10-8 阿沙：激情四射

Usher¹: Let Him Burn

 

Usher Raymond was born October 14, 1978 and raised in Tennessee and Georgia. Usher began his singing at the age of 6 in a church choir² led by his mother.

 

After being spotted³ by a La Face Record executive at a talent show in Atlanta, it took no time for Usher Raymond's career to take off. The 14-year-old auditioned¹ for La Face co-founder L.A. Reid, who signed him to a recording⁵ contract. Raymond was introduced to the world simply as “Usher,” and released his debut⁶ album of the same name in 1994. The first single, Think of You, gained Usher notoriety² and reached gold status. From that initial exposure, Usher was approached to do other projects. In 1995, he recorded a national holiday jingle⁷³ for Coca-Cola. He also joined several top male R＆ B vocalists⁴ to form Black Men United for the single You Will Know. He also teamed with teen singing sensation⁵ Monica for a duet Let's Straighten It Out.

 

After graduating from high school, Usher released his sophomore⁸⁶ album, My Way, in 1997. In an attempt to display his maturity⁹ and songwriting abilities, Usher co-wrote six of the nine songs. The album's first single, You Make Me Wanna, re-established Usher as one of R＆ B's hottest artists, and also made him a crossover⁷ sensation; it topped the R＆ B charts for 11 weeks, hit number two pop, and eventually went double platinum¹⁰. Both of the follow-up singles, Nice ＆ Slow and My Way, also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R＆ B charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single. To tide fans over, he issued a concert recording titled Live in 1999. Usher returned with his third album, All About U, toward the end of 2000. His fourth album, 8701 (2001), moved him from a teen pop star to a sultry⁸ R＆ B singer. In early 2004, Arista released the single Yeah! By the time the Usher full-length Confessions¹¹ dropped later that March, Yeah! had hit the top of the Billboard¹² charts. The album itself was Usher's most mature work to date.

 

注释：

1. audition⁴ [C:5diFEn] vi. 试演（或试唱、试奏等）

2. notoriety [7nEtE5raiEti] n. 远扬的名声，名声远扬

3. jingle [5dViN^l] n.（广播或电视中的）广告短诗（或短歌）

4. vocalist [5vEukElist] n. 歌唱家，歌唱者

5. sensation [sen5seiFEn] n. 轰动一时的事件（或人物）

6. sophomore [5sCfEmC:] a. 二年级的，二年级学生的

7. crossover [5krCs7EuvE] a. 交叉的，横跨的

8. sultry [5sQltri] a.（人）易动感情的，热烈的

 

 

阿沙：激情四射

 

阿沙·雷蒙德出生于1978年10月14日，在田纳西州和佐治亚州长大。6岁时，阿沙在他妈妈主持的唱诗班里开始演唱。

在亚特兰大的一次才艺比赛上，阿沙被LaFace唱片公司的一个经理人看中，演艺事业随即开始起飞。14岁的阿沙在给LaFace创始人之一雷德试唱后，与该公司签了约。他被以简单的“阿沙”之名推出，并于1994年发行了第一张冠以相同名称的专辑。第一首单曲《想念你》给他带来了声誉并达到了黄金销量。从首次亮相开始，阿沙就被邀请参与其他活动。1995年，他为可口可乐录制了国庆节广告歌曲。他还与数个顶级节奏布鲁斯男歌手组成“黑人组合”，共同演唱单曲《你会知道》，与著名的少女歌手莫尼卡联手演唱了《让我们澄清》。

高中毕业后，阿沙于1997年推出了他的第二张专辑《我的方式》。为了表现自己的成熟和创作才华，阿沙参与了9首歌曲中6首的创作。专辑的第一首单曲《你让我想》再次使他成为节奏布鲁斯的热门歌手之一，而且使他成为跨领域的人物。这首单曲在节奏布鲁斯的排行榜上称霸11周，窜到流行音乐排行榜的第二名，最终达到了双白金销量。随后的两首单曲《优美而舒缓》和《我的方式》也达到了白金销量，前者当了8周节奏布鲁斯排行榜的冠军并成为他的第一首流行音乐排行榜冠军歌曲。1999年，为了使歌迷满意，他发行了一张演唱会唱片，取名《现场》。2000年底，他又回归录音棚，推出了第三张专辑《都是你》。他的第四张专辑《8701》（2001年发行）让他从一个青少年流行歌曲歌星转型为奔放的节奏布鲁斯歌手。2004年初，Arista唱片公司推出了他的单曲《是的！》。同年3月，阿沙完整版专辑《忏悔》得以发行，《是的！》成为公告牌排行榜榜首歌曲。该张专辑成为阿沙迄今为止最成熟的作品。

 

1 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

2 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

7 jingle   

n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵

参考例句：

• The key fell on the ground with a jingle.钥匙叮当落地。
• The knives and forks set up their regular jingle.刀叉发出常有的叮当声。

8 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

9 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

10 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

11 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。