Usher is in the middle of a promotional run for his upcoming film, Hands of Stone, but he’s still finding time to get stuff done on the music side of things, too. The R&B star has revealed that his eighth full-length record, Hard II Love, will be released on September 16th through RCA Records.
Hard II Love was originally known to fans as Flawed for a while, but Usher spoke back in June to note that the title wasn’t final. The fifteen track album is now available for pre-order on digital outlets and includes instant downloads of the four songs released thus far: “Missin U,” “No Limit,” “Crash,” and “Champions.”
“No Limit” includes a guest appearance from rapper Young Thug and is the only feature confirmed as of now, but if Hard II Love follows in the footsteps of all of the recent Usher albums, then more features should be expected come September. “Champions” is the title track of Usher’s film, Hands of Stone, and the soundtrack to the movie released on August 26th.
Hands of Stone also premiered in theaters nationwide today. In it, Usher plays the role of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. Discussing the song, the pop star said that he wanted “Champions” to capture the relationship between the two boxers in the ring.
Despite Usher’s well known musical prowess, the singer has been in a number of films over the years, including Scary Movie 5, Muppets Most Wanted and In The Mix. As such, we’re excited to see him in Hands of Stone this weekend.