Usher On His Goals For '8701'

LA (AP) - Usher's not taking the release of his third studio album, 8701, in stores today, lightly. "U Remind Me," the album's first single, reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and is currently Number Five.

During a recent interview, the 22-year-old singer said that he hopes his latest effort supercedes the success of his 1997 release My Way, which has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA. "As those great legendary performers before me have shown me, you are really in competition with your last record every time," he said. "You're about as good as your last one. So, yeah, after selling 7 million records, touring, doing all the work that it took to make My Way what it is, I want to work just as hard, and hopefully, I can reach out a little bit further. Last time, I was nominated for a Grammy. I want to win a Grammy this year. I'm not leaving without a Grammy, you understand?"

Usher has also released to radio a remix of "U Remind Me" featuring Blu Cantrell and Method Man.