Daddy! Come Back!

The ubiquitous 'they' say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in this instance premature judgements are proved valid, with Usher's single, Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home) proving to be as amazing as its cover art would suggest. This is more than artwork for the sake of aesthetics however, acting also as a clear statement of beliefs and values, demonstrating the importance of family over the trappings of our modern, capitalist society, with its mansions, designer labels and swanky cars all relegated to the background. This is emphasised by the knowingly all-too-perfect, shiny veneer, a sweet satirical swipe against our airbrushed world. As mentioned, the song is also extremely good, and can be read as a subtle undermining of the usual bravado and misogyny of hip-hop, case in point being these lines:

"And girl tonight we'll gonna do a lot of sexin',
 Can't nobody do your body like this no"

In this cruel, increasingly secular world, where not even the Pope is above suspicion, it is to people like Usher that we turn, their oeuvre both art and moral compass. Further evidence comes in the blasphemy-dodging single OMG, 'oh my gosh" serving as the curse of preference for both Usher and fellow force for good, Will.I.Am. I sadly know little of Usher's previous work and don't know if he has always displayed such a fine moral core, but it seems he is taking his role as child-prodigy-mentor seriously, proving a suitable role model to Justin Bieber. Sadly little Justin seems to have gone off message, implying in his sing Baby that the way to win a girl back is through her inevitable fondness for material possessions, proclaiming that he will "buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring". Oh Justin, what would Usher say...(nice rhyme though)

I'm very bored by the way