![]() ![]() "Having children changes how you look at life, what matters, what's a priority. Usher stares out the window of his Madison Avenue hotel room. Naviyd loves to read, loves to see shows. "When I'm on tour, they come in and out." He likes to do things with them separately, to accommodate their different interests: "Usher's more active I can be out in the park with him for two hours, just throwing a ball around. "I'm with my children all the time in Atlanta," Usher says. He has been changed, too, by "obstacles over the past four years," among them the death of his stepson by ex-wife Tameka Foster - also mom to Naviyd and Usher's elder son, Usher V, 6 - in a 2012 accident, and the discovery that Usher V is diabetic. ![]() Though the film has wrapped, Usher is trying to maintain the healthy habits he adopted, which include a diet tailored to his blood type. Sugar Ray moved with such precision, and his hands were as fast as his feet. "It wasn't about gaining muscle - it was about speed. The singer shed more than 20 pounds for the role, working with trainers in New York, where he had a house in Brooklyn for a while, and at his home base in Atlanta. ![]() He'll play the boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, a friend, in Hands Of Stone, an upcoming biopic of the legendary pugilist Roberto Duran. People will just hear the spirit of it, and hopefully be moved by it."Ī new album isn't the only project Usher has lined up for next year. I can't quite categorize the music now, but it won't be period-specific or genre-specific. The experience isn't particular to a race or style or creed. He expects the resulting sounds to be "eclectic - that might sound like a bit of a cliché, but when I look into the audience each night, that's what I see. "I'm doing it this way because I want the energy you feel from onstage to go directly into the music," Usher says. "If there are opportunities to have a day off here, two days off there, I'll go into the studio," he says, noting he spent the night after the Garden concert working on a track with über-producer Max Martin. Buzz of a new record circulated this year, but Usher plans to release one in 2015 instead, drawing inspiration from his experiences on the road. The tour is not promoting an album, at least not one that has been completed yet. "I try to make everything I do represent aspects of my brand, not only as a vocalist but as a creative person who recognizes other creative people - a curator." They include artists he has mentored, such as choreographer Jamaica Craft, formerly one of his backup dancers. "The show focuses on the talents of each individual," Usher says. 14 before heading to Europe, is a high-octane affair, with a flamboyant horn section and exuberant backup dancers, whom he introduces to the crowd. His new show, scheduled to run in the USA through Dec. Leaning back in a plush chair, speaking quietly - to preserve his voice for the next gig - Usher strikes a marked contrast to the animated figure who held forth at the Garden. Naviyd had been a naysayer before the concert, Usher insists, "but he went from, 'I don't like your music' to 'I liked your show!'" "He was sitting with his grandma," Usher's mom, the singer recalls two days later. NEW YORK - For Usher, the high point of bringing his The UR Experience tour to Madison Square Garden last Friday was winning over one of his toughest critics: younger son Naviyd Raymond, 5. Watch Video: Backstage with Usher at his UR Experience show
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