Usher's first 8701 single began as a song for “Hustle Child”
Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement wrote "U Remind Me" with his sister Anita McCloud for his own group. L.A. Reid heard the demo and promised them Usher's first single.
"U Remind Me" was written by Philadelphia siblings Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement and Anita McCloud for Clement's group, Hustle Child. Their manager, Mark Pitts, was shopping the group's demo when Arista and LaFace executive L.A. Reid heard the song and identified it as a fit for Usher.
Clement discussed the decision with BMI in August 2001, while the song was still at No. 1. Reid guaranteed that it would lead Usher's next album. Clement agreed to surrender his own recording of it.
“It was tough to let the song go, because as an artist you get attached to your material. But Usher's an extreme talent, a superstar, so I gave it up to him. Fortunately, things worked out.”
— Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement, BMI interview, August 2001
Jam and Lewis join the production
Clement produced the final track with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. According to Songfacts, Usher's mother and manager, Jonnetta Patton, approached the Minneapolis duo, who rarely produced material they had not written themselves. The finished arrangement puts acoustic guitar and a light keyboard line beneath Usher's vocal.
The lyric reverses the premise of Usher's 1997 hit "You Make Me Wanna...". This time, the attraction stalls because a new woman reminds him too strongly of a former partner.
- Song
- U Remind Me
- Writers
- Edmund Clement · Anita McCloud
- Producers
- Eddie Hustle · Jimmy Jam · Terry Lewis
- Album
- 8701 · released August 7, 2001
- Hot 100
- No. 1 for four consecutive weeks
- First week at No. 1
- July 7, 2001
Four weeks at No. 1
Released as the lead US single from 8701, "U Remind Me" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated July 7, 2001 and remained there for four consecutive weeks. It was Usher's second chart-topper after "Nice & Slow" in 1998. "U Got It Bad" followed it to No. 1 later that year.
Dave Meyers directed the video. Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas of TLC plays the woman who stirs Usher's memory of an ex, while different versions of him move through the club setting.
At the 44th Grammy Awards in 2002, "U Remind Me" won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, giving Usher his first Grammy. Clement and McCloud received a writing credit on the song that had started on their own demo.
