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Looking 4 Myself

2012 album by Usher

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ1131465 ↗
Source-derived summary

Looking 4 Myself is the seventh studio album by American singer Usher. Released on June 8, 2012, by RCA Records, it is his first album for RCA after the October 2011 merger of the Jive Records group that also included his label, LaFace Records; which resulted in both labels being consolidated into the RCA label group. Many producers worked on the songs, and the album features appearances from Luke Steele and ASAP Rocky. Inspired by the electronic duo Empire of the Sun and listening to music originating from several locations, Usher intended the album to contain a more experimental sound, that remained relevant to the music of its time. Defined as "revolutionary pop" by the singer, critics noted that Looking 4 Myself is a dance-pop and R&B album that incorporates the genres pop, hip hop, electronic, Europop, and dubstep. Critic Barry Walters has noted how elements of some of its R&B songs were inspired by the emerging alternative R&B genre.

The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 128,000 copies in its first week, becoming Usher's fourth number one album in the country. As of October 2014, Looking 4 Myself has sold 504,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Worldwide, it attained top-ten positions in over eight other countries including Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Looking 4 Myself was supported by five singles: "Climax", "Scream", "Lemme See" featuring Rick Ross, "Numb", and "Dive".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Looking 4 Myself” as 2012 album by Usher. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2012, 2011, 2014—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2012-06-08. The account is most persuasive where Looking, Myself and album can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2012 album by Usher. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1131465. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2011 and 2014.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Looking 4 Myself”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Looking 4 Myself primary sources, Looking 4 Myself archive and Looking research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Looking 4 Myself”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Looking 4 Myself” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.