Usher Celebrating 25th Anniversary of ‘My Way’ Album with Deluxe Edition
Usher will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his landmark 1997 My Way album with a deluxe edition featuring a trio of bonus tracks. LaFace Records and Legacy Recordings announced on Monday (Sept. 12) that the expanded version of the album with three reimagined songs as well as a mini-documentary will drop on Sept. 16.
The revamp will feature the original album in its entirety, along with remakes of “My Way,” “Nice & Slow” and “You Make Me Wanna…” by producer/drummer Ryan James Carr and instrumental versions of those same songs. According to a release, the collaboration between Carr and Usher on the reworked songs helped to influence the singer’s recent viral NPR Tiny Desk show, which has racked up more than 11 million views in two months.
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My Way was originally released on Sept. 16, 1997 and featured the above-mentioned hit singles; the album largely produced by Babyface and Jermaine Dupri, hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The singer’s sophomore album was his commercial breakthrough, earning him a Grammy nomination for best male R&B vocal performance for “You Make Me Wanna…” The collection also featured collaborations with Lil Kim (“Just Like Me”), Monica (“Slow Jam”) and producer Dupri (“Come Back”).
The anniversary edition of My Way will be available as a 2LP package on 180g silvery cloudy vinyl via Vinyl Me Please slated to ship in early 2023. The collection will also come with new album art paying homage to the original cover photo as well as a lyric and photo booklet.
The accompanying Dolapo Sangokoya-directed documentary, Usher: 25 Years My Way, will feature a conversation with the singer about the legacy of the album, “delving into discography origin stories, the album’s greater cultural impact and the creative processes that inspired” the new renditions of the three hits. The mini-doc will also feature interviews with Dupri and Carr, as well as footage of the “making of” the new versions of the songs and previously unreleased footage of Usher from the original album era; the doc will premiere on Usher’s YouTube channel on Sept. 16.
Check out the doc trailer below.
