MEDIA ONLY RSVP Ladera Hearts Presents: Cult Classics Usher Confessions

'Confessions,' released in the spring of 2004, is a different type of record, one that uses storytelling as a narrative device. Surprisingly, it was still a relatively uncommon means of structure at the time, at least in the world of R&B. Here, Usher used the album as a means of blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Was the entirety of the record an admission of guilt, or was it a moment to tell a greater story — on the pressures of modern love, on the ease of infidelity, on the new essence of celebrity culture?" - Britt Julious