Usher sparked some controversy for choosing four of his own songs to play as he curated the Macy's 4th of July Firework display on Thursday.
He chose to play his songs "Euphoria," "Yeah!," "OMG" and David Guetta's "Without You" which he is featured on. He also picked songs by Rihanna, Jay-Z, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, Kanye West, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Sinatra.
Viewers took to Twitter to ponder if Usher was promoting himself more than celebrated the Fourth of July.
The New York Daily News notes one user wrote “How much $ did usher pay to get every song he ever recorded played in the NYCity firework mix tape #notmad #justcurious,” and another wrote “By the way...we're all those Usher songs appropriate for the Macy's July 4th Extravaganza from New York City? Maybe one song, not five!”
Others wrote:
Based on the enormous Twitter Backlash it doesn't look like #USHER won any fans hijacking the #Macys Fireworks show with 5k of his own songs
— Scott Levy (@FuelOnline) July 5, 2013
#macys Since when did Usher become the official soundtrack of the 4th of July?
— Emily Meredith (@EmilyMeredith80) July 5, 2013
Before the event, he told the Daily News, "Me curating, it's far more than me just showing up and allowing my name to be on a bill. I wanted to represent America. I wanted people to understand something more about me artistically.”
image: Instagram