Currently, Usher is in the midst of his residency at Park MGM’s Dolby Live in Las Vegas. During his Sunday performance (Sept. 4), he decided to surprise the attendees by bringing out Tevin Campbell for a performance of his hit single “Can We Talk.” As previously reported by REVOLT, Campbell recently revealed that “Can We Talk” was originally supposed to go to Usher:
“Well, that’s true. That’s actually true, L.A. [Reid] did want [Usher] to record it, but Babyface wanted me to do it and they had a big fight over that.”
Usher further confirmed the claims in a quote revealed by HotNewHipHop:
“So, L.A. Reid wanted Babyface to work on me and they were going through, you know, a lot of drama at the time … They were kinda severing their ties … he got mad…And he built an entire album for me, and he gave the whole album to somebody else…Tevin Campbell!”
“Can We Talk” was originally released in 1993 as the lead single for Campbell’s sophomore LP I’m Ready. The album was Campbell’s best-selling to date, earning the Texas vocalist a double platinum certification.
During a recent appearance on the “PEOPLE Every Day” podcast, Campbell opened up about both his sexuality and the perception of his identity during his youth:
“I didn’t hide anything about me. I didn’t try to act a certain way or anything. You just couldn’t be [gay] back then … Being around people who were like me, LGBTQ+ people that were living normal lives and had partners, I had never seen that. That was a great time in my life … There are a lot of kids, especially young Black boys that need to see representation. They’re not being taught to love themselves because of who they are.”
Check out some footage of Campbell’s performance during Usher‘s concert below.