"Sins of My Father" is a song recorded by American recording artist
Usher
Usher may refer to:
Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place:
* Usher (occupation)
** Church usher
** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony
** Fiel ...
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). The song, a collaborative effort between Usher,
Terry Lewis,
Salaam Remi
Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...
, and
Rico Love, tells the story of a "tortured soul" in a "volatile" relationship." Critics noted Usher's relationship with ex-wife Tameka Foster to be the basis of the song, which contains references to their children together. Usher himself added that the song itself is a "kind of testament" for the type of father he is.
"Sins of My Father" is a
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
song that contains prominent
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
dub, Motown and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
influences. It received universal acclaim from
music critics, who cited it as a stand-out track on ''Looking 4 Myself''. Upon the release of ''Looking 4 Myself'', the song debuted at number 62 on the
South Korea Gaon International Chart, with sales of 5,813 digital copies.
Writing and recording
"Sins of My Father" was written by Usher, Rico Love,
Salaam Remi
Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...
and
Terry Lewis. The production of the song was helmed by Remi, with Love also serving as its co-producer. Remi has previously produced songs such as "
Made You Look" (''
God's Son'', 2002) for American rapper
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
and "
You Know I'm No Good" (''
Back to Black'', 2006) for late English singer
Amy Winehouse.
In an interview with SoulCulture, Usher told that the inspiration for writing "Sins of My Father" is about dealing with things that people can't understand. He further stated that the past can bring people "down a road" because they are not aware of it.
According to him, "The time spent with a father will teach you a certain understanding of live and how to cope and deal with things. The lack of a father being there can also teach you how to deal with life – and that’s what 'Sins Of The Father' is about ... That statement was made because that’s something that I felt." Usher added that the song itself is a "kind of testament" for the father he is.
Gleyder "Gee" Disla and Mark "Exit" Goodchild recorded "Sins of My Father" at Jungle City Studios in New York City,
Doppler Studios
Doppler Studios is a recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, established in 1969 as a one-room studio, and grew to host seven rooms.
History
Founded by original co-owners Pete Caldwell and Tom Wells to serve as their jingle company ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Glenwood Place Studios in
Burbank
Burbank may refer to:
Places Australia
* Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
United States
* Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County
* Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place
* Burbank, Illinois, ...
and Instrument Zoo in Miami.
Alex Fremin, Jacob Dennis, Max Unruh and Ramon Rivas served as recording assistants. It was mixed by
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work.
Life and career
M ...
at Larrabee Sound Studio in
Universal City, while Chris Galland and Delbert Bowers served as a mixing assistant. The track's producer Remi together with Vincent Henry and Czech Film Orchestra, provided the "Sins of My Father" instrumentation.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Sins of My Father" is a
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
song with prominent
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
dub, Motown and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
influences that runs for three minutes and 56 seconds.
The song's instrumentation consists of bass, keyboards, guitar,
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
,
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
, saxophone and
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
which are played by the Czech Film Orchestra.
According to Jim Farber of ''
Daily News'', "Sins of My Father" consists of "some of the sexy, retro shading" that can be seen in the Remi produced songs by Amy Winehouse. Popdust's Andrew Unterberger commented that the track "sounds like a death rattle, a hypnotically low bass line slinking around some ominously shook maracas, a molasses-slow drum loop, and by the end, even some
John Barry-cinematic-style strings." He further stated that "Sins of My Father" is a step "bluesier and evil-er, sounding more from the legacy of Howlin’ Wolf and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins—not quite as guttural, but Ush
rstill uses all the tools at his disposal, even breaking out the fake voodoo accent, and more than gets the point across."
Lyrically, "Sins of My Father" dramatic narrative has been compared to
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's
Billie Jean
"Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...
(1983). The song begins with Usher gasping "My sons, Keep them ... please forgive me." Unterberger of Popdust concluded that the track gets more intense, as Usher sings in the song's opening verse: "I think this woman went and put a hex on me / Oh now, why’d I let her go and put that sex on me?". The pre-chorus features Usher yelping in falsetto: "But she didn’t make me pay for it with my money! / OWWWW!!!".
According to Erika Ramirez of ''Billboard'' magazine, "Usher soulfully pays for his father's promiscuous ways over melodic soundcapes".
Critical reception
"Sins of My Father" received universal acclaim from music critics. Nathan S. of DJBooth called the "openly autobiographical" song the most affecting track he has "done in years". He concluded by stating: "I can't think of any other artist of Usher's status who would tie his cheating ways to an absent father, and for that he deserves some applause". Eric Arredondo of Beats Per Minute stated that in "Sins of My Father", Usher shows "more bite in his voice" than he has ever heard before, and that "it helps to make a song that is both fun and slightly sinister". Natalie Shaw of
BBC Music called "Sins of My Father" outstanding, commenting that Usher's "slink here sounds sinister, for the first time, fearing he'll fall under a demon woman's deathly voodoo while slack, deep beats play out".
''
Rap-Up
''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...
'' labelled "Sins of My Father" as one of their favorite songs on the album, alongside "
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 ...
", "
Lemme See
"Lemme See" is a song by American singer-songwriter Usher, released through RCA Records, as the third single from his seventh studio album ''Looking 4 Myself'' (2012). The track features vocals from rapper Rick Ross. It was written by Usher, Eri ...
" and "Twisted". Ryan Hadfield of
Consequence of Sound labelled "Sins of My Father" as an "essential track" of ''Looking 4 Myself'' and stated that, alongside "What Happened to U", the song displays the same "vocal prowess" as the rest of the album, but is matched with "beats of higher sophistication which avers his earnest attempt to deviate from a traditional blend of R&B and hip-hop".
According to Verse of SoulCulture "'Sins Of My Father', with its reggae vibe meets
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
or
Curtis Mayfield sensibilities addressing family issues this is the sort of track we need to hear more of from our artists."
Credits and personnel
;Recording and mixing
*Recorded at Jungle City Studios, New York City;
Doppler Studios
Doppler Studios is a recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, established in 1969 as a one-room studio, and grew to host seven rooms.
History
Founded by original co-owners Pete Caldwell and Tom Wells to serve as their jingle company ...
,
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
; Glenwood Place Studios,
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
; Instrument Zoo,
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
; mixed at Larrabee Sound Studio,
Universal City, California
;Personnel
*
Songwriting – Rico Love, Salaam Remi, Terry Lewis, Usher Raymond IV
*Production – Salaam Remi
*Co-producer – Rico Love
*Mixing –
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work.
Life and career
M ...
*Mixing assistants – Chris Galland, Delbert Bowers
*
Recording – Gleyder "Gee" Disla, Mark "Exit" Goodchild
*Recording assistants – Alex Fremin, Jacob Dennis, Max Unruh, Ramon Rivas
*
Bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
, keyboards, guitar, drums – Salaam Remi
*Saxophone – Vincent Henry
*
Strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
– Czech Film Orchestra
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Looking 4 Myself'', RCA Records.
Charts
Upon the release of ''Looking 4 Myself'', due to digital downloads, "Sins of My Father" charted in lower regions on the singles chart in South Korea. It debuted on the South Korea
Gaon International Chart at number 62 on June 10, 2012, with sales of 5,813 digital copies.
References
External links
*{{YouTube, id=pD9AWwq0cRQ, title=Sins Of My Father official audio
2012 songs
Songs about fathers
Usher (musician) songs
Songs written by Rico Love
Songs written by Salaam Remi
Song recordings produced by Salaam Remi
Songs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Songs written by Usher (musician)