Babyface co-created the track and wanted Campbell, but Reid fought him for the song to go to Usher. Babyface won the battle and it became a hit.
It has gone down in music history as one of his greatest hits, but “Can We Talk” almost slipped through Tevin Campbell’s fingers. The R&B legend found fame back in the 1990s and for decades, Campbell has been performing his classics for fans worldwide. He has worked with some of the top producers, songwriters, and singers in the business, and during his chat with the State of Black Music Podcast, he revealed that “Can We Talk” was thisclose to being Usher’s song.
There have been rumors about the 1993 track creating a bit of heat behind the scenes, and Campbell confirmed the longstanding gossip.
“Well, that’s true,” Campbell said. “That’s actually true, L.A. did want [Usher] to record it but Babyface wanted me to do it and they had a big fight over that.” There have been disputes over the validity of dates and timelines, but years ago, Usher also confirmed that this indeed occurred.
“So, LA Reid wanted Babyface to work on me and they were going through, you know, a lot of drama at the time,” he said at the time. “They were kinda severing their ties … he got mad…And he built an entire album for me, and he gave the whole album to somebody else…Tevin Campbell!”
Despite the past rifts between Babyface and Reid, Campbell has long praised his peer for his talents. Campbell said that he couldn’t belt out Usher’s hits quite like his fellow hitmaker does and Usher wouldn’t have the same magic on “Can We Talk.”
