page_title: Here I Stand (Usher album)
section_title: Composition
hierarchical_section_title: Here I Stand (Usher album) / Composition
caption_attribution_description: Jay-Z at a concert in 2006.
context_page_description: Here I Stand is the fifth studio album by the American singer Usher, released on May 13, 2008, by LaFace Records. Inspired by love for his new wife—Tameka Foster—and son, Usher recorded many ballads for the album. Prior to the album's recording, Usher split with his mother, Jonnetta Patton, as manager and hired Benny Medina. Usher's estranged father died months before the release of Here I Stand; this also influenced themes of the album. It was originally to be titled "Measure of a Man", but Usher named it Here I Stand to mark "a new chapter in [his] life".
  Usher promoted Here I Stand by performing on several television shows including Total Request Live, 106 & Park and Good Morning America. Among other concert appearances, he embarked on a One Night Stand: Ladies Only Tour, performing fifteen shows in November 2008. Six singles were released from Here I Stand: "Love in This Club", "Love in This Club Part II", "Moving Mountains", "What's Your Name", "Here I Stand" and "Trading Places". "Love in This Club", which features rapper Young Jeezy, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and New Zealand Singles Chart.
context_section_description: An R&B album, Josh Eells of Blender summed up much of the production of Here I Stand as "cocktail-lounge crunk, full of splashy cymbals, jazzy electric guitar and tinkly pianos". Many of its themes were inspired by Foster and Raymond V, resulting in a great number of ballads. Here I Stand opens with an "Intro" (titled "Forever Young" on some copies), while the lead single "Love in This Club" follows, on which Young Jeezy appears. The mid-tempo song features a shuddering synth beat and speaks of a lusting desire in a nightclub. "This Ain't Sex" is a disco-influenced song that "speaks of sex as a privileged act between two consenting adults". "Trading Places" uses guitar instrumentation to host role reversal in both sexual and non-sexual situations in a relationship. "Moving Mountains" is a ballad that draws on synth beats to relate a love struggle to an impossible task, such as moving mountains. The album's sixth track is "What's Your Name", an electro song which features new wave-influenced synths produced by will.i.am, who also contributes vocals to the song. The "Prayer for You" interlude follows, an ode to Usher's son in which Raymond V cries. Usher prays for his son to be "better than me".
  "Something Special" is a pop ballad that begins acoustically, and was inspired by Robin Thicke and John Mayer because of its honesty. Usher discussed the song: "It's about the feeling when you're in real love. It could be about my son or my wife."
  According to Usher "Love You Gently", a piano-based classic rhythm and blues ballad, is "the one [track] you throw on with your significant other when it's time to get to it. This is why my son's here. It's a baby-maker." Jay-Z appears on the horn-founded "Best Thing", which is about transition to manhood. Usher outlines lifestyle changes since his wife's arrival and turns away from his days as "a hustler and a player" in "Before I Met You", which makes use of guitar and heavy drums. He is suspected of infidelity and compared to his girlfriend's cheating ex-partner on "His Mistakes". The thirteenth track on Here I Stand is "Appetite", which utilizes flutes and has Usher tempted to cheat on his wife. "What's a Man to Do" opens with a Native American call, while "Lifetime" contains influences of 1990s R&B. "Love in This Club Part II" features vocals from Beyoncé Knowles and Lil Wayne and samples The Stylistics' "You Are Everything" (1971); its lyrical content is similar to that of Part I, and Wayne's voice is modified through the use of a vocoder. The album's soul and pop jazz-derived title track, "Here I Stand", drew comparisons to Stevie Wonder. With a theme of commitment, it was played at Usher's and Foster's wedding. Here I Stand closes with "Will Work for Love", although it was placed as a hidden track on some copies; Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine called it "cute".
caption: Jay-Z contributed vocals to "Best Thing"
exif: {"Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-P10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.0", "Image DateTime": "2006:10:22 12:13:16", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "238", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2312", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3609", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/50", "EXIF FNumber": "26/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:10:21 22:33:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:10:21 22:33:38", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "237/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "735", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "782", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2160", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}