Usher has a reputation for being a smooth talker. He's built an entire career on it, from his music to his effortless dance moves onstage. The R&B icon learned that he isn't the only one in the family who has game, however. He took to Instagram on April 24 to reveal that his son, Naviyd, snatched his phone so that he could slide in the DMs of his current favorite artist: PinkPantheress. The revelation would have been funny on its own, but Usher decided to document the entire incident with screenshots and quotes.
Usher recounted his confusion upon realizing he had a DM interaction with someone he didn't know. "So, a week or so ago my son, Naviyd, stole my phone so he could dm his favorite artist @pinkpantheress," he wrote. "Now I just so happened to check my DMs earlier this past week and saw a message exchange from someone with a Powerpuff girl as their profile pic. So I’m like the hell is this." The R&B singer then realized what happened when he clicked on the pic. "I open it and I’m like oh this boy done DMd this girl from my damn phone," he added.
You can scroll through Naviyd's entire DM conversation below. The highlight is undoubtedly the message where Naviyd, 15, claims to have exposed his dad to Pantheress' music. "I put him onto masterpieces," he wrote with a salute emoji.
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Usher's Son Eventually Met PinkPantheress
Usher reached out to PinkPantheress to apologize, but the pop star took it in stride. "Don’t apologize," she responded. "Happy to have this interaction. I’d love to host y’all at the next show." Usher pretended that he was going to prevent his son from going to the show “because he did the MOST just to connect with her on my account," but he relented. Naviyd even got a chance to meet PinkPantheress and take photos with her backstage. The DM long shot worked out!
Usher and PinkPantheress have not officially collaborated on a song, but they've been the recipient of several viral mashups on TikTok. The most popular mashup combines Usher's "Burn" with Pantheress' single "Just for Me." Usher has also praised the current generation of R&B stars. "I’m very happy that there’s a new installation of R&B artists who care to be authentic to what they are creating, inspired by artists of the past," he told Billboard. "Everybody who has ever said to me that R&B is dead sounds crazy."
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