A man in full

It’s late afternoon and Usher Raymond is on the phone in his Indianapolis hotel room, getting set for another show on his current concert tour. The R&B superstar is riding high, having sold 11 million albums, launched a promising film career and now getting ready to unveil his own record label, Us Records.

What's more, he seems to be pulling off a feat few have managed: With the success of his most recent album, 8701, Usher has weathered the difficult transition from child/teen star into young adulthood, all the while growing his career and avoiding the cliched breakdowns and burn-outs that so often come with the territory.

Usher is reflecting on his steady climb toward superstardom, when almost out of nowhere, he drops this shocking revelation:

"Bishop Eddie Long is my father," he says, referring to the charismatic leader of the Lithonia-based mega-congregation, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

It's sure to be news to the folks back home in Atlanta, a major scandal in the making. But Usher clarifies. "I mean, I know I have a biological father," says the 23-year-old Chattanooga native. "But Bishop Eddie Long has been every bit my father since I've been here in Atlanta. He's the one who has given me a lot of support and courage in believing in myself and being able to step out on faith as a man."

In fact, Usher has had a couple fathers on the road from boy to man. To varying degrees, Antonio "L.A." Reid, Sean Combs and Jermaine Dupri also have provided Usher with support and guidance. That's how it is. When biological fathers aren't around, those who succeed do so by finding what they need elsewhere.

"My father wasn't really there for me when I was a child," he says, without a hint of bitterness. "We don't really kick it now. I don't ignore his phone calls, but we don't really have a rapport or a relationship or really anything to talk about. I'm respectful, because he is the guy who supplied the sperm for my mother, so I guess he is sort of entitled to a conversation every now and then. But it's nothing too deep at all. It's almost like he was a donor. But that's the case with a lot of success stories."

In conversation, it's clear Usher is still grappling with what it means to be a man. But he's on the right track, at least. "Look at how serious I am. Grown men are serious," he says. "A lot of responsibilities fall on their shoulders and I have no problems with that. That's just a part of who I am. I am a 100 percent kind of guy."

For Usher, 100 percent now means taking greater control of his career, and having the confidence to believe he knows what's best for it. For the first time on any of his records, for instance, the singer serves as executive producer of 8701. "I might as well start dictating some things and making some rules for myself," he says, "because I do know what sounds good, what to look for in terms of entertainment. And at the end of the day, I'm the person who has to sell it. I have watched so many people benefit from my labor to the point that no one is going to get the best of me anymore."

Artists Usher's age -- or any age, for that matter -- don't just get handed control of their career. They have to establish themselves as good decision makes, with proven results. For Usher, that all started at age 11, back in Chattanooga, when he communicated to his mother that music is what he wanted to do with his life. Hearing his determination, Usher's mom and manager, Jonetta Patton, moved the family to Atlanta, where friends of L.A. Reid, then head of LaFace Records, discovered Usher at a talent show. He auditioned for Reid, who was impressed enough with the kid's talent to set him up with Sean Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, who supervised Usher's first record.

The Usher-Combs collaboration yielded the 14-year-old's 1994 self-titled debut, which sold a respectable half-million copies and yielded the hit, "Think of You." Looking to build on the momentum, Usher went back to begin a second album he hoped would elevate him to the upper reaches of pop stardom. But then the unthinkable happened. As puberty hit, Usher lost his familiar singing voice and everything he'd worked for threatened to unravel.

"I was afraid," he says. "I prayed a lot, as I do now, and I just hoped that it would get better. I knew I had talent, but losing my voice made me feel like it was all over." The ordeal not only taught him about his own sense of strength and perseverance, it gave him a quick lesson on who his friends were in the record business.

"I learned about how wicked people could be," he says. "How simple-minded and easily influenced they could be. It's like when you're up, you're up but when you're down, you're by yourself. But it really taught me a lot about life and it prepared me for the next level."

The next level began when Usher's voice settled into maturity. It was then that he found a second mentor to guide him. In 1997, producer/artist/label head Jermaine Dupri helped Usher solidify his style as a sexy, soulful R&B crooner. Their collaboration on Usher's second release, My Way, yielded sales of 7 million. Then it was official -- Usher Raymond had become a big, big star. You could see him in the movies (The Faculty, Light It Up, She's All That) and on television ("Moesha," "Days of Our Lives"), hitting the talk shows and stuck in heavy rotation on radio and video shows.

"I learned so much from Jermaine and Puffy," Usher says. "When I first started in this business, I was more or less hiding behind makeup, hiding behind curtains and clothing. But I grew to realize that it's not about that. It's about what's real. That's what people want and that's what I got. That's why I named my album 8701. 1987's the year my interest in entertainment was born and it's the date that my album was released [Aug. 7, 2001]. The album itself is a combination of everything I've learned so far. I really wanted people to know more about me."

Indeed, with 8701, Usher makes his most sophisticated statement yet. With his silky voice, blossoming writing skills and producing abilities, he delivers a collection that translates the pain and triumph he's experienced into carefully crafted club hits and dance tracks ("U-Turn," "I Don't Know"), cool and polished R&B/pop grooves ("U Remind Me," "U Don't Have to Call") and slow jams ("Twork It Out," "U Got it Bad").

If Usher Raymond has truly grown into a man, it certainly can't be measured by the evidence of his massive success -- his bank account, his Alpharetta estate, his Boxster Porche and Lincoln Navigator. The greatest test may be whether the young star practices what he preaches in his lovelorn ballads -- whether he can handle a real life, grown-up relationship.

It's well known these days that Usher has taken up with Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas, an older woman and single mother who also happens to be part of one of the most popular -- and publicly scrutinized -- groups in the world, TLC. According to Usher, their relationship began a year-and-a-half ago as little more than a casual dinner here and there, and some hanging out from time to time. But when it blossomed into something else, they tried to keep the love affair private, trying to avoid the equation many celebs know too well: love + media + public attention = disaster.

Over time, though, the couple learned to nurture love under the, at times, unrelenting heat of the public spotlight. "It's been difficult and it's going to get worse," he says. "I'm cautious about it, but I don't mind people knowing who I'm with, because it means something to me. It's just not a hit-'em/quit-'em type of deal. It's a very special relationship."

When Chilli's groupmate Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes was killed in a car crash earlier this year, Usher says he just tried be at his girlfriend's side and lend all the support he could. "Sometimes," he says, "she'll hear a song and I'll see her start to well up with tears. I just go over and give her a big hug and a kiss and tell her it will be OK. Not just in this situation, but in any relationship, you have to be supportive in many ways and I'm going to continue to be. Even if we weren't in a relationship, I would still support her. She's one of my best friends. She's my Lil' Big Mama."

Like any young man coming to grips with adulthood, Usher clearly likes seeing himself in these new terms. "I think I was blessed to be a blessing, you know?" he says.

As Usher hangs up the phone, it's time to head for sound check. This night, like most others of late, Usher must once again translate his real-life maturation into a marketable commodity -- a full-grown compassionate loverman who will sing and dance his way into the hearts of his fans. So far, so good.

Usher performs Sun., July 14, at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, 2002 Lakewood Way. Nas, Faith Evans and Mr. Cheeks open. 7 p.m. $24.50-$53.50. 404-443-5090. www. ticketmaster.com.