Just days after his Super Bowl halftime show, Usher is brushing off longtime comparisons to Justin Timberlake.
The 45-year-old Dallas native and the 43-year-old Memphis native have long drawn comparisons to one another.
They both rose to fame at roughly the same time on the strength of their smooth voices though Usher revealed to People he doesn’t think they’re necessarily ‘rivals.’
‘I think people more than likely need to find comparisons, but we are all unique artists and have our creativity,’ he said.
‘I love the producers that he works with, so much so that I worked with them. And I think he loves the producers that I worked with so much so that he worked with them,’ Usher admitted.
Just days after his Super Bowl halftime show , Usher is brushing off longtime comparisons to Justin Timberlake
They both rose to fame at roughly the same time on the strength of their smooth voices though Usher revealed to People he doesn’t think they’re necessarily ‘rivals.’
Both Usher and Timberlake started singing quite young, with both appearing on the nationwide talent contest Star Search, though unlike Timberlake, Usher didn’t appear on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club, which he joked about.
‘I wasn’t a Disney kid. They probably would have kicked me off the lot,’ he said with a laugh, referring to the more mature nature of his songs.
Still, he admired what Timberlake and NSYNC did in their early careers, adding he respected their manager Johnny Wright.
‘I can remember as a kid going to their foundation events and just supporting *NSYNC and trying to get as close as I possibly could to them, because I just respected what Johnny Wright was doing,’ Usher said.
After Timberlake transitioned into a solo artist, Usher revealed he always wanted to work with him but it just never transpired.
‘I’ve always wanted to do a record with Justin and have reached out many a time, but we’ve never managed to make it happen. I think that he’s an amazing performer,’ Usher said.
When asked if he feels he’s ‘competing’ with Timberlake, Usher said, ‘I’m in competition with no one other than myself, and I’ve always tried to beat my own record.’
‘Beat my own expectations and try and better myself. And if anything, I’ve been motivated by people like Justin,’ he clarified.
Both Usher and Timberlake started singing quite young, with both appearing on the nationwide talent contest Star Search, though unlike Timberlake, Usher didn’t appear on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club, which he joked about
‘I wasn’t a Disney kid. They probably would have kicked me off the lot,’ he said with a laugh, referring to the more mature nature of his songs
Still, he admired what Timberlake and NSYNC did in their early careers, adding he respected their manager Johnny Wright
After Timberlake transitioned into a solo artist, Usher revealed he always wanted to work with him but it just never transpired
‘I think that he has a leg]acy that should be respected and not compared to anybody else,’ Usher said, before asking a rhetorical question.
‘Do I feel at times that the score was a bit unfair in terms of how people even judged us or some of the things that may have been given to him? He had better management staff, you know what I’m saying, access to things I didn’t. I’m cool with that,’ Usher said.
Another similarity the singers both share is they’ll both release new albums just a month apart.
Usher’s new album Coming Home was released on February 9, with Timberlake’s Everything I Thought it Was dropping on March 15.
