"Dive" is a song recorded by the American recording artist Usher for his seventh studio album, ''

Looking 4 Myself ''Looking 4 Myself'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Usher. It was released on June 8, 2012, by RCA Records; it is Usher's first album for RCA after the October 2011 merger of the Jive Records group which also included his label, ...

'' (2012). It was written and produced by

Rico Love Richard Preston Butler Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wiscon ...

Jim Jonsin James Gregory Scheffer (born June 8, 1970), professionally known as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer, songwriter, businessman and DJ from South Florida. Jonsin has collaborated with numerous artists, including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, ...

, Danny Morris and

Frank Romano Frank Romano is an American born guitarist, songwriter and record producer, influenced by a number of musical styles and backgrounds. Career Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, Romano grew up in a musical family in the suburbs of Clevela ...

. "Dive" is a slow-paced R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

with elements of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

, with Usher making use of his

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

range. Its lyrics use the metaphor of diving, which was interpreted by critics to discuss a commitment to a relationship. The song was announced by Usher on ''

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

'' as the fifth single from ''Looking 4 Myself'' on August 21, 2012. It was released to

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

radio on August 28, 2012. An accompanying music video directed by

Chris Applebaum Chris Applebaum is a music video director from Los Angeles, California. His videos including Miley Cyrus' '' Party in the U.S.A.'', Usher's ''Dive'', and Demi Lovato's ''Heart Attack''. 30 of his videos have reached #1 on the MTV charts. Apple ...

, portrays

Victoria's Secret Angel Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

model

Chanel Iman Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard) (born December 1, 1990) is an American model best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. Early life Iman was born in Atlan ...

as Usher's love interest, showing them being intimate and having sex in several scenes. The song debuted at number 50 on the South Korea Gaon International Chart, with sales of 6,546 digital copies. "Dive" peaked at number 34 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, remaining on the chart for twelve weeks before dropping out.

Composition and lyrics

The track is a slow-paced R&B ballad with elements of pop music that runs for a length of three minutes and 47 seconds. Throughout the song, Usher makes use of his falsetto range, to which ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Erika Ramirez described as "soulful". Chuck Arnold of ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' complimented Usher's falsetto on both "Dive" and lead single "

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

", adding that the songs show"that he's a "better singer than ever". Matt Cibula of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

wrote that "Dive" contains a

triple entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

in its lyrics: seemingly singing about diving or oral sex, "only to realize that what he's really discussing" is commitment to a relationship. Trent Fitzgerald of PopCrush perceived that the song's lyrics "metaphorically compares love to the crashing waters of the ocean". Carrie Battan of

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

interpreted the lyrics as "explicit" which might "make you cringe if they'd come from of anyone else" in the line: "It's raining inside your bed/ No parts are dry/ Lovin' made you so wet/ Your Legs/ Your thighs".

Critical reception

DJ Booth described its production as "sultry" and noted the song as a potential hit for Usher. Erika Ramirez of ''

'' also saw the song as a success, writing that it is "slower and more sensual" than

and

's "

Motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

" (2011) performed by

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

. Ramirez also praised Usher's vocals, more specifically his

, the reasoning to why "we fell in love with the singer to begin with". ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' Brad Wete perceived the song as a "sexy slow-winding cut", that is "powered by Usher’s falsetto". Ryan Hadfield of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' also praised Usher's vocals, with "Dive" and lead single "

" showing his "superior R&B vocal range". ''

''s Carry Battan wrote that Usher's "vocal mastery" allows him to turn the chorus of "Dive"—which she viewed as "cornball"—into something "more specific, as if he were addressing just one woman ... ''

'' Matt Cibula saw the lyric's as "clever" for incorporating a triple-entendre. Cibula further lauded Usher's falsetto, which he wrote Usher sings in an "urgent" whisper.

Music video and live performances

The music video for "Dive" was filmed in July 2012, directed by

, and released to

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

on August 25, 2012. In the video,

model

plays as Usher's love interest. Set on a luxury yacht in the open sea, the video begins with Usher talking, before showing him singing the first verse. The video intercuts to Iman and Usher inside a cabin with water gushing in. For the chorus, they are being intimate, with water further entering the singer's cabin. They are again being intimate for the second verse, sitting outside the yacht, with water now level with Usher's waist inside the cabin, entering the second chorus, where Usher and Iman make love. During the bridge, both are romancing within the cabin's bathroom, with the video intercutting to different romantic scenarios. Further scenarios are shown in the final chorus, with the water now fully submerging the cabin and Usher. The video closes with Usher swimming to safety, but before reaching the surface, he and Iman approach each other, embracing in the water. Opening the 2012 iTunes Festival, Usher performed "Dive" for the first time with " Can't Stop Won't Stop", "Twisted", " Numb" and other songs.

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Vocal recording – Parkland Playhouse, Parkland, Florida; Circlehouse Studios, Miami, Florida *Mixing – Parkland Playhouse, Parkland, Florida ;Personnel *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

, Danny Morris,

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, Mr. Morris, Frank Romano *Keyboard and programming – Jim Jonsin, Danny Morris *

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– Frank Romano *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Nikolas Marzouca *Recording assistants – Matt Huber, Nathan Burgess, Diego Avendano *Additional recording – Matt Huber *Mixing – Robert Marks *Mixing assistants – Matt Huber, Nathan Burgess, Dana Richard Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Looking 4 Myself'', RCA Records.

Charts

Because of digital downloads, "Dive" entered the singles chart in South Korea. It debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number 50 on June 10, 2012, with sales of 6,546 digital copies. It debuted at number eight on the US

Bubbling Under Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart for the chart issue dated September 8, 2012. On the US

chart, "Dive" peaked at number 34, remaining on the chart for twelve weeks.

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010s ballads 2012 songs Usher (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Jim Jonsin Songs written by Jim Jonsin Songs written by Rico Love Contemporary R&B ballads Music videos directed by Chris Applebaum Songs written by Frank Romano RCA Records singles 2012 singles Songs written by Danny Morris (music producer)