Music always seems to mark time for me. Good music. If the music is good enough, I can remember everything that happened around that period of time. August 2001; I was entering my freshman year of high school and everything seemed perfect. Little did I know that this would be a time period to be greatly appreciated. Less than a month later, on September 11 2001, the whole world would change. The soundtrack to this part of my life would be Usher Terry Raymond IV’s third solo album, 8701–a double entendre for Usher’s musical start and the album’s release date, August 7, 2001. The musical brilliance behind this soon-to-be classic album was orchestrated by Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, P.Diddy, Bryan Michael Cox and the legendary Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The album debuted at number four on Billboard and went on to sell over 8 million records worldwide. 10 years and millions of records later, Usher continues to dominate his field of R&B. Check out some of my favorite cuts from the album inside. (more…)