Release
Usher submitted the album to his label Arista Records after he felt it was already completed. After he and the company's then-president Antonio "LA" Reid listened to the songs, they felt the album needed a first single and that they needed one or two more songs to create, which caused the postponement of the album's release. Usher went back to the studio and collaborated with Lil Jon who said, "He needed a single. They had 'Burn,' 'Burn' was hot, but they needed that first powerful monster. That's when I came in." They worked for few more tracks, including "Red Light", which was not included in the first release of the album, and "Yeah!", which features Ludacris and Lil Jon.
However, everybody in the label was scared to decide what to consider as the lead single. Reid was choosing whether "Yeah!" would be released then, considering that they had "Burn". Usher was also doubtful if the former was the right choice, after he wanted an R&B record. Until "Yeah!" was leaked, "Burn" was chosen as the official first single from Confessions. "Yeah!", which was intended as a promotional song and a teaser for Usher's fans, was released to street DJs and mixtapes. However, the song's favorable responses led to another direction; "Yeah!" was pursued to be the lead single and "Burn" was set as its follow-up. "Burn" was released in the United States on July 6, 2004 as a CD single and 7" single.
Read more about this topic: Burn (Usher Song)
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise man sees in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“The near touch of death may be a release into life; if only it will break the egoistic will, and release that other flow.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)