Usher Doesn’t Want To Be Categorized As “Just” An R&B Artist

Usher may be subtly denouncing his title of the King of R&B…sort of.

During his official pre-Super Bowl Halftime Show interview with Apple Music‘s Nadeska Alexis, the crooner revealed that he doesn’t want to be confined to one genre.

“It’s nice to be in any category but not to be categorized is what I’ve always hoped,” the 45-year-old explained. He also described R&B “as a trade and as a style, as a genre, as an emotion, as a spirit, be it being found through gospel music, jazz, rhythm and blues, blues in R&B.”

“It created all these other genres of music,” he later noted. “We don’t understand how relevant R&B has been to the development of the industry that we have, and the artist and the creatives that have been a part that, that they didn’t get recognized either.”

While he’s proud and honored to represent R&B on the world’s biggest stage and give it “the recognition that it deserves,” ultimately, Ursher “[doesn’t] want to be categorized as just an R&B artist.”

Throughout his career, he’s experimented within pop and EDM with hits like “OMG” and “Without You.” Now, he’s testing the waters of afrobeats and amapiano through new singles like “Ruin,” proving he has the range and isn’t afraid to switch things up.

Coincidentally, Usher’s confession was made as his fans started uproar over the rumored inclusion of “OMG” for his Halftime Show. Rated R&B‘s Keithan Samuels confronted the backlash, tweeting, “The forced hate towards Usher’s ‘OMG’ is so tiring. Y’all know the song is a bop.”

Another user wrote, “Anyone who keeps begging Usher to not do OMG on his Super Bowl set list is DELUSIONAL. NFL’s target audience is probably more familiar with that song than most of his catalog.”

will.i.am has neither confirmed nor denied that he will be performing alongside Usher during the live event, but it has been confirmed by TMZ that he will be joined by Alicia Keys.

Watch Usher’s full interview about Sunday night’s Super Bowl and more above.