Last spring, after a lengthy, quiet courtship, the pair announced they were engaged and expecting. They had no idea what they were in for. Not since Britney Spears popped the question to Kevin Federline in 2004 had tabloids and bloggers pounced on a celebrity-civilian romance with such venomous passion. Gossip blogs like Bossip called Tameka everything from ''controlling'' to a ''crazy old lady,'' the National Enquirer fancifully reported she had a ''shocking criminal past,'' and syndicated radio host Tom Joyner claimed Usher threatened to beat him up for cracking jokes about his fiancée on-air (Usher denies that ever happened). ''I was reading very hurtful things about the person that I chose to love, and I felt like they were taking stabs at me or my choice,'' Usher says. ''What about the fact that in our society there are not enough fathers for our black young men? And here I am being a great example and we don't embrace that?! Think about that. I wanna do it right, but I'm doing something wrong? That doesn't make sense.''
The media firestorm intensified when Usher soon dropped his mother as his longtime manager and replaced her with renowned celebrity handler Benny Medina (who also manages the likes of Mariah Carey and Nicole Richie). ''I understand the whole thing about the drama between me and my mother,'' he concedes. ''To be honest with you, we had a very one-sided relationship, and for obvious reasons: She had to make the majority of the sacrifices; otherwise we didn't go forward.... I'm pretty sure that my mother would want to forever manage me. She'll always be my partner. But I feel like I'm at a point where I wanna grow, be able to handle my business firsthand, and understand every facet of it. Also, on the other side is the fact that you get the stigma of being too sheltered. So now I make the move to go out as a man and stand on my own, and it's bad?''
The rift with his mother would soon grow wider. Usher and Tameka's first attempt down the aisle was scheduled to take place at L.A. Reid's Hamptons estate on July 28, 2007, a lavish affair Usher abruptly called off just hours before the ceremony. No explanation was given beyond a terse statement from his rep. Six days later, they tied the knot in a private civil ceremony at his lawyer's office, followed by an extravagant star-studded celebration in Atlanta on Sept. 1. Usher's mom was conspicuously absent from the event, which only added to the spectacle. ''My mother made a decision not to come to my wedding because she didn't really agree with my decision,'' he explains, declining to specify whether she disagreed with his choice of wife or his decision to fire her. ''I don't know why,'' he offers simply. ''She's never told me and I've never asked her.'' Though he demurs when pressed further for details, he reveals: ''It hurt me very much not to see her there 'cause I would've liked for her to be there, not to mention that I paid so much money for her to be accommodated and her behind didn't show up. [Laughs] But just as she's made stands, so have I.'' (That may help explain the title of his new album, though he insists, ''It's not me lashing out at anyone; it was the hottest name for the project, and a testimony to how certain I was about certain issues.'')
On Nov. 26, Usher and Tameka welcomed their son, Usher Raymond V. The new addition to his family served as an olive branch, helping heal the strained relationship with Usher's mom. ''I have a beautiful baby boy that she's in love with,'' he says. ''She's very happy, and he makes us all a better family, period.'' It's likely that the sudden death of Usher's estranged father, who died of liver disease on Jan. 21, brought the family closer together still. ''That made me care more about being a father than anything,'' he says. ''It's my opportunity to make sure that [my son] never feels what I felt.''
NEXT PAGE: ''Every word on this album is meaningful. It's like, I know you ain't gonna listen to me until I get your attention. So now that I got your attention, can I talk to you about something?''
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