Usher Goes All-In On Rare Cognac In Vegas
With a limited-edition Rémy Martin collab bottle, a new residency, and an immersive cognac-themed afterparty experience, Usher is doing it his way in Vegas.
It’s a bottle of cognac. It’s an NFT. And when it launched earlier this month on blockbar.com, the limited-edition Rémy Martin and Usher collaboration sold out in two seconds flat. Officially called the Usher x 1738 Accord Royal A.I. Powered, there were just 25 signed bottles released, with artwork Usher created for the label with a “Generative Adversarial Neural Network.” Now they’re trading for more than $1,500 each, up from the original $500.
Putting your money on Usher has always been a pretty safe bet, particularly when it comes to Vegas. For the next few months, the Grammy-winning king of R&B is back in town celebrating the 25th anniversary of his sextuple-platinum My Way album with a complete Vegas takeover.
It starts with his new residency at the Park MGM, where capacity crowds get the full Usher experience, which comes with dancers, lights, and plenty of roller skates. And for those who want their Usher with an extra helping of Usher, there’s now the Rémy Martin-sponsored afterparty, A Taste of Passion Experience.
Held at the labyrinthine On The Record nightclub through October 29th, the post-concert event is full of interactive rooms that take you on a journey through Usher’s career and influences. And if you missed out on the limited-edition Usher bottle, at the afterparty you can still get in on the Usher-themed 1738 Accord Royal cognac cocktails, curated by the crooner himself.: The Rémy Roller, The Rémy Sidecar, and the UR Way. And if you’re lucky, Usher might just stop by to say hello.
Usher and Rémy go back years, starting with a partnership on his 2010 OMG tour. “I love the blending of worlds, both representing timeless excellence like music and cognac,” Usher says. “That’s why this project was so special to me.”
The recording artist who has sold more than 80 million records world-wide also has some even bigger plans in the works.
“For me, the next chapter of my life starts with this creative space,” he told Maxim before a recent show at the Park MGM. ”I really want to establish myself in all of these other creative spaces because I want to pivot. I don’t want to just do music. I’m thinking about movie projects. I want to preserve our culture, and I want to create things that will be sustainable in time the same way brands like Remy have lasted for the last 100 years.”
In the meantime, if you’re coming to Vegas, Usher has a few recommendations.
“Usher’s Vegas? I would tell them to definitely eat at Delilah’s. The steak is amazing, and the mac and cheese is amazing,” he says. But just not every day. “I’m on a real strict diet right now,” he laughs. “How do you think I keep the six-pack?” (Usher would like to make it clear that he’s definitely not a vegan, in case you were wondering.)
Besides a cognac nightcap and plenty of coffee in the morning, Usher also likes to feed his brain.
“There are a handful of places you can go that are not necessarily food places,” he says. “There’s Area 15, which I love to take my kids to, and I actually like to go because it just keeps me inspired. There’s this room over there called Museum Fiasco that’s really cool.”
“Everybody comes to Vegas and thinks I’m going to go to the pool, go gambing, go to a nightclub, go see a show,” he continues. “But there are other things that you can get into, immersive types of things and places you can go to just kind of cleanse your mind. It’s always good to go places that inspire you.”
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