Usher Taps Pheelz for Emotional Afrobeats & Amapiano-Infused Earworm “Ruin”
Piggybacking off a successful Las Vegas residency, and the fresh momentum as headliner for this year’s Super Bowl, Usher has dropped “Ruin,” the latest single from his upcoming ninth studio album Coming Home, out on February 9.
With an accompanying music video, the multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning superstar features Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer Pheelz, who also has the producer credits for the song.
The song is both melancholic and optimistic, a reflection on a claustrophobic heartbreak from Usher’s point of view. Pheelz takes over in the second verse, a more stripped-down vocal input that balances Usher’s emotional largesse.
The video – which made clear it was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro – is directed by longtime collaborator David Meyers. It’s an extravagant show of Usher whirling around a beautifully scenic house with different women he has dated, the house an allegory for love, and feeling a contamination that led to all their romantic demise.
The sobering line, “You ruined me for everybody,” in the pre-chorus carbon-dates Usher’s relationship ruin to the central partner he’s singing about. Elsewhere, Pheelz appears well-lit, party cut, and owns the scene competently. Above all, the video is a drifting emotional collage of Usher trying to be whole again.
“Ruin” follows the success of "Good Good" featuring 21 Savage and Summer Walker, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales Chart upon release and led all three of Billboard's major R&B/hip-hop airplay charts: Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Adult R&B Airplay — his eighth No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay chart.