USHER - USHER AIMS TO LIFT AILING R'N'B

Singing star USHER hopes his next album will provide a much needed boost to the R'n'B scene - which he reckons is in "jeopardy".

The hitmaker has slammed today's R'n'B stars for spending too much time making themselves look good in videos, and not nearly enough time on the quality of music they're producing.

The 24-year-old is now keen to bring his sound - and the sound of R'n'B - back to its roots.

He says, "With this one, I just really wanted to be about my vocal ability. I wanted to make real music. I feel like soul music, R'n'B music is somewhat in jeopardy. It's in trouble right now. If I can make a contribution to R'n'B, then that's what I'll do.

"If you go back to what R'n'B is, or what soul really is, I think the work ethic is way down. You look at the videos, you see women shaking their ass, you see the cars, you see the 22s.

"It's really marketing, if anything. It's not real music - that s*** don't make me move. I'm trying to get back to that. I wanna get back to where it's really about the performance."