Usher's Album Sales Fury

R&B singer Usher is absolutely furious that his album sales have been lowered than his last.

According to the Rush & Molly from the New York Daily News, Usher is so upset that he is even considering the return of his mother Jonetta Patton as his manager. Last year, he shockingly dropped his mother in favor of Benny Medina, the man behind the careers of Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and formerly Tyra Banks.

He has reportedly blamed Medina for his album's failure, while Medina has assured him that the disappointing sales were because of the dying music industry. His blockbuster record, Confessions, sold a staggering 1.1 million copies in its debut week in 2004. Medina may have been right, but the case wasn't helped when, two weeks later, Lil' Wayne stunned the music industry when he sold 1 million in his debut week. Coldplay sold over 700,000 copies the next week. To date, Usher has only sold 741,000 copies of latest record Here I Stand, even though he had a #1 single with "Love In This Club". It's also been poorly reviewed, with many claiming a lack of growth between the two records (I call it boring, uninspiring, and formulaic).

"Usher was livid! He threatened to fire everyone.", an insider told the Daily News.

Another troubling sign of his career possibly fading is the BET Awards ratings. He opened this year's show with a terribly lackluster performance, which only brought in 5.8 million viewers. Beyonce's opener last year brought 6.3 million.

Another source told the Daily News, "People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother. Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready."

Reasons for why his mom was sacked have been subject to much rumor and speculation, with the lead reason being that she and Tameka Foster, his publicly unpopular wife, have not gotten along well. However, things have improved between the two since the birth of their son, Usher Raymond IV.

If Usher was smart, he would definitely take his mother back. His promotion has been weak at best, focused squarely on promoting his wife's image instead of his album. Plus, Benny Medina's methods are pretty suspect. He was allegedly fired by Tyra for inappropriately using his position as executive producer of her talk show to get more perks.

You know what they say, mother knows best.

UPDATE (AUGUST 7TH): Usher has fired his management team and rehired his mother. To see the follow-up to this post, click here