Is ‘Boyfriend’ a diss track to Keke Palmer’s man? We got the scoop from Usher
Some said Usher’s music video featuring Keke Palmer was a petty response to her boyfriend’s criticism of her Las Vegas outfit. He says it was meant to be a “positive” spin on what happened.
The video's release in August ignited a slew of social media comments about Darius Jackson, the father of Palmer's son, and his criticism of her outfit choice when she attended Usher's Las Vegas residency in July. During Usher’s performance, he serenaded Palmer as they slowly danced together and the moment went viral.
"It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” Jackson wrote in his since-deleted tweet.
In a second tweet, after some backlash, he added, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
The following month, Usher released the song and the music video for "Boyfriend," in which Palmer makes a cheeky reference to her drama with Jackson. Some fans have described the song as "next level petty. "
In an interview with TODAY.com, Usher shared how the song and subsequent video actually came about.
"It was a song I had already," he says. "I didn’t write the song as a result of that one moment that happened. I had the record and we found something to do that would kind of be fun."
He adds that he worked on the song with producer Rico Love.
"We had this record, but we were trying to find something that I felt would be positive because it was such negativity that had nothing to do with why she was there. It had nothing to do with me or my efforts around serenading," he says.
Usher says he reached out to Palmer and asked if she would be the lead in the video.
"I think it could definitely shine a positive light," he says of his pitch to her, "and I think that that’s something that has been a testament of why I’ve been able to succeed in life. When there’s negative things being said, I do something positive. So this could be fun."
"It wasn’t too calculated," he adds.
Still, the music video caused quite a stir with many fans believing it to be a diss track about Jackson.
Lyrics in the song include, "Somebody said that your boyfriend’s looking for me, oh that’s cool, that’s cool. Well he should know I’m pretty easy to find, just look for me wherever he sees you.”
At the very end of the video, Palmer is on the phone and says, “I’m so tired.”
“I’m a mother ... after all,” she adds with a knowing wink.
Fans championed the video. “Checkmate," “mess” and “screaming” are among their responses.
“Did usher just say what I think he said?” one person wrote.
“They had the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever,” another wrote. “And they did it.”
Jackson has not publicly responded to the music video.
Palmer appeared on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna Sept. 25 and was asked whether her and Jackson are still together.
“I’m going to take a page out of Beyoncé’s book: Mind y’all’s business,” she responded.
Jenna also asked Palmer if she’s happy.
“Yes, life is good,” she answered. “I have nothing but gratitude, honestly. Seriously.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
