Usher & Pheelz, Ruin | Song Review 🎵

Usher, collaborating with Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer Pheelz, delivers a chill and enjoyable single with “Ruin.”

“Babe, you broke me and took your time with it,” Usher sings on “Ruin”, an advance single from his highly anticipated ninth studio album, Coming Home.  Coming Home marks the Grammy-winning, R&B superstar’s first solo album since Hard II Love, released in 2016 (he released A alongside Zaytoven in 2018).  On “Ruin,” Usher is assisted by Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer Pheelz, who produces and lends his vocals as well.

“Ruin” sounds sweet to the ears thanks to its smooth sounds (gotta love the keys). The groove is chill and relaxed.  It sounds fresh yet also fits the ‘grown and sexy vibe’ for Usher, who is, believe it or not, in his mid 40s. His vocals are as smooth as the instrumental.  He sings with incredible warmth, flaunting his radiant tone that remains potent after all these years.  The lyrics capture the ruin he’s experienced thanks to her. In the chorus, he asserts:

“Wake up in the mornin’

A different girl be on my line

Constantly be callin’ every day, I still decline

See? This is exactly what you did

You ruined me for everybody.”

My, my, my! Notably, after the second verse, the second chorus finds Usher singing more dynamically – a nice touch.  After the centerpiece, the post-chorus shines too with its rhythmic nature and sensational vocal production (“Bye-bye, good riddance for the last time / So you can try, try, maybe get it right next time…”). Notably, Pheelz performs the first half of the second verse, contrasting and complementing Usher. All in all, Usher and Pheelz deliver a winner with “Ruin”.  He may be past his most lucrative days, but Usher proves he’s still got it, easily.

Usher • Coming Home • 🏷 mega / gamma. • 🗓 2.9.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; mega / gamma.; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]