Usher "Nice & Slow"

Album: My Way (Laface)
Songwriters: Bryan Casey, Jermaine Dupri, Usher Raymond and Manuel Seal
Hit #1: January 24th, 1998 (8 Weeks)

Usher was definitely on fire following the break-out success of "You Make Me Wanna" but after the release of the Quiet Storm slow jam "Nice & Slow" (co-penned by future balladeer Bryan Casey, of Jagged Edge), he emerged as the R&B version of the Human Torch.

Backed by a tongue-flickering guitar and swoony synth line, Ush prepares himself for the first sex session with a babe across town. "I got plans to put my hands in places/ I've never seen/ Girl you know what I mean," he sings, overwhelmed with excitement by the all-night events he's got all dreamed up. When he finally gets the lady in his car, he can barely keep himself contained, so overwrought with horniness that he threatens to pull over right that instant and give her the lovin' they've desperately been anticipating on the side of the road.

It was a huge jump from the comparably innocent girlfriend-switching scenario of "You Make Me Wanna", redefining the performer as a sex-craved panther ready to strike. When he growls "I wanna do something freaky to you", then repeats the same phrase just in case the folks in the back of the room didn't quite understand ("I don't think they heard me..."), it's to clarify to the masses that he is not a young tyke any longer.

A steamy soul concoction that perfectly toed the line between chivalrous romancing and porn-tastic raunch (and helped My Way sell over millions copies around the world), "Nice & Slow" announced to the world that it had found it's "next Bobby Brown", and he had no qualms about spelling his name out to you just so you wouldn't forget him.

Best Moment: When Usher re-launches an old New Jack crooner trick and decides to spit a couple bars on the bridge ("They call me U-S, H-E-R...")

Usher - Nice And Slow
Uploaded by sixsteve

DL: "Nice & Slow" (YFH)