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Shallow Nation

July 11th, 2008 at 1:16 pm

Photo Shoot Video: Usher and Son, Essence Magazine August 2008 Cover

Usher and his son Usher V on Essence August 2008 cover

Usher and his son, Usher V, are on the cover of Essence Magazine August 2008 and featured in a cover story and photo spread. This is the first we have seen of Usher’s adorable baby son. Watch a behind-the-scenes video of the photoshoot and interview with Usher in which he discusses how having a son has changed his life and what fatherhood means to him and the importance of living up to the positive values and responsibilities of fatherhood.

Here is an excerpt of the Essence Magazine interview.

Usher sat down with actor and author Hill Harper to talk about the ups and downs of being married, the choices he’s made, putting God first, and his ultimate purpose: being the best father he can be to his baby boy, Usher Raymond V.

HILL HARPER: In the last year, you got married and you’ve had a baby. Which has changed you more?
USHER: They’re both linked—I can’t have one without the other. But the one thing that changed me the most is having a wife. Our child is an extension of that union.

Usher and his son Usher V in Essence Magazine, August 2008

HARPER: Why?
USHER: Because now I represent what he is to become. He’s gonna admire me, he’s gonna look up to me. He’s gonna say, “I wanna be”—or he should say—”I wanna be like my father. I wanna be a man of valor. I wanna possess what my father has as a man.” To get married was a choice. To have a child is a responsibility.

HARPER: Does that new responsibility challenge you to make music that is more responsible?
USHER: I started making Here I Stand before I had my son and before I was married. It was a deliberate choice to make music with substance, not just about the things that we’re accustomed to—music about being the celebrity, the player, or having the car, the girl and the bling.

Usher and his son Usher V in Essence Magazine, August 2008

HARPER: Your father wasn’t around to raise you. How do you plan to be different for your son than your father was for you?
USHER: Just simply being there. I don’t judge my father because I forgave him for anything he’d ever done to hurt me unintentionally. My father and I had a very short amount of time together throughout my entire life, but the most valuable time was during his final days. He asked me to forgive him for not being there. He asked me to give him a chance, give him a shot because he loved me, and he had always loved me. But it was very difficult for him to be in the situation he was in and be the example he wanted me to follow. So he intentionally stayed away. And he was kept away from me too. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t fight it because he knew he wasn’t living right.

Usher and his son Usher V in Essence Magazine, August 2008

HARPER: What would you say to young men and women about what they should expect from a man who’s a father? What is living right as a father? How do you define that? How would that man look?
USHER: That man would accept his responsibilities as a father, regardless of whether he was with the mother of the child. Men will leave a situation for several reasons. One, it’s not comfortable. It may be violent. The two of you may grow apart. But you should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child’s growth. That is communicating. That is making the choice to put your child before your own vanity.

Source: Usher and Baby Usher: One Fine Day

Photo credit: Essence Magazine/Timothy White

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Photo Shoot Video: Usher and Son, Essence Magazine August 2008 Cover

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