"There Goes My Baby" is a song by American singer

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 ...

. It was written by James Scheffer,

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 ...

, Danny Morris and

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 ...

, with the latter producing the song with

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, ...

. The song was first released as the second promo single for his sixth studio album, ''

Raymond v. Raymond ''Raymond v. Raymond'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Usher (musician), Usher, released on March 26, 2010, by LaFace Records. Production for the album took place in 2009 and was handled by several producers, including Jermaine Dupri, ...

'' (2010) on February 9, 2010, and later released to

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and

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 ...

airplay as the album's fourth U.S. single from the album on June 15, 2010. It was later included the EP's follow-up set, '' Versus EP''. "There Goes My Baby" is a down-tempo R&B piece, which makes use of Usher's falsetto range. While reaching a peak of twenty-five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it topped the

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 ...

chart. The charting gave Usher his eleventh number-one on the chart, tying

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

and

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

for the fifth-most number-one's since the chart's inception. The song's accompanying music video features Usher pursuing his love interest in risque scenes. Usher performed the song a number of times, including at the 2010 BET Awards. The song earned Usher a

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

, at the

53rd Annual Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prio ...

on February 13, 2011.

Composition and critical reception

"There Goes My Baby" is a, "slinky" down-tempo R&B ballad, with infused hints of

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

. It is composed in a "moderate groove" of eighty

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

, and is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

. It is written the key of

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

and Usher's vocals span from the low note of E₃ to high note of C₅. It follows the chord progression A–F_maj7–G. The song makes use of Usher's

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, which was warmly received by critics. Edna Gunderson of ''

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'' called Usher's falsetto "charming." Jaime Gill of

Yahoo! Music UK Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds ...

said that the song was a delight and that its falsetto tenderness was absent in the rest of the work. Tyler Lewis 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 ...

'' said the song featured "nice falsetto work" from the singer, while Leah Greenblatt of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' coined the song a "falsetto-laced plea." Andy Kellman of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted the track as a standout from ''Raymond v. Raymond''.

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' said that the sweetness of Usher's falsetto balanced out the album's "boilerplate swagger." Fraser McAlpine of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

thought that the song recalled Usher's past slow jams, coining it, "a sumptuous deep-pile carpet of seductive song." Ashante Infantry of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' said the song was one of the best on the album, and said that it was a "steamy slow jam." Calling the song "decent," James Reed of the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' thought the lyrical content was hollow. Calling it a low-point of the album, Matthew Cole of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' said that the song was "sappy."

Chart performance

As a promo single, the song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number seventy-one solely from digital downloads. It fell off the next week, but upon its release as a single it re-entered at number 100, and eventually reached number twenty-five. It topped the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart for four consecutive weeks, giving Usher his eleventh number-one hit on that chart, and to date spent there the huge amount of 71 weeks. With eleven top singles on the chart, Usher tied with

and

on the

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

-led list of most number ones since the inception of the chart. As the fourth single from ''

'', the single was also Usher's fourth consecutive top ten song on the R&B chart, a feat not matched by him since his '' Confessions'' era. "There Goes My Baby" was also Usher's fourth consecutive top forty song on the Hot 100, another feat not matched since ''Confessions''.

Music video

Background and synopsis

The accompanying music video for the song was filmed on June 16, 2010, in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

, and directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on s ...

. It took fifteen hours for the shoot. Preparing his physique for the filming, the singer told ''

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 ...

'', "At 31, when you take your shirt off, you must have it together!" A preview of the video was released on July 12, 2010, and the full video premiered on ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' and

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 July 13, 2010. Containing a vague plot, the opening scene of the clip features Usher donning a black tank top and dark jeans, while he stands in a field with the sun rising in the background. While performing

t'ai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

-inspired dance moves, he begins to pursue his love interest, and appears shirtless in front of a black backdrop. Appearing alongside his interest in the backdrop scenes, Usher then sings propped on a concrete wall in a dark alley, while he and the woman tease each other, before moving outside on the balcony of a house on top of mountains. The singer performs acrobatic moves, including one in particular in which he does a pull-up onto the roof to kiss his partner. All previous scenes are intercut before culminating with Usher seducing his partner in bed, in racy moments with Usher in nothing but briefs as he pulls off her stockings. The final scene sees the singer driving off in a convertible.

Reception

Jayson Rodriguez of

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

positively reviewed the clip, stating, "with a new video for his single "There Goes My Baby," the singer continues to push back at detractors who dare to suggest he's slipped." Megan Vick of ''

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 ...

'' said the clip was classic Usher, "from the stunning women to the architectural scenery and most importantly, the rippling abs." Lining up points on why the video should be watched, AOL Boombox said that the singer "sexes it up" in the video as he "proudly proclaims" the song's title. Brad Wete of ''

'' gave the video a mixed review, complimenting Usher's trademark sexual videos, but at the same time said it was not "new territory" for the singer, preferring he would take a video route as he did in 2008's "

Trading Places ''Trading Places'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis, with a screenplay by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the fi ...

Live performances

While promoting ''

'', Usher performed the song along with others from the then-upcoming set on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

''. In promotion of the single, he sang the song on

Lopez Tonight ''Lopez Tonight'' is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-night ...

on June 2, 2010, and on '' The View'' on June 9, 2010. Furthermore, Usher performed the song on the 2010 BET Awards in June 2010. In August 2010 he sang the song at his 2010 World Leadership Awards for his New Look Foundation, alongside other performers, friend

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

and protege

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

. The same month, the singer later appeared on ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

'' as a part of their summer concert series. On September 17, 2010, he performed the song alongside "

DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" is a song by American singer Usher, featuring guest vocals from American rapper Pitbull, who co-wrote the song with the producers Shellback and Max Martin, with additional writing from Savan Kotecha. It was released ...

" on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''.

Track listing

*Digital download # "There Goes My Baby" - 4:44

Credits and 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 ...

, James Scheffer,

, 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 *

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and programming – Jim Jonsin, Danny Morris *

Guitars 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 *Additional vocals – Rico Love *Recording - Ian Cross and assisted by Thomas McCrea and Jason Wilkie * Mixing - Mark “Spike" Stent, assisted by Matty Green SourceUsher ''Raymond v. Raymond'' Liner notes.

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achie ...

(2010)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:There Goes My Baby (Usher Song) 2010s ballads 2010 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 Anthony Mandler Songs written by Frank Romano LaFace Records singles 2010 singles Songs written by Danny Morris (music producer)