“At this juncture of my life, I’m thinking legacy,” Usher Raymond IV, the superstar entertainer, says as he sits back in a refurbished Detroit train station. Now 47, Usher is looking to follow in the footsteps of Motown founder Berry Gordy and develop the next generation of talent. “So many people are engulfed with this idea of being the king. I’m more interested in building a kingdom.”
In 1999, just five years into his career, the then-20-year-old singer made the biggest investment of his life by founding a nonprofit to serve kids from broken homes. More than 25 years later, this move is yielding a major return: a $1 million collaboration with Detroit rapper Big Sean to launch Detroit’s first entertainment innovation hub.