“ Confessions,” the album’s namesake, evokes the opposite feeling of “Yeah!” While lighter on the production side, the song’s melodies are some of the best on the entire album. Tracks like “Yeah!,” “Throwback!” and “Caught Up” pushed the boundaries of R&B, allowing more artists in the genre to produce more upbeat songs that differed from the slow ballads of previous eras. However, in the early-mid 2000s this was only starting to come to form. Modern R&B has merged itself heavily with hip-hop, resulting in heavier basslines, more rhythmic flows and faster tempos.

While it may not contain the ballads seen on the rest of the album, the song contains everything needed for a legendary club tune, and has overall stood the test of time. Usher’s and Lil Jon’s shouted refrains give the track an elevated energy. Rhythm changes throughout the song, most notably with Ludacris’ verse, keep the song interesting despite its rather long length. The synth instrumentation, which features keyboard and bass prominently, provides the backbone of the song’s iconic beat. The album starts with one of the most famous crunk songs of all time: “ Yeah!,” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris. Upon further and more detailed inspection, though, it’s possible to see the indelible mark left by certain tunes in the album. With few exceptions, the songs don’t feature heavy production, but instead try to highlight melodies through voice. There doesn’t seem to be much carryover from this album to modern-day R&B from the outside looking in. It also saw considerable commercial success: “Confessions” remains the 21st century’s best-selling R&B album from a male vocalist. 1 singles on the charts and two of the top ten overall songs of the year. In the moment, “Confessions” provided listeners with some of the most memorable cuts of the time period. However, “ Confessions” would take Usher’s superstardom to the next level: the so-called king of R&B began to live up to his moniker and ascended into the pantheon of modern R&B artists. Tracks from the album like “U Remind Me” and “U Got It Bad” certainly made their marks in mainstream industry, both topping the charts in 2001. Welcome to Y2K Hits, a column committed to exploring the most popular albums of the 2000s and the lasting marks they left on the music industry and pop culture at large.Ĭoming off the success of his third studio album “8701”, Usher looked to continue making waves in the music industry.

Usher confessions album list