Throwback
by Usher (featuring Jadakiss)

Album: Confessions (2004)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Usher is losing his mind because he wants his girl back. It's his own fault: He let her go and she warned him he would regret it.

    The song is part of his Confessions album, which has a running theme of Usher acting like a cad and dealing with the consequences.
  • Rico Love penned the lyrics for this tune to accompany Just Blaze's music. It proved to be the breakthrough for the New Orleans born songwriter who continued to pen songs for Usher, including the Raymond Vs Raymond singles "There Goes My Baby" and "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)." Requests for Love's compositions began coming from other artists and he went on to write and produce records for the likes of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Fergie.
  • Before he became known as a songwriter, Rico Love was the first artist signed to Usher's label, US Records. He explained during a Reddit AMA: "When I signed to Usher, I would go to him and say 'Yo, I need money; but he would say 'Instead of giving you money, I can give you the opportunity to make a career for yourself.' So he gave me a track, and I wrote a song called 'Throwback' on the Confessions album. After that, the rest is history. He saw something special in me. It wasn't just some random guy saying 'Here, right a song.' He said 'The way you rap, you should try writing songs.' So I did."
  • Jadakiss is the rapper on this track. He was known for his collaborations, including "U Make Me Wanna" with Mariah Carey and "Jenny From The Block" with Jennifer Lopez. Ludacris did the rap on "Yeah!," the biggest hit from the Confessions album.
  • The song contains a sample of Dionne Warwick's 1973 track "You're Gonna Need Me." That song's writers are all credited: Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland and Richard Wylie.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.