As he nursed a knee injury in Los Angeles in preparation for the global leg of his USHER: Past Present Future Tour, Usher reflected, or more appropriately, made confessions about the journey to his recent career peak, the creative approach to recent stage success and his future aspirations in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

The past four years have been particularly eventful for the R&B singer, and the success he’s seeing on his current tour — on pace to surpass $100 million in earnings — is largely due to the concentrated effort he’s put into building his star power back up over the past few years.

“I’m grateful, but tired, because I’ve been working for a very long time outside of what people may be recognizing as a grand moment,” said the eight-time Grammy-winning singer.

Usher has been a staple in the music industry since he released his 1997 sophomore album, “My Way,” but from 2014 to 2021, Usher was relatively silent — at least to his standards. He put out his two lowest-selling albums ever, and he didn’t go on a single tour.

In 2021, when Usher was tasked with re-entering the entertainment space, he decided to start at the center of many of music’s most famous campaigns: the Las Vegas Residency.

His manager, Ron Laffitte, who pitched the idea of a Vegas Residency to his client, put it bluntly:. “I needed to find a way to remind the world that this man was the best performer alive,” Laffitte said.

Usher’s Vegas Residency began in 2021, and was initially only intended to last 20 shows at Caesars Palace. Following intense fan demand, 80 more shows were added at Dolby Live. It turned into not just a commercial success, but also an internet sensation.

Clips of the show, including Usher serenading, dancing with and giving out cherries to women guests and celebrities, went viral on social media. Countless fans and celebrities poured into shows, wanting to be part of the experience.

“Music is a way to communicate, and so, if you have all of these love songs, then they’re there for a specific connection, right?” said Aakomon Jones, Usher’s lead creative director for the Vegas Residency and his Past Present Future tour, when discussing the intent behind the shows. “Let’s go out there to the people. Let’s let somebody touch you, or at least feel like they can.”

The final show count of Usher’s Vegas Residency ended up at 100, with the last performance culminating in a viral moment that saw the star get emotional on stage, crying in front of thousands of fans.

“I was overwhelmed with an appreciation that I could do it, that I pushed myself to that level, and that I had succeeded,” Usher said. “Part of it was also, man, I really am going to miss this moment that happened, that I was really dedicated, a very concentrated part of my life to Las Vegas.”

Following his Vegas Residency, the memorable moments only continued for Usher. The relationship he developed with the city through his residency allowed him to land the biggest show in his career — the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, which was the big game’s second-most-watched performance ever. The performance also helped set up the launch of his current Past Present Future tour.

“What happens in my shows, it’s very, very special … but what I’m mixing with, and what I’m playing with is not conforming,” Usher said. “I’m being who I actually am, and that’s why I think it works, because I’m not trying. I’m just being who I actually am as an entertainer when I’m on the stage.”

Looking ahead to future musical projects, Usher discussed the difficulty that comes from continuing to innovate when you feel as if you’ve already established an audience focused on a certain musical style. Usher opts to innovate within a spectrum, dabbling in other genres to keep his catalogue fresh without losing the R&B essence that he helped to pioneer.

“I don’t change the part that is R&B. I am the R&B staple inside of wherever I’m taking this thing because I want my genre and my musical style to complement the genre, to create something new,” Usher said. “If you listen to ‘Climax,’ that was a completely new idea. There’s this EDM concept and idea that’s a very electronic sound, but I’m going to sing in my falsetto, and I’m going to make it very R&B.”

Usher praised Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson for their versatility and their ability to unite listeners around their style of music. He said he wants to do the same in R&B.

“I’m hoping to mix things that have never been done before, and hopefully reignite the passion for R&B in the way it was when I was younger,” Usher said. “That doesn’t mean I’m trying to create something that feels old, but something that is progressive, something that makes you feel emotion, makes you feel connected, because it’s relevant in conversation.”

Usher’s career aspirations extend beyond music. Being in the film capital of the planet, he also discussed his aspirations in cinematic space. When asked about what would separate a potential film project of his from the rest, Usher tied it back to his unique talents as a performer.

“If there is something that I think only I can do, it would be to find a project where I could showcase all of my talents at one time, to sing, act and dance all at once,” Usher said. “That’s something that I haven’t done … and that’s something that would be unique enough to be able to set me out from the crowd.”

Usher also expressed gratitude to L.A. for the expression it allows him. Even though Usher said that Atlanta will always be the city where he feels the most compelled to be in, he acknowledged that L.A. enables him a greater sense of creativity in comparison to other cities.

“I love to be here because of the type of … expansive thinking and experimental kinds of concepts and ideas that don’t necessarily go with the Bible Belt,” Usher said. “[Atlanta] has this dynamic of what makes it special, and L.A. has its dynamic of what makes it special … There are tools and things here to help me be a little bit more broad in my thinking. Okay, actually, not a little — a lot broader [in] my thinking.”

Despite all of his ambitions, when asked where he would like to see himself in ten years, Usher kept it honest.

“Alive, well, compelled and inspired,” he said. “I hope to be inspiring to people. I hope that my life and creativity has led somebody to be, if not, more creative than me, as creative as me.”