The album is the follow-up to Usher's Grammy Award winning album Raymond v. Raymond (2010), which was a commercial success and received mixed reviews. Usher revealed in November 2011 that for his next album he is working on a new type of music which he has depicted as "revolutionary pop", which combines different genres to form a new sound. On March 30, 2012 Usher confirmed that a deluxe edition of the album would be released, and announced some of the producers involved on the album, including Diplo, Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, Salaam Remi and Max Martin. Other producers involved include Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, Swedish House Mafia - who worked on the songs "Numb" and "Euphoria" - and Labrinth.
Rico Love stated that his job is to ensure that the album stays 'classic', and further elaborated, stating: "I don’t feel like Usher is just a Top 40 artist or just an R&B artist or just a rhythmic artist. I gotta make records that connect to all formats.” Love was interviewed by Billboard, where he spoke about his relationships with artists and experiences. He commented on how Usher wanted to do things differently on Looking 4 Myself compared to his previous efforts, saying: "What he wanted to do was explore himself musically. He stepped outside of what was safe and normal. He wanted to make an album that expressed where he was going sonically and not just where he's been for the past 12 to 15 years. He's growing, developing, moving, shaking, and being something that's new, cultural, and that's affecting people sonically. That's kind of forcing the people to grow and elevate". David Guetta revealed that him and Usher have recorded songs for the album, and teased The Hollywood Reporter that they have collaborated on a "crazy" record.
During an interview Usher revealed that the album's lead single "Climax", was 'a risk' and that his album is 'consistent' yet an 'eclectic' project and followed the interview by saying: "If you take no risk, you stand to gain nothing in life. Dare to be different. I don't look like you, I don't walk like you, I don't dance like you, I don't move like you or talk like you. That doesn't make me odd, that makes me who I am. I want people to feel that essence of growth, this album is very consistent in the aspect of being eclectic." Whilst talking to MTV, Usher spoke along the same lines about Looking 4 Myself, saying that it's "the most artistic of an album" he has ever had in history. When questioned by Reuters during an interview regarding the latter quote, and how this project was different, Usher explained that he felt he was near a 'rebirth' and that prior to Looking 4 Myself, he felt restricted and conformed to a specific standard. He said to himself "I gotta go with what I feel and hopefully people will follow me".
The album art and track listing for both the standard and deluxe edition of the album were revealed on May 3, 2012. On June 4, 2012, 30 second snippets of each track from the album were leaked on the internet.
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