I'm not in competition with anyone but myself,' he says. 'As friends we just play with each other. 'I think people may make something over a statement I made not long ago on MTV where I called Justin a, but it was a joke,' Usher says. Yet Usher insists there's no ill will between him and the onetime 'N Sync member. It's been suggested that the two are less-than-friendly rivals, especially after Timberlake was anointed by Rolling Stone as 'the new King of Pop.' Usher's desire for Jackson's abdicated throne has always been apparent. Which may explain why he's downright diplomatic when discussing Justin Timberlake. I'm not looking for that bad-boy image, I'm not a person who goes out looking for trouble.' Magazines don't normally put a lot of males on their covers unless they have drama associated with their career. Many assumed the song, which Usher co-wrote with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox, was all but ripped from his life and loves, but Usher maintains that's not the case. Most discussed was 'Confessions Part II,' about a man telling his girlfriend that another woman is pregnant with his child.

It's not the goody-two-shoes guy who seemed like he wouldn't get into the things discussed on this album. For him to be more open on this album about what's going on in his life made him that much more interesting,' Conway said. 'The good boy, all-American boy thing got boring.

Usher my confessions album