Here I Stand (Usher song) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

"Here I Stand" is a song by American recording artist Usher

Usher (entertainer)

Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...

. It appears as the seventeenth track from his fifth studio album of the same name

Here I Stand (Usher album)

Here I Stand is the fifth studio album by American R&B recording artist Usher, released on May 13, 2008 by LaFace Records. Inspired by love for his new wife—Tameka Foster—and son, Usher recorded many ballads for the album. Prior to the album's recording, Usher split with his...

, which was released by LaFace Records

LaFace Records

LaFace Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment.-Company history:LaFace was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the producing duo Antonio "L.A." Reid & Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and Arista Records. The combined nicknames of the duo's successful...

on May 13, 2008. Penned by the singer with Polow da Don

Polow Da Don

Polow-Freache Jamal Fincher Jones , better known by known by professional name Polow da Don or Awesome Jones, is an American record producer, songwriter, rapper, and singer. His cousin is Atlanta singer Monica. He has produced for a variety of artists including Usher, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, T.I...

, Adam Blackstone, Gerrell Gaddis, and Dre & Vidal

Dre & Vidal

Dre & Vidal is a Multi-Grammy Award Winning songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis...

, and produced by Dre & Vidal, "Here I Stand" is a slow soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

and contains similarities to Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

's music. The record received critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male...

award at the 51st Grammy Awards

51st Grammy Awards

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...

. Despite going without a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

release, "Here I Stand" maintained a position on the United States Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

for several weeks in 2008–09, reaching the top twenty. It also appeared on the Radio Songs

Radio Songs

Radio Songs is an album of duo Robin and Linda Williams on the Red House Records label, released in 2007.Radio Songs consists of recordings made when performing on Garrison Keillor's NPR radio program A Prairie Home Companion. Although Robin and Linda first appeared on the show regularly in 1976,...

and Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...

charts, peaking at numbers seventy-two and six, respectively.

Background and composition

"Here I Stand" was written by Usher

Usher (entertainer)

, Polow da Don

Polow Da Don

, Adam Blackstone and Gerrell Gaddis, as well as Dre & Vidal

Dre & Vidal

Dre & Vidal is a Multi-Grammy Award Winning songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis...

, who also produced the track. The song was recorded by Vincent Dilorenzo, with assistance from Geoff Rice, at Sony Music Studios

Sony Music Studios

Sony Music Studios was a well-known former music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The music and broadcasting complex was located at 460 W. 54th St., at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and Zac Recording, Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

. Dilorenzo also mixed

Audio mixing (recorded music)

In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

the record, with assistance from Matt DeSando, at Studio 609, Philadelphia. According to Josh Eells of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

, "Here I Stand" was written for Tameka Foster

Tameka Foster

Tameka Foster is an American hair stylist, wardrobe stylist and philanthropist. She is best known as the ex-wife of singer Usher.Foster has worked as a personal stylist for Lauryn Hill.-Career:...

, whom Usher married in August 2007. Composed before their engagement, "Here I Stand" was played at Usher and Foster's wedding, on Foster's request. The tune is an assurance of sexual fidelity

Fidelity

"Fidelity" is the quality of being faithful or loyal. Its original meaning regarded duty to a lord or a king, in a broader sense than the related concept of fealty. Both derive from the Latin word fidēlis, meaning "faithful or loyal"....

and commitment. In an interview with MTV News

MTV News

MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...

, Usher stated, "If you listen to the words [of 'Here I Stand'], it is very heartfelt, simplistic, yet very soulful. ... It's a man's words to his woman: a vow to say that you are the one, and I'll be there for you." A slow jam

Slow jam

A slow jam an umbrella term for music with R&B and Soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or down tempo songs. The term is most commonly reserved for soft-sounding songs with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. This definition has led to intense debate over whether...

soul

Soul music

and pop jazz ballad

Ballad

, "Here I Stand" has been compared to the work of Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

by critics. The was included on Usher's fifth studio album of the same name

Here I Stand (Usher album)

, released on May 13, 2008 by LaFace Records

LaFace Records

.
Usher sang "Here I Stand" along with "Trading Places

Trading Places (song)

"Trading Places" is a song by American recording artist Usher. Released on October 17, 2008 as the fifth and final single from his fifth studio album Here I Stand, Usher wrote the song with The-Dream and Carlos "Los Da Mystro" McKinney...

" and "What's Your Name

What's Your Name (Usher song)

"What's Your Name" is a song by American recording artist Usher and features will.i.am. Written by Usher, will.i.am and Toby Gad and produced the latter, it was sent to radio on August 18, 2008 as the fourth single from Usher's fifth studio album, Here I Stand, and was later released as a compact...

" at the warmup concert for the 2008 National Football League Kickoff game

National Football League Kickoff game

The NFL Kickoff game, and related festivities, mark the start of the National Football League season. The first game of the season is currently scheduled for the Thursday following Labor Day. A single game is held, preceded by a concert and other ceremonies. Since the 2004 season, the defending...

on September 4. Usher performed "Here I Stand" at Sony's keynote address at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show

Consumer Electronics Show

The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...

. The song was performed on his One Night Stand: Ladies Only Tour, with a slower tempo.

Reception

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

called "Here I Stand" a throwback to Stevie Wonder, and was disappointed that it was placed near the end of the parent album. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

Steve Jones noted the track as a highlight of the album. Joshua Alston from The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

wrote that the song "lyrically and musically sounds more passionate and more adult than Usher ever has," and called it a "syrupy ballad". However, Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

Josh Eells called the "chivalrous" number "sweet but taxing, like looking at photos from someone else’s wedding," while Jim Farber of the Daily News wrote that "the [song's] melody fails [Usher]." The song ranked at number one on AOL Radio

AOL Radio

AOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...

's list of top Usher songs. At the 51st Grammy Awards

51st Grammy Awards

, "Here I Stand" was nominated for the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

award, but lost to Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo

Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...

's "Miss Independent

Miss Independent (Ne-Yo song)

"Miss Independent" is a 2008 single by American pop/R&B singer Ne-Yo. It is the second single from his album Year of the Gentleman and was produced by Stargate. It samples the song "Forget About Me" by Lil Bit. The song was written by Ne-Yo and co-written by Stargate...

" from his 2008 album, Year of the Gentleman
Year of the Gentleman
Year of the Gentleman is the third studio album by American R&B and pop singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, released September 16, 2008, on Def Jam Recordings in the United States...

.

Although the song was not released as a single

Single (music)

, "Here I Stand" debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

at number seventy-five on the issue dated September 20, 2008, and peaked at number eighteen on March 14, 2009. On July 18, 2009 it fell off the chart, having spent forty-three weeks on the chart. "Here I Stand" entered the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

at number fourteen on the chart of December 17, 2008. It peaked at number six on January 3, 2009, before it slipped off the chart the following week, having lasted four weeks there. On February 7, 2009, the song appeared on the Radio Songs

Radio Songs

at number seventy-three, but failed to reappear on the chart the next week. It re-entered one place higher, at number seventy-two, on March 14, 2009, but again did not gain any traction, with no place achieved on the following chart.

Credits

Adam Blackstone – writing
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, additional musician
Matt DeSando – assistant mixing
Vincent Dilorenzo – recording, mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
Dre & Vidal
Dre & Vidal
Dre & Vidal is a Multi-Grammy Award Winning songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis...

– writing, production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, all instruments
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Gerrell Gaddis – writing

Mark Pitts – executive production
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Polow da Don
Polow Da Don
Polow-Freache Jamal Fincher Jones , better known by known by professional name Polow da Don or Awesome Jones, is an American record producer, songwriter, rapper, and singer. His cousin is Atlanta singer Monica. He has produced for a variety of artists including Usher, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, T.I...

– writing, additional musician
Geoff Rice – assistant recording
Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...

– vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

, writing, executive production

Source:

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...	6
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	18
US Radio Songs Radio Songs Radio Songs is an album of duo Robin and Linda Williams on the Red House Records label, released in 2007.Radio Songs consists of recordings made when performing on Garrison Keillor's NPR radio program A Prairie Home Companion. Although Robin and Linda first appeared on the show regularly in 1976,...	72

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