Usher Says 'Scream' Is 'Just In Time For Summer'

Following 'Climax,' singer tells MTV News his latest single 'represents the other side' of Looking for Myself album.
By Jocelyn Vena

Usher
Photo: MTV News

Bumping beats, sexy lyrics and Usher's signature R&B bad-boy swagger can only mean one thing: the singer has once again hooked up with superstar pop producer Max Martin. Their latest collaboration, "Scream," picks up where "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" left off back in 2010.

Usher used that track to convince us to go home with him after a dizzying night of partying, and for "Scream," he's got us back at his pad and he's rocking our world, one fist-pumping moment at a time. While he opted to slow it down on "Climax," Usher is back to large-scale dance tracks on Looking for Myself's second single. And, he told MTV News, both tracks reflect the sound of the album.

"This album has many different views and many different perspectives," he told MTV News while rehearsing for his one-night run as the lead in NYC's off-Broadway spectacle "Fuerza Bruta," which also served as a place for Usher to debut the album ahead of its release. "And me and Max Martin, we've had success together in the past, and this was a record I felt represented the other side of the [album]."

"Scream" and "Climax" truly are polar-opposite tracks. Where "Climax" sears and broods, "Scream" celebrates and dances. Usher is excited for the chance to show all those sides with the two lead singles from the June 12 release.

"Whereas the first song was a little bit more artistic and a little bit more soulful, and it has done everything, it probably exceeded my expectations, I mean, from the moment I was able to give it away. I was able to kind of be reintroduced in a way musically, and thank you to [producer] Diplo, but 'Scream' is really like the next step. It's just in time for summer and the type of experience that I want people to get out of the album."

But the Atlanta-bred singer notes that the album can't be defined just by "Climax" or "Scream." There's a lot there to keep fans tuning in. "It's a ton of other experiences and a ton of other walks ... as I've had this long journey over the last year [and] every bit of what I've experienced I've put into a creative, artistic way," he said.

As for the video, well, that still has to be shot, but he joked that "Fuerza Bruta" might serve as the perfect backdrop for the clip — or maybe not. "We might be shooting it while we're here," he laughed. "This is like a movie set, damn near — sh-- you don't normally see with the launch of an album. This is pretty spectacular."

What are you expecting from Usher's next album? Let us know in the comments!

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Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th)

Mayweather/Cotto
While its not the Mayweather/Pacquiao boxing match fans want to see, this is the fight we have. Miguel Cotto believes he's in position to send Floyd Mayweather Jr. home with his first ever loss and surprisingly, some boxing experts agree with him. We'll see if Cotto's strength is enough to overcome Mayweather's speed and defensive prowess, but as usual, the story here is the fight that's not on the card.
(May 5th, 9PM, HBO PPV)

NBA Playoffs
A knee injury to Chicago's Derrick Rose has significantly shifted the balance of power in this year's NBA Playoffs. While the Bulls suddenly have to try and win without their superstar, the triumvirate down in Miami is suddenly under even more pressure to get the job done with two of the Eastern Conference's best players (Rose, Dwight Howard) out for the season. Out west the early games showed it will be a battle no matter what seeds are matching up, your guess is as good as ours as to who will come out of that conference and vie for the title in a few weeks.

Continue reading Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th)

Must See HDTV (April 30th - May 6th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feds: San Diego man forgotten in cell for 5 days (Providence Journal)

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The Nanny State Squelches Fireworks Rights (Powerlineblog)

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Justin Bieber Album Cover: Released!

It is here, Beliebers.

Justin Bieber released the album cover for his upcoming CD last night, Tweeting two versions of the photo (regular and deluxe), along with the hashtag #53DAYS. It will be available for purchase on June 19.

Think you might buy a copy?

Bieber has said the tracks on the album will be more grown up than his usual fare; one will also have been written with Taylor Swift, while another - which might not make it on to the song list - was actually written with Mariah Yeater in mind.

Expect to see Justin giving many interviews and playing many concerts in the days leading up to the release. He'll be featured on The Today Show June 15, for example.

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Rocketfish's Sound Prism is triangu-lovely

Cunning design is a wonderful thing, and this triangular bundle of smarts is almost meta! Rocketfish's Sound Prism is exactly what it says it is, a three-sided speaker bar with a twist (metaphorically speaking.) Inventors, CRE8 Design studio, cooked up the clever idea of using the empty space created by a folded Apple Smart Cover. This fella neatly slips into the cubby-hole of the folded case, and attaches itself magnetically. It's Bluetooth, so can pair up with any compatible device, but won't look quite so snug as when used as nature -- or rather its creators -- intended. How much for a slice of the Pythagorean action? That'll be 80 rectangular dollars, sir.

Rocketfish's Sound Prism is triangu-lovely originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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American Idol Power Rankings: The Top 5

We are down to the final five.

With the elimination of Elise Testone this week, American Idol kicked off its home stretch on season 11, meaning this is an ideal time to line up the remaining contestants in a Power Poll and ask readers who they think will win.

5. Hollie Cavanaugh: She's made a living in the bottom three for weeks now. A perfectly strong voice, deserving of a place in the top five, but next Thursday night should be it for her. Lacks a personality or anything distinct to go with the vocals.

4. Joshua Ledet: We rank him fourth, but wouldn't object to him winning the whole thing. The talent is there, but, to many, so is some yelling and a bit of over-acting. But if you like theatrics, Ledet is your man.

3. Jessica Sanchez: Responsible for the single best performance of the season, her cover of Whitney's "I Will Always Love You." Has a lot of Pia Toscano in her. We mean that as a big compliment.

2. Phillip Phillips: He just can't win, people. Seriously, it would make like five straight handsome white guys who play guitars. The talent is there, the consistency is there, and we feel bad holding David Cook and Kris Allen against Phillip. But we need a change.

1. Skylar Laine: And let's hope Laine benefits from that change. She's fun, she's eccentric, she has her own sound. Her cover of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" is what American Idol is all about.

WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN?

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Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The end of last week's Switched On left doubt for the future of dedicated devices that tread on the turf of smartphones. After all, funding is key to every major new product initiative and, despite the vast fortunes of many Silicon Valley engineers that have been accumulated via IPOs and acquisitions, few wish to take on the risk of fronting a new consumer device themselves.(In 2007, the handheld FlipStart PC was hatched from FlipStart Labs, funded by Vulcan Ventures, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.)

Most venture capitalists abhor the device business; it is a rare device that makes it to the spotlight of startup debutante balls such as DEMO, TechCrunch Disrupt, or Launch. Even most of the 94 companies at CES' Eureka Park were not developing end-user devices Where, then, can a device entrepreneur go for funding and pick up some publicity in the process?

Continue reading Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters

Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: best 'money is no object' laptop?

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Chris, who simply has too much money to blow on a super-laptop. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"I sold my business and I want to replace my laptop [HP Pavilion G6] with a completely unreasonably expensive top of the line machine. I want it to do everything I do (gaming, coding, web design) all at the same time. Apart from the fact I need two hard drive bays, I'm completely open-minded, so what should I be buying? Thank you!"

Quell your gnashing teeth, members of the 99 percent, he's done well for himself and now he needs our help. We were able to trick out an Alienware M18x to full capacity for $6,700 -- with an over-clocked 4GHz Intel Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, two 2GB NVIDIA GTX 675M GPUs in SLI mode and 1.2TB of SSD RAID storage. That's the benchmark, folks: who out there can find something more powerful?

Ask Engadget: best 'money is no object' laptop? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Micromax's Superfone A50 Ninja enters India with AISHA voice assistant, forgets its shuriken

Hoping to compete with the Siris of the world, Micromax has announced its new Superfone A50 Ninja alongside a novel feature dubbed AISHA -- which is short for Artificial Intelligence Speech Handset Assistant. Similar to Cupertino's personal secretary, AISHA vows to help folks with every-day elements such as making calls, setting up calendar events and even reporting what the weather looks like. Much to our disappointment, however, the A50 Ninja runs a not-so-new flavor of Android -- Gingerbread to be exact -- and Micromax left out any mention of Android 4.0. On the specs front, the dual-SIM Superfone sports a 3.1-inch display (mum's the word on the resolution), a two-megapixel shooter, Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities and an unspecified 650MHz processor. All in all, thanks to its 4,999 rupees (around $95) budget price, we can't imagine you'd complain too much. Be sure to hit up the Micromax link below if you're interested in grabbing one of these.

Continue reading Micromax's Superfone A50 Ninja enters India with AISHA voice assistant, forgets its shuriken

Micromax's Superfone A50 Ninja enters India with AISHA voice assistant, forgets its shuriken originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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