During his explosive Super Bowl Halftime Show, Usher yelled, “I turned the world (in)to the A.” On Valentine’s Day, the Atlanta native returned to his hometown to receive several honors for his performance.
He appeared at a ceremony in South West, Atlanta where he received the city of Atlanta’s highest honor Phoenix Award and a star on the Black Music & Entertainment Walk Of Fame. Mayor Andre Dickens, L.A. Reid, and several notable political figures were present.
With his acceptance speech, Usher shared why it was important for him to represent Atlanta.
“We had a vision in Las Vegas,” Usher said. “Let’s just sit right here, let’s not give Jay [Z] no other options. And we set there until that moment happened. That wasn’t just for the celebration of what was happening in Las Vegas. That was celebrating the Atlanta culture if you saw my show. Every time I’m on stage, I represent the A. It was a very deliberate decision to stay there. Because I felt like the keys to that city, led to the recognition of this city for the rest of the world.”
Usher made sure that Atlanta culture was well-represented as over 200 million people watched the Super Bowl. He highlighted several aspects of the city’s culture that included skating, crunk music, HBCU culture, and Atlanta dances.
After receiving the Phoenix Award and star on BME Walk Of Fame, Usher made a visit to Clark Atlanta University where he received more honors. The city of Atlanta named Feb. 14 “Usher Raymond Appreciation Day” and
Usher was presented at Clark Atlanta with a plethora of awards and honors from the state of Georgia and local organizations including the city of Atlanta naming Feb. 14 as “Usher Raymond Appreciation Day” in Fulton County. And Amazon presented a $25,000 donation to Usher’s New Look Foundation.
He wrapped the day with a private listening party for his new album, “Coming Home.” The event included guests such as Mayor Dickens, L.A. Reid, Killer Mike, T.I., Ludacris, Nelly, and Ashanti.
“A-town forever down,” Usher said at the listening event. “The measure of success is not how much money you get or the accolades, it’s if you can celebrate with the people you started with. That’s true success. We’re going to make Atlanta everything that it is, that it was intended to be, and that it will continue to be throughout history. That’s when I was on the Super Bowl stage I said, ‘I turned the world to the A.”
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