U Got It Bad

"U Got It Bad"
Single by Usher
from the album 8701
Released September 4, 2001 (US)
Format CD
Recorded 2000
Genre R&B
Length 4:07
Label Arista
Writer(s) Jermaine Dupri, Usher, Bryan-Michael Cox, R. Kelly
Producer(s) Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine. Dupri
Usher singles chronology
"U Remind Me"
(2001)		 "U Got It Bad"
(2001)		 "U Don't Have to Call"
(2002)

"U Got It Bad" is a song by American recording artist Usher, released through Arista as the second single from his third studio album, 8701 (2001). It was written by Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, and produced by the former and co-produced by the latter. It was released as a CD Single in the US on September 4, 2001. "U Got It Bad" is an R&B ballad that, according to MTV, incorporates "digi-coustic" guitars, a "slow-burning bass line" and "sex funk" drums. The lyrics notably contain some quick direct allusions to other soul music ballads, mainly Maxwell's "Fortunate", and Prince's "Adore".

"U Got It Bad" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week before being replaced for four weeks by Nickelback's "How You Remind Me". "U Got It Bad" then returned to number one, going on to stay atop for five consecutive weeks. With the song and previous single "U Remind Me", Usher was the only solo male act of 2001 to have a number 1 hit on the Hot 100. The song's music video features TLC's Chilli as Usher's love interest. Due the success of the song, it was featured on the 2001 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 8

Background and writing

"U Got It Bad" was written by Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. It was produced by the former and co-produced by the latter. Recording was done by Brian Frye and mixing by Dupri and Phil Tan, at Southside Studios, Atlanta, Georgia. John Horesco IV provided mixing assistance, William "Billy" Odum performed the Guitar and Usher provided all vocals.[1] The lyrics to the song were, according to Dupri, inspired by a true story. He and Usher were in the studio trying to record some music for the album, but Usher was continually distracted by a girl he had brought into the studio. Following an argument, the girl left. A while later, they started on talking on the phone, which prompted Dupri to kick Usher out of the studio telling him, “We’re going to do this [session] later on. You got it completely too bad right now. You got it bad.” This ignited the inspiration for the song, and once Usher had left, Dupri started writing its lyrics, with the notion that it was going to be a big hit. Once Usher had returned to the studio, Dupri shared the story of the song with him.[2] Talking to Complex, Dupri stated that "U Got It Bad" is another "Nice & Slow", saying that he produced the song as he wanted to re-produce a track similar to the latter in terms of success, for Usher's 8701 (2001).[3]

Composition and release

"U Got It Bad" is an R&B ballad.[4][5][6] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, it is written in the key of D major and has a metronome of 66 beats per minute.[6] Usher's vocal range spans from the low note of F#4 to the high note of A5.[6] The song is actually a semitone lower in the key of D-flat major, which would have the vocals span from G4 to Ab5. "U Got It Bad" is a slow jam, that makes use of "digi-coustic" guitars, a "slow-burning bass line" and "sex funk" drums.[7] Usher's vocals "floats and runs" between the song's melody's, before intensifying when entering the chorus.[7]

The Neptunes produced track, "I Don’t Know," was initially intended as the album's second single.[4] Rapper P. Diddy was to direct its music video in Los Angeles in July 2001.[4] The song was receiving radio play prior to the release of 8701's first single "U Remind Me".[8] However, Usher instead released "U Got It Bad" as the album's second single, as it presents his own unique sound, "If you wanna know what a Usher record is, then ["U Got It Bad" is] it," while using both Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown as examples of artists who "solidified" their music through their own unique music.[9] "U Got it Bad" was released as a CD Single in the US on December 18, 2001.[10]

Reception

Critical

"U Got It Bad" won the 2002 Teen Choice Love Song award.[11] In 2003, the song won an ASCAP Award for Publisher of the Year.[12] At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, it was nominated for Best Male Video and Best R&B Video.[13]

Chart performance

"U Got It Bad" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of December 15, 2001, becoming Usher's third number-one song on the chart.[14] It was his second Hot 100 number one from 8701 after "U Remind Me", which reached the position in July of the same year.[14] "U Got It Bad" marked the first time he obtained two consecutive number one hits.[14] In December 2001, Usher became one of the few Arista acts to have more than one Hot 100 number one hit, with Whitney Houston having eleven, Barry Manilow and Milli Vanilli with three, and Monica and Juelz Santana with two.[14] "U Got It Bad" was also atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart that week, with an audience impression of 135 million.[14] The following week, the song was replaced by Nickelback's "How You Remind Me", moving it to number two.[15] Nickelback's single remained number one for four consecutive weeks, before being replaced by "U Got It Bad" on the week of January 8, 2002, which went on to top the Hot 100 for five weeks.[7] On the same week, the song broke the record for the highest audience impression on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, previously held by Alicia Keys, with 149,858,700 listeners.[16] The song's popularity helped 8701 rise from number twenty-three to eight on the US Billboard 200 on the week of October 11, 2001.[17]

Music video

The music video for "U Got It Bad" was directed by Little X. TLC's Chilli played the female lead. The video starts with Usher tossing and turning in bed, troubled by the thought of his ex-girlfriend. After awakening, he turns on the TV, only to see his ex on every station. The video proceeds to introduce flashbacks of happier times between the two, suggesting that he still longs for his ex. In his desperation to find her, he braves the rain, bursting into her trailer to apologize to and reconcile with her. However, this is revealed to be his imagination, and instead of opening the door of the trailer, he walks away ashamed. Disgusted, he makes his way home and lies in his bed, alone.

Track listings

CD Single[10]
  1. "U Got It Bad" (Radio Mix)
  2. "U Got It Bad" (Tee's Latin Remix)
  3. "U Got It Bad" (Soulpower Remix)
  4. "U Got It Bad" (Tee's Inhouse Club Remix)
  5. "U Got It Bad" (Tee's Dub)
  6. "U Got It Bad" (CD-Rom Video)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2001–02) Peak
position
scope="row" Australia (ARIA)[18] 3
scope="row" France (SNEP)[19] 18
scope="row" Germany (Official German Charts)[20] 26
scope="row" Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 20
scope="row" New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 3
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[23] 20
scope="row" Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 50
scope="row" Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 13
scope="row" UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 5
scope="row" US Billboard Hot 100[27] 1
scope="row" US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[28] 1

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–2009) Position
US Billboard Hot 100 15

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[29] Gold 5,000*
United States (RIAA)[30] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ 8701 (CD liner). Usher. Arista Records. 2001. 74321 87471 2.
  2. ↑ Bronson, Fred; Clark, Dick (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th ed.). Billboard Books. p. 980. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ Drake, David. "Usher "U Got It Bad" (2001)". Complex. Complex Mediaa. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Reid, Shaheem (July 11, 2001). "P. Diddy Directing Video For Usher's 'I Don't Know'". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Top Ten Usher Songs". PopCrush. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Usher "U Got It Bad" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Anderson, Kyle (September 12, 2010). "Usher Makes The Top Of The Hot 100 Look 'Bad': Wake-Up Video". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (April 18, 2001). "Usher Turns U Into 8701". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Usher Rolls With 'U Got It Bad' As Next Single". Top40-Charts.com. August 10, 2001. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "U Got It Bad: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  11. ↑ "2002 Teen Choice Award Winners". AllYourTV.com. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 113 (50): 79. December 15, 2001. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ "2002 MTV Video Music Award nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Billboard". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 115 (25): 5. July 21, 2003. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 113 (51): 8. December 22, 2001. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Usher's 'U Got It Bad' Sets All-Time 1-Week Audience Chart Record With 149.85 Million Listeners, and Returns to #1". Arista Records through PR Newswire. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  17. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (October 11, 2001). "Usher Lets Fans Title Upcoming Tour". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Usher – U Got It Bad". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  19. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Usher – U Got It Bad" (in French). Les classement single.
  20. ↑ "Musicline.de – Usher Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Usher – U Got It Bad" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Usher – U Got It Bad". Top 40 Singles.
  23. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2001-10-14". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved Juli 11, 2004.
  24. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Usher – U Got It Bad". Singles Top 100.
  25. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Usher – U Got It Bad". Swiss Singles Chart.
  26. ↑ "Usher: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  27. ↑ "Usher – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Usher.
  28. ↑ "Usher – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Usher.
  29. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Usher – U Got It Bad". Recorded Music NZ.
  30. ↑ "American single certifications – Usher – U Got It Bad". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
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