Crystal, Leather, and Faux Fur: How Usher Hits the Stage for His Past Present Future Tour

♪ Stop until I see you, sugar ♪

♪ You know who you are ♪ [Usher snaps fingers]

♪ So many shows, wherever I go ♪

♪ I m going to keep on lookin ♪

I was just playing, see, you guys are [stammering].

You leave me in the room with the clothes,

I m gonna try everything on. [laughs]

[laid-back electronic music]

Usher, baby. [laid-back electronic music]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the wonderful world of U.

I m your Usher for this evening.

It s Marquise.

Sorry! [all laugh]

So, we re never gonna get this done.

Hearsay. We re never gonna-

You ve got to drop an octave down for the Marquise stuff.

You know what I m saying? Marquise!

Marquise.

So we re gonna get into alter egos

and tons of other things.

Motivation around the madness of making

Past, Present, Future the tour.

We re gonna have some fittings today,

we re gonna have a conversation about fashion.

Two incredible editor stylists,

Jan-Michael Quammie and Yashua Simmons.

[electronic music plays]

We were out shopping the other day

and we were like, looking at references,

we had pulled up an album cover

and like, Jan zooms in and she goes,

Are these goggles Prada?

And we would like to ask you, were they Prada?

Yeah, of course, they were Prada!

[Jan and Yashua laughing]

We were trying to figure out like,

the thing to be known for like,

you know, cause every artist has one thing

that other people can admire.

For Michael Jackson, it was a glove.

For some people it was a pair of glasses.

It could have been a jacket.

I wasn t raised, you know, around top designers.

I m from Chattanooga, Tennessee,

so you know, we were kind of taking bits and pieces

from what we saw on television.

When I got the opportunity to go to the table,

as I didn t really have a budget, it s like,

I like those glasses, I like those goggles.

[electronic music]

Yashua and I are both from New York.

That album cover was a cultural moment

for New Yorkers. Yeah, like defining, yes.

I think you might have gotten it from New Yorkers?

Yeah! I m not sure if it s

chicken-egg or egg-chicken.

Chicken, yeah. Ah, okay!

Goggles on top of our skullies.

Skullies are beanies. Yes.

[Usher] That s it, skullies, you said it.

Believe it or not, we called it toboggans.

Never heard of that. Never-

We called it toboggans. [Jan and Yashua laugh]

Just the... yeah.

[electronic music plays]

The first time I was ever introduced to fashion was Versace.

This was an opportunity for me to say,

All right, I not only understand fashion,

but I m reaching to try and have some identity.

[electronic music]

As it relates to the fashion,

I want to know,

how were you guys able to really tell the story

and what was the approach?

I m very decisive.

I m like boom, boom, boom.

And Yashua challenges me a lot

to think a little bit deeper and further.

I think it was really important for us, as a practice,

you know, to really marry costume and fashion,

[Jan] and thinking about- Yeah.

[Yashua] What does that look like on stage.

[Jan] That s a balance. Yeah.

[Yashua] You know? [electronic music continues]

It was extremely important to Yash and I

to work with like, POC designers.

We have designers from China,

Europe, New York, all over the globe,

and I think that is also

Past, Present and Future to the T.

A lot of the designers that we decided to work with,

it wasn t just only because they were a minority,

it s because they were great at what they do.

They actually could supply what s needed

for the conversation that has to happen outside

of what I do theatrically as a performer.

[electronic music continues]

[Jan] I guess I m the most rigid- Yes.

About the story.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm!

Like, No, no, no; this is a moment

and this jacket is- Uh-huh.

Kind of explaining the purpose

and point of it. Yeah.

[Usher] There s a bit of fantasy that happens here.

You know, I think that we need to

push the limit a little bit more.

I edit them.

They re the editors,

but I m kind of like, editing and moving things around,

and challenging,

trying to do things that haven t been done on stage.

Yeah. Which is also

a good conversation because it is his baby.

It s like, his brainchild- Yes, yes.

Thirty years, it s a thirty-year career, man!

No, of course! [Usher laughs]

Yes. So, you know,

he s true to that, but we re like,

we ll push too and be like,

Maybe this is a new way to imagine it,

but the nuance is still there.

I m like, You don t wanna be an alien?

[Yashua and Usher laughing] [Jan laughs]

Yeah.

And they ll push me and push me.

It s, No, no, no until I put it on

and I m like, Okay.

[Yashua] Yeah. This works.

[electronic music plays]

[Yashua] When we re trying on something in our fittings,

how do you know it s it?

[Jan] Like when do you step into like,

the artist and not, the dad and the husband ?

So the moment that I put on the outfit,

I look at it like a skin.

You know, video gaming is the way

this kind of generation works, right?

[Yashua and Jan] There s skins- M-hm.

In Call of Duty that you put on, right?

I look at it in a similar manner.

It s the curious kid who was running

through my grandparents home

and grabbing all of the things that I saw.

And my grandmother was like,

Why you got this fur coat on?

Because I actually think it s cool!

Right. But it s dragging the floor.

Like, I was always searching,

I was like, looking for this definition

with the access that I had.

Same way putting on this armor,

you know, just gives me a little bit of my superpower.

[Yashua] Yeah. I have a question.

[Usher] Yep.

What s the name of your alter ego?

Usher, baby.

♪ Make every minute worth it, baby ♪

♪ It s for Usher, baby ♪

♪ Usher, baby ♪

♪ Usher, baby ♪

♪ Baby ♪

You know what s funny, I have a couple.

Jude Moskowitz is a guy who I play sometimes.

[Jan laughs] Sorry!

Who s he?

This is a guy like you, right now.

[Jan] Oh. Oh.

[Usher] Right? Okay!

There s this guy, Marquise.

He s about two octaves down.

[Jan] Oh. Yeah.

I m just Yash. [Usher and Jan laugh]

[electronic music plays]

What s your favorite look we ve done?

Wait, don t ask me first; I literally don t know.

My favorite look is custom Luis De Javier pants,

I was so obsessed with-

From day one, by the way. From day one-

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

That I had him do two in a different colorway.

And we re gonna see it here

with you guys for the first time,

which is actually really exciting.

What s your favorite look?

Ralph made these like couture hand-done

[Jan] crystal and sequin denim jeans Mm.

That they ve never, ever, ever done or shown for-

True. A guy before,

and then they made this like black faux fur coat

that goes on top of it.

It s just kind of like sexy and easy

and feels very rock and roll.

What s your favorite look?

[Usher] David Koma.

Everything that we ve tried on has been interesting.

[electronic music plays]

I said, I don t know, he s really done his homework.

[Yashua] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

And there s a lot of nostalgia here for me;

storytelling, but also to something that elevates.

So when I look at everything that was brought,

it kind of represents

[Yashua] Past, Present, Future. Mm-hmm.

I think it s interesting what our favorite looks are.

I think it says a lot about us.

That s right. [Jan laughs]

I like the established, she s like, the new kids.

And what am I? I m the futuristic alien,

[Yashua] for sure. You are...

A little bit of everything in the best way.

[Yashua] Yeah, yeah.

You re the culmination- Yeah, yeah.

Of it all, truly.

And that s why it was fun to do this.

[electronic music plays]

We are designed by our curiosity

and our ability to grow in uncomfortable spaces.

Sure as my name is Usher

and I didn t have a definition for it when I received it,

I built my life the same way

before I even decided that this would be my trade.

This would be what I, you know,

sold out to and just said,

I m gonna give everything that I possibly can

to this artist that I have made up in my mind.

I want to be captivating, a fantasy, uncomparable,

push the envelope, grand.

I want people to remember what I did, you know?

But let s get into my favorite part,

let s try some clothes on!

Are fittings your favorite part?

No, driving you crazy is my favorite part.

[Jan laughs] [electronic music plays]

Hey. Yes!

Bring in the stuff!

Jan, you could join us. Thanks for joining, right!

Like where were you? [Usher and Yashua laugh]

This is Robert s and he s here.

This is his jacket, we just got it.

[Jan] Hey! Hey Robert!

Hi. Hm.

I know I can t wait to be- We re very excited.

We re very excited. How re you doing?

It s good to have you here. Good to see you.

Good to have you, good to see you.

See, you too. Thank you so much.

I think this is actually the first custom

we ve made out of that design, so-

The first? Very special, yeah.

Wow!

So you re debuting it on stage.

There you go. In London.

[Usher] Uh-huh. We love that.

Don t you like, it s my handwriting, as well.

Right? Yeah.

[lo-fi music]

How s it fit? Perfect.

[lo-fi music]

And then, of course, the master of ceremony.

[Jan] Gorgeous, I love that we are looking

like, at the galaxy.

[Robert] That s literally it.

I think it s 48,000 crystals that we ve used.

[Jan] 48,000 crystals? Yeah, 48,000 crystals.

And there s more than like, I think,

50,000 sequins as well. Wow.

[Usher] I m bringing the entire galaxy with me.

[Jan] Is this what it s like in the quick change?

Oh no, it moves a lot faster, right?

[Yashua] Quick change is a whole other

professional expertise. That s a whole other

career choice.

[Yashua] It s a professional expertise.

You want the hardest job? We don t know

how to do that. That s the hardest job.

They are- That job is harder

than what I do on stage. Yeah.

They re engineers.

This goes back to the days of wearing the toboggan

or either skull cap. Skull.

How are you? How are you? Good?

Very good. Okay.

That looks good. And we do have to hem

this a bit, too. Yeah.

We want this a little shorter.

[David] I just never thought someone would just go for it.

Absolutely. Here, we love-

[David] That was something even more personal.

[Jan] Oh, love.

[David] This is so good, so good!

Ha! Curve ball.

I think it needs like, a zipper.

[Usher] What if we do zipper and it just falls down.

Just can we say that.

It needs like a quick change element so that-

It could come off- It comes down.

Yeah. Not taken up.

Down, yeah. Yeah.

Before you go, let me get,

let me give you one last look at the full...

There we go.

With the, yeah,

the stats gonna be cool. I love the look, actually.

All the details, everything is there; amazing.

You killed it, thank you.

[Jan] Well, thank you so much for coming by.

We just need to spend a little time

figuring out the headpiece.

I do think that that s a good idea to stack-

Just kinda like- Yeah, that s heavy though.

Hey! Okay.

What s going on? [Luiz speaking indistinctly]

Hello. Mwah.

[Luiz] How are you doing?

I m so excited to be here.

[Usher] - [Usher] What in the world is in that bag?

Oh my gosh. Yeah.

And then it comes with a belt on top.

The waist belt and the gloves.

Fabulous. This goes on top.

Welcome to quick change. This is quick change.

This is the first time we re fitting this as well, so.

There we go, okay. Okay.

So how many belts are-

Oh my god, it s 11 on each leg.

Yeah. And then,

I think from there up, is like 10.

You don t come to bed with this on. [Yashua laughs]

You got some work to do to get to it, baby. [crew laughs]

I would love to see a simplified version

where you see more here, behind something here.

Yeah. Okay.

This has been great. Thank you so much.

I m really looking forward to you seeing the show.

I can t wait to see you dance in this.

Thank you. See you soon.

Good luck with everything. Thank you.

[Interviewer] What would you call a little after

before walking on stage [indistinct]?

No lie; buckle up. [Yashua laughing]

It s a wild ride. [Usher laughing]

Are you taking the piss? I m not! I m saying!

It s perfect! [electronic music]

I ll see you guys at the show, peace.

♪ Hey ♪

♪ In this club, ay ♪

♪ I wanna make love in this club, ay ♪

♪ In this club, ay ♪