Usher
As yet untitled, due spring

What’s the Deal: “There’s a lack of substance in music right now,” says R&B hitmaker Usher. But his fifth album has the cure: positive-message songs, like the pro-gentlemen “Chivalry,” and “Here I Stand,” about “the valor of a man.”

Why We’re Excited: Planned collaborators include Jay-Z, Ludacris, Beyoncé and T-Pain. “I am the consummate entertainer,” Usher says. “I’m going around the globe to work with the greatest.”

Behind the Music: Married, with a lil’ Usher on the way, the bedroom bandit insists he’s changed: “I’m stepping away from the out-all-night, find-a-woman-and-leave-when-it’s-through type of dude. You can only spend so much time in the club, you dig?”