Yeah! (Usher song)

2004 single by Usher

"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher featuring American rappers Lil Jon (who also produced the song) and Ludacris. The song is written by the featured artists alongside Sean Garrett, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Robert McDowell, and LRoc. The song incorporates crunk and R&B—which Lil Jon coined as crunk&B—in the song's production. The song was released as the lead single from Usher's fourth studio album Confessions (2004) on January 10, 2004, subsequently topping the year end chart on the Hot 100. It was thirteen times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song received a similar response in other countries, topping in other twelve charts worldwide. It was certified platinum in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Norway, and received a two times platinum certification in New Zealand. The song peaked in the top 10 in several year end charts. An accompanying music video, directed by Mr. X, shows the artists performing choreography in a club in front of blue laser beams. "Yeah!" won a Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, while being nominated for Record of the Year. The song ranked second on the Billboard Hot 100 2000–2009 Decade end chart. As of February 2024, the song has sold over 13 million copies in the U. S.

In late 2003, Usher submitted his fourth studio album, Confessions (2004), to his record label Arista Records. However, when the singer and the company's then president L. A. Reid listened to the songs, Reid felt the album lacked a song that had the potential to be released as the album's lead single. In light of this, Usher was told to record a few more tracks, and so he enlisted American rapper producer Lil Jon to aid in musical production. Lil Jon recalled, "He [Usher] needed a single. They had 'Burn', 'Burn' was hot, but they needed that first powerful monster. That's when I came in." Several months prior to Lil Jon's involvement in the production of Confessions, he was commissioned by Jive Records to produce fifteen tracks for rapper Mystikal. The rapper would only select two tracks, which provided Lil Jon the opportunity to give leftover songs to other record labels. Without Lil Jon's knowledge, Jive Records gave one of the leftover tracks to hip hop artist Petey Pablo which would eventually become "Freak a Leek". However, Lil Jon, assuming that the song had not been used, gave the production to Usher, resulting in a rough version of "Yeah!". Eventually realizing the mistake after Pablo played "Freek a leek" to Lil Jon, the latter insisted on producing more tracks for Pablo; however, Pablo did not give up the song, due to the fact that it was already recorded and had been getting responses from Southern radio. Lil Jon commented, "With so much invested, Jive wouldn't give up the cut." Lil Jon jumped back in the studio and created an equally catchy replacement track. Lil Jon, who is also a DJ, then decided to leak the record to DJs across the country after the record companies shut down for Christmas break. By the time they got back to business in January, the record already had thousands of radio plays with no label involvement. Usher still opted to go with "Burn" as the lead single as a music video was already planned, however, the responses to "Yeah!" were overwhelmingly favorable, LaFace Records sent "Yeah!" to US contemporary hit radio on February 7, 2004. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a CD single, containing the album and instrumental version of the song, and two additional tracks from the album, "Red Light" (also produced by Lil Jon) and "Sweet Lies".|format=Ogg
"Yeah!" combines the genres of crunk and R&B genres, to form Crunk&B, which Lil Jon described as "R&B songs that get you crunk, make you wanna wild out".

"Yeah!" received widespread critical acclaim from many music critics, being lauded for its production. Jem Aswad of Entertainment Weekly called it "irresistibly crunked out", adding, "the ensuing track glides smoothly between club friendly hip hop soul and ballads." Laura Sinagra of Rolling Stone commented that the song "creates sensual panic by combining Usher's jumpy attacks with Jon's sublime, frayed beats." Jon Caramanica of Blender noted that "Yeah!" is the first song to mix "mainstream R&B and menacing Southern crunk." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said that the song has brought Usher to a "whole new level of crunk." Andy Kellman of Allmusic described the song as a "crunk meets R&B foundation" which features an "instantly addictive eight note keyboard vamp". He added that the song is "so absorbing that Ludacris' 1500th guest verse floats by with little notice." Steve Jones of USA Today referred to "Yeah!" as a "club rattling" song from a combination of "Atlanta's vibrant music scene", Lil Jon's "insistent beats" and Ludacris' "racy rhymes". Robert Hilburn of Los Angeles Times described "Yeah!" as a "raucous tale of dance floor seduction" which pop musician Michael Jackson would have produced in 2004, if he "still had the old Thriller magic". Usher himself also garnered praise for the song; Aswad called it the "grittiest song" Usher had sung and one that "reveals his newfound maturity". At the 2005 Soul Train Music Awards, "Yeah!" was nominated for best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut. "Yeah!" continues to be praised as one of Usher's finest songs. In 2016, Complex ranked the song number 11 on their list of the 25 greatest Usher songs, and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number one on their list of the 10 greatest Usher songs.

Mr. X, formerly Little X, had previously directed videos for Usher's singles "U Don't Have to Call" and "U Got It Bad". Mr. X said that the song reminded him of laser beams. Usher and Mr. X combined ideas to create a dance video for "Yeah!". The development was handled by how Usher wanted to be portrayed in the video, particularly showcasing his dance moves. The music video was filmed in a vacant art gallery in Los Angeles over two days. When the shooting started, Mr. X recalled Michael Jackson's "low tech" and "laser flashing" 1979 "Rock with You" video, and used it as a reference. At the 2005 Soul Train Music Awards, the video was nominated for the Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video.