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Artists will say that they rely on personal experiences to help create their music. In the case of Usher, many believed his fourth studio album Confessions bared his sins. The album details infidelity and hurting the woman he loves the most. As it turns out, many of the songs were actually inspired by Jermaine Dupri’s love triangles. 

Usher and Jermaine Dupri
Usher and Jermaine Dupri attend WE TV’s exclusive screening of “Power, Influence, & Hip Hop: The Remarkable Rise Of So So Def” 2019 | Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

Jermaine Dupri says “Confessions” was about his side baby

In “Confessions Part II,” Usher confesses to getting his mistress pregnant. The song is a continuation of part 1 of the song, which many felt was a true testament to an experience Usher went through. Though he denied it, many did not believe him. Jermaine Dupri, one of the writers and producers of the song, came forward later to confirm that the song was about his personal experience and not Usher’s.

Related: Singer Usher Once Blasted His Mom Over His Career: ‘You Destroyed My Life’

“Yeah pretty much, yeah my life,” Dupri confirmed to Vlad TV. “Typical story of a man…this is real life. I was in a relationship but the story in the song was still written so you guys would question it wasn’t verbatim to my story.”

Dupri explains that he changed some of the details in the song to make it more entertaining. “The bulk of the story was having a girl, meeting somebody else, and having a baby the other girl handing to tell her that I’m having a baby by someone I just met,” he said. “When Usher says ‘it’s the toughest thing I had to do in my life’ and it was…In real life, it wasn’t like I ever cheated on the girl. I had a girlfriend for a long time, we broke up, and I met somebody in the midst of it and that quick moment of me meeting the girl we had a baby and I went back to the girl.”

Many believed the song was about Usher and Chilli’s breakup

Usher and the TLC singer dated from 2001 to 2003. During their relationship, Chilli made appearances in Usher’s music videos, including for his hit single “U Got It Bad.” During a VH1 interview special, Chilli told producers that their split was not because of Usher’s alleged infidelity. “I never thought of him cheating, I don’t know…I didn’t expect anything like that from him because of how much we loved each other,” Huffington Post reports.

Related: Why Did Usher and Chilli From TLC Break Up?

However, she says she was heartbroken when she learned Usher began dating someone else when she assumed the two were on a break. “I kept hearing about it, then I went to him and I asked him and he admitted it. You know I just, I felt like a fool, I felt like everybody knew something and I didn’t, and I’m just now finding out,” she continued.

She also admitted in an interview that “Confessions” irritated her. “So people assumed that album was about us, but it was not,” she added. “And Usher and I weren’t oil and water. We broke up because, I guess, it was that time or whatever. He was that real love for me.”

“Confessions” became a huge hit

“Confessions” was released as the third single from the album of the same title. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it stayed for two weeks. “Confessions” became the album’s third consecutive top-charting single.

The album sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. Confessions became the second-best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the country. It came behind Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers. Within a year, the album sold 8 million copies.

Since its release, Confessions has been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Usher considers it to be one of his most personal albums behind Here I Stand.

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