To the people who read us: sorry it's been so long since a Throwback Thursday. And sorry it's restarting with Usher. But, man, remember Usher? And what happened to hiphop-r&b fusion? Kanye and T-Pain--or even, say, Pharrell and Snoop Dogg on Drop It Like It's Hot--just don't hit me like Usher and Lil Jon. There's something too fused in the former, something too cool. And it's not that those aren't great tracks, it's just that It's a fine line--one Timberlake and Timbaland finessed perfectly with Future Sex/Love Sounds--but that kind of awareness in collaboration is rare.

Usher was collaboration for the sake of entertainment. He was the all singing all dancing all acting triple threat. And now we've got Chris Brown? That's great, but it doesn't change the fact that he's younger than me and I'm probably just never going to think he's cooler than me. And I'm so young Usher's a throwback. But really: What happened to wool caps? What happened to dance routines? Choreography? Videos like movie musicals? Say what you will about his music: Usher could dance your socks off and still play the lead in a romantic comedy. Chris Brown is our Fred Astaire and Fred Astaire's cool too. But Usher's like Gene Kelly and I totally miss that.

I bet you had forgotten about the lamppost humping too. SHAME.