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Ushering in a new album? Easy.

Ushering in a new Usher? Easier said than done.

But the latter is the challenge the R&B superstar felt he had to accept on his tellingly titled seventh record Looking 4 Myself.

"You have to evolve or evaporate," explains Usher (last name: Raymond) in an exclusive Canadian print interview.

"It's inevitable, in business or in life -- if you don't continue to grow, then you just become a story from the past."

Usher's past is nothing to be ashamed of.

At the ripe age of 33, the Atlanta native is an industry veteran who has sold more than 65 million albums and cut some 17 top 10 singles, including the Grammy-winning Yeah!, My Boo and There Goes My Baby.

And that's just one part of his extensive resume, which also includes acting credits, philanthropic work, entrepreneurial ventures -- and oh yeah, his mentorship of an obscure up-and-coming singer named Justin Bieber. (See sidebar.)

To Usher, though, the past is prologue. And Looking 4 Myself -- which expands his musical vocabulary by infusing old-school soul and R&B with cutting-edge electronica and dance music -- represents rebirth.

"I feel new," he says. "Like a renewed artist. This is almost like a first-time experience to me. And a lot of people are saying, 'Wow, I didn't know him like that. I didn't know he made music like that. I didn't know he felt like that. I didn't know he spoke like that.'

Read the rest here:
Usher 'feels new' on latest disc