Usher : "Kissing Strangers"

[Deleted]

I honestly think this would have been a career high mark hit for him if released during his early 2010s eras. One of his biggest chart hits ever. As it stands, I just don’t know if it’s possible for an Usher song to smash in 2024 sadly. His decade music hiatus hurts him even more than being over 40 I think. That said, it would be kind of shocking if the wildly less CHR friendly Good Good ended up out-peaking this on the format, but maybe the advantages of being a “comeback” single…

[elementd5]

Mar 28, 2024 12:34:47 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

I honestly think this would have been a career high mark hit for him if released during his early 2010s eras. One of his biggest chart hits ever. As it stands, I just don’t know if it’s possible for an Usher song to smash in 2024 sadly. His decade music hiatus hurts him even more than being over 40 I think. That said, it would be kind of shocking if the wildly less CHR friendly Good Good ended up out-peaking this on the format, but maybe the advantages of being a “comeback” single…

That's on him. He clearly doesn't want to promote this, since he hasn't done basically anything to promote this era since the Super Bowl. He probably just wanted to release new music for the fans and then go on about his business with his wife and family.

[m55]

That’s sad to hear. His legacy deserves way more and I want him to commit to this era. This era is doing better than his last. I can’t wait for another 8 years till he drops another album.

I really hope he has a video lined up for this song? Could he be rereleasing the album with brand new singles I. E good good to expand this era?

Reminds me when Usher released Dj Got us falling in Love to expand the RVR era. With a rerelease

[Deleted]

Mar 28, 2024 12:58:14 GMT -5 elementd5 said:

Mar 28, 2024 12:34:47 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

I honestly think this would have been a career high mark hit for him if released during his early 2010s eras. One of his biggest chart hits ever. As it stands, I just don’t know if it’s possible for an Usher song to smash in 2024 sadly. His decade music hiatus hurts him even more than being over 40 I think. That said, it would be kind of shocking if the wildly less CHR friendly Good Good ended up out-peaking this on the format, but maybe the advantages of being a “comeback” single…

That's on him. He clearly doesn't want to promote this, since he hasn't done basically anything to promote this era since the Super Bowl. He probably just wanted to release new music for the fans and then go on about his business with his wife and family.

I wonder does promo matter much though? Not really sure what it would do for this unless he managed to hit on something viral with a video or something.

[m55]

It looks like it will reach top 25 by tomorrow? Which songs are likely to be purged tomorrow? It's #26 currently on this chart? Will AC, Hot AC start adding this song and could it cross over to Rhythmic radio?

[Jose Polica]

5 Adds at US Pop Radio.

[Jose Polica]

11 Adds at US Pop Radio.

[m55]

Apr 16, 2024 18:58:08 GMT -5 Jose Polica said:

11 Adds at US Pop Radio.

Will this song be pushed to Rhythmic right now? It has so much potential to be a hit on other formats too?

[hitmakaontharise]

All these adds and aint shit happening

[m55]

Glad Usher's getting these adds constantly and this song is rising. I hope he will release a music video soon. This song has so much potential. 

The tour for Usher is going to be a legendary one for him. Hopefully fans and a new generation of fans will love the new songs from this album, not just only pay attention to his hit songs and old school tracks. He's not a nostalgia act. He deserves all his awards, flowers, medals for this album and more lifetime achievement awards.

[m55]

This song deserves to get a Rhythmic, urban/R&B, hot AC and AC release. This song has so much potential to be massive. It's a global smash.

[m55]

Hope we get a music video from him soon.
If this song doesn't work out, I hope we still get singles from this era. The last couple of updates have been discouraging. I don't want to see this era fade like Hard to love.

future singles prediction: Stone Kold Freak, A-town Girl, Please U, I love u or coming Home Ft. Burna Boy. 
I hope there is another re-release to this era since he is going to be touring for a long time to support this era. 

[m55]

Deserves so much better right now. Same with Ruin. This deserves to be top 15 on pop radio right now. I feel like the competition of many song releases from last Friday affected the performance of this amazing track.

[eyeofthestorm]

Apr 21, 2024 7:37:54 GMT -5 m55 said:

Hope we get a music video from him soon.
If this song doesn't work out, I hope we still get singles from this era. The last couple of updates have been discouraging. I don't want to see this era fade like Hard to love.

future singles prediction: Stone Kold Freak, A-town Girl, Please U, I love u or coming Home Ft. Burna Boy. 
I hope there is another re-release to this era since he is going to be touring for a long time to support this era. 

Ugh I JUST realized this doesn't have a video! It definitely would've helped. It almost seems like they weren't expecting this to do anything at all anyway. It's gonna be one of those cases where here I am years later thinking of what could've been, ala Ciara's "Overdose" or Mariah's "Side Effects".

[m55]

^ It's a shame. I know what you mean. Hope this song makes a comeback soon.

And in addition, Usher's Ruin ft. Pheelz also didn't get enough promo either since it also has crossover potential. Ruin should also be top 5 on urban/R&B and Rhythmic right now. It's doing fine on urban but it deserves so much better too.


Do you feel Usher could have promoted Ruin and Kissing Strangers some more?

[eyeofthestorm]

Personally I like 'Strangers' more, but Ruin does seem like it has a lot of crossover potential. It's really perfect for going into the early summer. I hope they decide to make a push for it to pop too.

[m55]

Apr 25, 2024 18:16:45 GMT -5 eyeofthestorm said:

Personally I like 'Strangers' more, but Ruin does seem like it has a lot of crossover potential. It's really perfect for going into the early summer. I hope they decide to make a push for it to pop too.

That's very true. And hope Ruin keeps rising. Same with Kissing strangers. Ruin could reach within top 15-20 on pop easily. It took a while for me to understand how great this song is compared to Usher's other songs b/c it sounds different. 
I wish though there was a young R&B female singer to this song I.e (Sza, Muni Long, Tyla) to complete this track and Pheelz line was 1 minute instead of 10 seconds since he's the producer behind this cool track. 

[Jose Polica]

2 Adds at US Pop Radio.

[Deleted]

Good Good was a waste as the lead. That had all the advantage of his “comeback” buzz and more of the Super Bowl buzz as well. This could have done so much more in that position than GG imo.

[m55]

A new multiformat global hit song for Usher is needed right now. It's a shame that this song is done. This deserved way better.

There was no promotion for this track or Ruin. When some radio stations all of a sudden drop the song, it becomes discouraging to see this happen to one of the great legends of R&B music.

This song deserved to be in top 15-20 on this chart and performed way better on all the other charts. 
Ruin deserved to be a global hit too. 

[m55]

Apr 30, 2024 21:40:28 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

Good Good was a waste as the lead. That had all the advantage of his “comeback” buzz and more of the Super Bowl buzz as well. This could have done so much more in that position than GG imo.

He should have released a bigger single than Good Good 3-4 weeks before the superbowl; that would have given him a stronger buzz. It would have helped if he performed Good Good, ruin, this song and another crossover single (for a few seconds) on tv to help keep the era going at the superbowl. Everyone would have known he had a new CD out.  It's a shame that Ruin and Kissing strangers are done. 

 

Now it's time for Usher to release another single (better be a crossover single) and a music video/promo is needed.

[m55]

Time for a new single

[Ivy Leegue™]

Justice for Kissing Strangers, the best song on the album. It deserved better than this.

[m55]

May 7, 2024 18:21:48 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

Justice for Kissing Strangers, the best song on the album. It deserved better than this.

Exactly! This song (should have been top 10-top 15) and Ruin both deserved to succeed here.  Ruin deserved to chart on this format within top 15-25 at the least too.