While working on the follow-up to Hard II Love, Usher and keyboard-specialist producer Zaytoven got into a zone that rapidly developed into this intermediary surprise release, written and recorded over the course of a week and issued -- with a title in tribute to the duo's native Atlanta -- the weekend of the former's 40th birthday.
Having previously worked with one another on "Papers," which in 2009 topped the R&B/hip-hop chart, Usher and Zaytoven resume with a short set of sleek, low-profile grooves and ballads.
Usher switches between hedonistic and repentant modes with carnality usually implied during the rare moments when it's not explicit -- certainly not a stretch for him.
"A" is inspired if mechanical, with Usher's superior vocal dexterity almost neutralized by overly familiar scenarios and materialistic lyrical tropes.
Relationship recovery, revisited on the subtly dazzling "You Decide" and aching "Say What U Want" -- two songs with a co-writing credit for gospel artist and pastor Deitrick Haddon -- is still his strongest suit.
For all its drama, the album also contains two of Usher's lightest numbers: "Birthday," a ladies night strip-club anthem, and "Gift Shop," the set's most valiant attempt at appealing to listeners half the singer's age.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stay at Home | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | ATA | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 3 | Peace Sign | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | You Decide | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | Birthday | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 6 | She Ain't Tell Ya | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | Say What U Want | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | Gift Shop | Usher, Zaytoven | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 27 mins | 62 MB | |||||
| 27 mins | 170 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Future | Featured Artist |
| 2 | Gunna | Featured Artist |
| 3 | Usher | Primary Artist |
| 4 | Zaytoven | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |