now, Usher watches closely over his kids like his mother did with him. “I personally hold you to a higher standard because I know what work it takes to be great. Anything you want to be great at, you have to make it a process. Like it’s a part of your every thought.”
Over time, Usher distanced himself from Diddy but gave his kids the freedom to be themselves, a lesson he learned from him. “To have a dad that you could talk to and be transparent with is important for helping your kids.”
“Usher and Naviyd will never know a day where there’s a father who wasn’t there or who chose not to be there. I’m gonna be there for them. I’m gonna be as helpful as I possibly can and be strong for them and with them.”
“Hey, look at you! This guy! Look at this guy running! Uh oh. Man, he turns 14 today. You thought I was gonna miss this? You crazy.”
“When life shows itself to be tumultuous, it’s because you’re being prepared for something greater. That’s what I believe.”
