Usher Warns Followers to Acknowledge His Influence  5/2/07

R&B superstar Usher has warned those following in his footsteps to stop ripping off his style of music without acknowledging his influence.

Usher's last album Confessions has proved hugely influential since its 2004 release, and the 28-year-old is all too aware people are copying his style.

He tells MTV News, "You got your artists who find their way through the circuit and are following and are not giving the respect where the respect is due.

"If you know (you're) following and biting, then, hey, give the respect. But if you're not, and you're creating your own thing, then you're good. You should just continue to find your own way.

"Listen, this is not a game out here, man. You can't come around here and think that you're really starting the game. Understand, when I came up in the game and I found a trail, I was cool.

"Bobby Brown went this way, Michael Jackson went this way, Marvin Gaye, he created his little profile and he held to it. I didn't step on those toes.

"What I did was find a way and my thing and created my thing. Now you have my thing being built. So I look up, and I'm like, 'OK, I see you all. I see you all in the videos. I see you moving, I get it, but pay the respect, man.'"