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The “conversation got heavy,” but this time we're not talking about a song that earned Usher the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration award at the 47th Grammy Awards in 2005. The 47-year-old father of four has recruited the help of his two teenage sons, Naviyd and Usher “Cinco,” to kickstart an Instagram content series titled Carversationsin which celebrity parents will hold candid conversations about teen social media use and the present-day pitfalls of being online, all from an unlikely setting: the car.
If you've ever had a heart-to-heart with someone while going 70 down a highway, hours into a multi-day roadtrip, you'll know exactly what we mean when we say there's something about staring straight ahead and not at the other person that helps people open up and ditch the defenses that are common to anyone — but especially teenage boys ages 18 and 17.
That being said, for the inaugural Carversations episode, Usher, Cinco, and Naviyd got buckled up in a minivan, which was quite an intentional form of transportation chosen by the parent.
“This van has a very significant purpose. When my kids were six and seven years old, we spent the majority of our time in a minivan. That was their vehicle. And in that car, we were introduced to some of the most incredible conversations,” Usher tells Rolling Stone. “There's a tenderness in a car that takes away all of the other things that you get distracted by. So I was like, 'I wanna go back to when I was younger and they were younger, and we just have a conversation. Let's share that with the world.'”
“You're from the Ice Age,” Naviyd, riding shotgun, says to his dad almost as soon as he starts the engine. “I know ya'll didn't have DMs or Instagram, so who would you DM? Who were your inspirations?”
Usher avoids naming names: “Anybody that I wanted to collaborate with. I used to literally sit in a car much smaller than this, wait for people to come out of a nightclub, and then sing for them in order for them to recognize my talent and hopefully want to sign me as an artist.”
For Navyid, it's Kaytranada, no questions asked.
The conversation, or should we say carversationsoon turns serious. Usher moves on to the topic of Instagram's Teen Accounts, with their automatic settings and age prediction technologies that prevent teens from skirting around the protective guardrails (“You do know that right? That you can't disable it?”). He tells his sons that the feature gives parents like him peace of mind from knowing that their kids aren't exposed to content they aren't ready for yet. Or the opinions of others, for that matter.
“I wouldn't want my kids to become depressed because people have something to say about them and they're just proud to share. You don't need those comments,” Usher says to us. “You don't need to even activate and utilize that, so there are many things [on Instagram] that can prevent you from having unwarranted anxiety.”
In the Carversations segment, Cinco chimes in to add that screen time limits also exist, which Usher, who used to turn the boys' screens off after 11 pm, is a big fan of: “I want you to actively engage in the world that you're in,” he tells his passengers du jour. “Read a book!”
The R&B legend, who released his first album when he was just 15 years old, also strives to expose his teens to “analog” ways of doing things: hence the candid chat in the car, no phones in sight.
“Not talking through captions and emojis — that allows us to really connect,” Usher shares during our interview. ”Carversations is going to instigate something that I think is important, [something] that we are slowly but surely allowing to become obsolete. Like talking, social engagement in person, and physical connection.”
And one way teens love to connect? Through humor, so it's safe to say Usher's Carversations feature no shortage of that (6-7 jokes are cracked; Usher and Naviyd make fun of their dad for having a “Close Friends” and not inviting them into this inner circle; Usher drops a freestyle beat to get his oldest son, who released his first single, “Smooth Blues,” earlier this year, to improvise something on the fly; and a friendly debate over who in the car has the highest screen time ensues).
“Is there something that I should be doing differently on my Instagram?” Usher asks his captive audience.
Naviyd has an immediate answer: “You should be mysterious. You don't want to post too much.”
If there's one thing that Usher's latest Instagram engagement makes clear, it's that he's a devoted (and worried) father. His daily routine with the kids, including the little ones, backs this up. Usher shares with Rolling Stone that he likes to workout with Naviyd in the mornings, either by going on the treadmill or doing some warmups before his basketball practice. In the before times, Usher would drive him to school, but things are different now. ”Now that he's 18 and he just got his car, I don't get my morning fix of conversations,” he says. ”I've acquiesced and allowed him to have that.”
On any given day in the Raymond household, family members like the kids' grandparents come and go, and Usher has come to love the camaraderie of it all. ”Never thought that my leisure space would have become a daycare, but I'm cool with it,” he adds, laughing.
“Book time is a major part at the end of the day. The kids go to bed at seven o'clock on the dot, and the bigs go to bed around 11 or 12 o'clock. So I'm checking in with them, making certain that they've done their homework, did all their applications. Usher's now starting to get ready for college. He's trying to show interest, and I'm like, 'Okay, well did you do this? Did you prepare?'” Usher (the Fourth) says. “Same thing with Naviyd. If he's upstairs producing, I'm like, 'All right, can I come in and listen?' And he's like, 'No. You can't.”
With gifting season coming up quickly, Usher made sure to point out some invaluable suggestions for parents who are currently racking their brains on thoughtful gifts for teenage sons.
“I like game night. While I tolerate sitting and watching them play video games, and I've been trying my hardest to figure out how to get better at them, I think it's important to still have these analog things, man. I bought my son golf clubs, and one of my sons is really into fashion, so we'll go to his favorite designer and I'll find something he really likes,” Usher offers. “But the smaller things are the things that are really fun for me. I love Connect Four and Monopoly Deal. That would always be my suggestion, because what you're really [getting] is intimacy.”
He jumps in to recommend one last gift idea: “I tell you, one really great thing to get 'em is Ralph's Club New York. It's a gift that will last for the next year or maybe two, depending on how much they're using.”
Usher, of course, is talking about the Ralph Lauren fragrance, Ralph's Club New York Eau de Parfum, that he became the face of just a few months ago, punctuated by the kinds of notes — blackcurrant, bourbon vanilla, green mandarin — that not only exude instant, urbanite sophistication sure to be appreciated by every refined young gentleman but will also effortlessly layer over (and mask) something that every parent of teens is all too familiar with.
BO.
Usher's Gift Guide for Teenage Boys
usher's go-to scent
Ralph's Club New York Eau de Parfum
make it analogous
Connect 4 Game
good ol' fashioned fun
Monopoly Deal Game
for the future pro
Callaway 2026 XR 13-Piece Complete Golf Set
some rhythm and blues
Usher 'Confessions' 20th Anniversary Vinyl
for your mini-me
Funko Pop! Usher Collectable Vinyl Figure
