"Confessions Part II" is a song by R&B singer Usher, and
co-produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox for Usher's
fourth album
Confessions. Written by Usher, Dupri and Cox, the song
is a confession of a man to his woman about his impregnated
mistress, a continuation of "Confessions Part I" which relates
a man's infidelity. Its personal content evoked rumors and
early responses from the public even before its release,
believing that Usher was asserting the truth; however, Dupri
divulged that the story behind the album is his and Usher
explained that he only took inspiration from his friends'
similar experiences. The song received mixed reviews from
critics.
"Confessions Part II" was released as the third single from
the album, following the success of "Burn". The single reached
number one on Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming the album's third
consecutive number-one single. Internationally, the single had
lesser success than the album's previous releases.
When he started working on his fourth studio album
Confessionsafter the release of his 2001 album
8701, Usher chose not to branch out much with musical
collaborators; instead, he chose to continue creating music
with his previous producers. He again enlisted
producer-songwriter Jermaine Dupri, who had produced songs for
Usher's two previous albums. Dupri approached Bryan-Michael
Cox, asking him to become a collaborator. Cox has been a
frequent partner of Dupri who had produced hits for Usher as
well. Like "Burn", the second single from the album, Dupri and
Cox conversed about a situation, creating the idea of the
prospective song. However, they were concerned because they
needed somebody to write such a song and they never thought
Usher would do it. The concept became "Confessions".
Usher started recording the song on July 2003 in New York
City. One day, before the night was over, Usher was singing
about impregnating a mistress and becoming displeased, having
found that she is three months pregnant. The theme of cheating
inspired him and Dupri, and they then decided to produce two
parts of "Confessions": Part I and Part II. Usher said that the
former is a "dramatization where a guy confesses all the stuff
he's been doing" against his woman. The latter speaks of
impregnating a mistress.
While
Confessionswas still in production, Usher promised "real
talk" in it. He decided "to let it all hang out by singing
about some of his own little secrets, as well as a few bones
from his homies' skeleton-filled closets." He explained: "All
of us have our Pandora's boxes or skeletons in our closets. I
let a few of them out, you know. I've got a lot to say. I've
got a lot of things and stuff built in me that I just want to
let go of." He further noted that, for the most part, the
album's subject matter is "very personal". Dupri expected
people to question some of the personal lyrics they associated
in the song.
"Confessions Part II" is an R&B song composed in the key
of A♭. Set in common time, the song is performed with a
moderate groove. The lyrics are constructed in the inverted
chorus-verse form. There are four choruses and two verses, and
then a break between the third and final chorus which Usher
speaks the lyrics.
The lyrics of "Confessions Part II" centers on a confession
about impregnating a mistress. For the prelude, Usher tells his
significant other that he impregnated his mistress.
"Confessions Part II" apologizes what he had done in part one.
Usher said of the song that right after he confessed with his
real woman, he hoped she would still give him a chance. Dupri
said that "Confessions Part II" is one of the songs which speak
about breakups in relationships.
Usher held few listening parties for the album prior to its
release. Shortly after, people came up with different
interpretations of "Confessions Part II", among other personal
songs in the album. In 2003, Usher's two-year relationship with
TLC's Chilli was going to "flame-out", which partly contributed
to the concept of "Burn". They finally broke up early in 2004
because of "irreconcilable differences and because the two
found it almost impossible to make compromises" which partly
triggered public speculation that some of the songs in the
album are in reference to his personal struggle. They referred
to the song speaking about Usher's "infidelity" to Chilli.
Alongside the "cheating" rumors, the public inferred from
the lyrics that Usher had impregnated a mistress in real life.
Usher, however, emphasized that he was not in a relationship
and "got another girl pregnant" and he was singing a
"character". The similarity of situations he faced before and
experiences of his friends collectively inspired him to write
the song. In the middle of rumors, Dupri admitted that the
stories behind the songs in the album are his. He stated, "me
cheating on my steady girlfriend, having a baby with that other
woman and having to confess to everything that happened to my
main girl."
Behind rumors, Usher refuted in an interview with MTV
News:
People assume things, because as I said, I pull from my
personal experiences to make my music ... I never
experienced [fathering a child outside of a relationship]
firsthand, but it's something I wanted to talk about ...
and it's something that has happened to me in the past ...
As I said, I have a few deep, dark ones that I've kept stowed
away in a closet for a minute ... That's why I take this
time to speak to you guys and let you know really what it
is ... I will tell you that I loved [Chilli] a lot and she
obviously loved me; it just didn't work out. But cheating is
not what caused the relationship to collide and crash. That
ain't what broke it up.
"Confessions Part II" was released as the third single from
the album, following "Burn". The single was released in the
United States as a 12" single on August 24, 2004. It was
released in Germany on October 18, and Australia on October 26,
2004, featuring the album and remix version of the track and a
song called "Whatever I Want". In the United Kingdom, it was a
double A-side with "My Boo", the fourth single from the album.
It was released in the country on December 28, 2004, and
re-released on January 18, 2005.
Many critics found the song intriguing and came up with
interpretations of it as well. Andrew McGregor of the BBC
questioned if "Confessions Part II", as well as "Truth Hurts",
are only "mere theatre" or telling the truth. Laura Sinagra of
Rolling Stonefocuses on how Usher admits in the song
about impregnating a mistress. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
commented that Usher's age when the song was recorded was the
right take to "getting his 'chick on the side'".
Outside of rumors, Jem Aswad of
Entertainment Weeklysaid that the best songs from the
album were "Confessions Part II" and "Burn", which he described
as having smooth melodies. Matt Cibula of Popmatters said of
the flow of the concept does not work. He pointed out that in
the second part, Usher claims he "barely knows the other lady",
while in the first part, he already said that she was his
ex-girlfriend. He furthered called it the "wimpiest" song on
the theme of the album. Kelefa Sanneh of
The New York Timescalled it a "tricky infidelity
narrative".
"Confessions Part II" was nominated for Best R&B/Soul,
Male at the 2005 Soul Train Music Awards. At the 2005 American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Pop Music Awards,
Dupri received the ASCAP Golden Note Award for co-writing the
song, alongside his many achievements and contributions to
American popular music. British record company EMI was
recognized as Publisher of the Year for the song, including
"Burn" and songs by Alicia Keys, Beyoncé Knowles, Britney
Spears.
"Confessions Part II" lived up to the success of its
predecessors in the United States, though not as
overwhelmingly. The single debuted on the Hot 100 at number 48,
a higher entry than those of "Yeah!" and "Burn" did, while
"Yeah!" was still at the top of the chart and "Burn" at number
three. It peaked at number one on July 27, 2004, replacing
"Burn"'s eighth non-consecutive chart run, and stayed there for
two weeks. It failed to match the number of days at top spot of
the previous two releases, and remained on the top ten for 13
weeks. The single left the chart after 25 weeks. The single was
certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
on for reaching half million shipments.
Internationally, "Confessions Part II" had lesser success.
The single debuted at number five in Australia, becoming its
highest entry, and failed to reach a higher position. The
single reached number five in the United Kingdom, peaked at
number seven in Ireland, and below top ten in the Netherlands
and France, where it reached #43
The music video of "Confessions Part II" was co-directed by
Usher and music video director Chris Robinson, who also
directed the video for the album's fourth single, "My Boo".
"Confessions Part I" serves as the opening of the video. Set in
a studio, Usher receives a phone message and knows that he
impregnated his mistress. After he speaks the spoken section of
the song, "Confessions Part II" proceeds. Usher is set in a
dark lit room, with only one chair. He occasionally shows a
large ring in his ring finger. In the middle of the video, he
lies on a piano and in his imagination, his woman and mistress
are beside him. The next scene shows Usher in a brown car
singing, goes out and kneels before his woman to confess. She
refuses to listen and slaps Usher, then leaves. Alone, Usher
stands in front of a wide mirror, which breaks into pieces
accompanied by a roaring sound, ending the video with him
sitting on a chair.
The music video successfully charted on video programs. It
debuted on MTV's
Total Request Liveon June 28, 2004, the same entry as
"Burn". The music video reached number one on the countdown,
and retired on September 15, 2004 at number seven. Like
"Yeah!", "Confessions Part II" video remained on
TRLfor 50 days.
The official remix of the song was added the re-release of
"Confessions" and it features a new verse by Usher, Shyne
(rapped his verse on the phone while in prison), Kanye West,
Twista and Jermaine Dupri.
The song is parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic on his album
Straight Outta Lynwoodas "Confessions Part III".
A mash-up of the song with It's My Life recorded by the cast
of Glee appeared in an episode of the show's first season, and
got to number 14 on the UK singles chart.