Primarily an R&B album, Confessions showcases Usher as a crooner through a mixture of ballads and up-tempos, incorporating musical genres of dance-pop, hip hop, and crunk.

To boost sales amid threats of bootlegging, the special edition for the album was issued, in which includes the single, "My Boo" (a duet with Alicia Keys).

The album features productions by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Just Blaze, Usher's brother James Lackey, Dre and Vidal, among others.

For instance, "Burn" was built around the winding down of Usher's two-year relationship with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas from American R&B-Hip hop girl group TLC.

Andre "Dre" Harris and Vidal Davis listened to 8701 and felt that "Usher really needs to sing hard and let people know his vocal ability".

[6] With efforts focused on the record to demonstrate his vocal ability to listeners, songs such as "Superstar" and "Follow Me" exhibited Usher in a type of "crooner mode".

Usher and Arista held advance listenings for the album, a few months before its actual release; he also appeared on TV guestings to promote Confessions.

[9] With strategies to boost the album's sales albeit threats of stealing music in the internet, Usher and his management readied a follow-up release of Confessions with an additional marketing blitz.

[17] The idea was considered "musically driven" after Zomba, who absorbed Arista, management was excited about "My Boo", a song that was recorded for the original version of the album but failed to meet deadline.

[17] However, it actually began when American R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys, who is featured on the track, "brought in that the talk of repackaging started".

[18] While they knew of other artists releasing special editions of their albums, the label felt that Confessions had the edge because of its previous success and its physical changes, including new cover art, an expanded CD booklet, a pullout poster and a letter to fans from Usher.

[25] He then sang "That's What It's Made For", following on with the song "Bad Girl", where Usher was dressed up in a lavender suit and came out in a chrome chair.

[26] After Usher and his label held a few listening parties for the album,[27] controversies spread about the mistress-impregnating concept of "Confessions Part II".

[29] Amidst widespread rumors, Usher stated, "People assume things, because as I said, I pull from my personal experiences to make my music.

"[27] In early 2006, Dupri revealed that the story behind the album is his: "... me cheating on my steady girlfriend, having a baby with that other woman and having to confess to everything that happened to my main girl.

"[33] Laura Checkoway of Vibe said that, "Though Confessions doesn't bring Usher all the way to the artistic maturity one might hope for, tracking this star's progression definitely has its satisfactions.

"[41] Q magazine observed "addictive R&B hooks and all-dancin', all-lovin' subject matter boosted with hot production tweaks.

"[38] Amy Linden of The Village Voice commented that "Usher's (alleged) character flaws are easily forgiven, though, because he can sing his cheating ass off," and concluded, "Like 2002's big-selling but underrated 8701, Confessions is a top-of-the-line pop-soul showcase that ... manages to be commercially savvy without coming off as too desperate.

'Truth Hurts,' a seemingly innocent (if plaintive) 1970s throwback, turns nasty when the narrator suddenly reveals that the first two verses were full of lies.

[44]In a mixed review, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian criticized its "production gloss" and said that, although Usher's "fluid delivery" redeems weak tracks, there are only two "great songs"—"Yeah!"

[32] The Washington Post's Elizabeth Mendez Berry called Confessions "Usher's strongest recording to date" but found the more sexual songs mundane.

[45] Robert Christgau from The Village Voice cited "Confessions Part II" and "Bad Girl" as "choice cuts",[46] indicating "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money".

At the 47th Grammy Awards, he was nominated for eight categories and won three: Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for "My Boo") and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Yeah!").

[56] Its early, and successive, progress on the chart was said to be partly sustained by its strong single releases and plenty of press appearances and promotions.

[79] Cox had been producing records for several American artists, including Alicia Keys, B2K, Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child, among others, but he considered "Burn" as his crowning moment, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations.

"[84] Billboard pointed out how most of the secrets revealed and storytelling in the album was inspired by Jermaine Dupri's situation, but they also noted Usher's marketing and "dalliances outside of his public relationship with TLC's Chilli that provided the material for Confessions".

The writer praised Usher's commercial power during the Confessions era, as he would influence future pop stars: "Even if you didn't listen to R&B, you knew this album.

And if you did listen to R&B, this was the blueprint for all your favorite stars to come: Drake, Justin Bieber, Miguel, Chris Brown and Omarion have all cited Usher's influence.

And though Beyoncé spoke about Thriller as the touchstone for her career-defining self-titled release in 2013, the way the lyrics tease revelations about her personal life with her husband, both good and bad, feels more indebted to Confessions than anything Michael Jackson wrote.

Later albums such as Beyoncé's Lemonade, which was fueled by infidelity and divorce rumors with her rapper husband Jay-Z, relationship rumors around Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer, and Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next coming off the heels of her public break up with comedian Pete Davidson were used as examples of how Usher's Confessions brought "the relationship between the gossip pages and the album charts... stronger than before".