Born December 1, 1986 on the eastside of Chicago, Illinois to an Indian-Jamaican mother and a Belizean father. Originally residing in South Shore, he was raised in Park Manor. His parents divorced in 1993. 5 years later in August 1998, his father was killed in a car accident at the age of 37. After graduating from Hendricks Community Academy in 2001, he attended John Hope College Prep. While at Hope, Usher bowled and ran cross country. He was also a member of the choir, drama club, book club and poetry club. He began writing songs at the age of 14 after a trip to Jamaica (his last as a child). Although he started out as a rapper, his mother persuaded him to become a singjay to pay homage to his West Indian heritage. In 2002, he was baptized at Sweet Holy Spirit Full Gospel Baptist Church where he was a brief member of the Swift choir. However, he converted to the Bobo Ashanti branch of the Rastafari movement the following year. In late 2003, he relocated to Chatham with his mother and younger brother. He recorded his first song "Smoke The Herb" in 2004 with Da Lab Productions.

Usher graduated from Hope in 2005 and attended DeVry University majoring in computer engineering. However in 2006, he dropped out and joined the U.S. Army as a bridge crew member. He was stationed in Fort Hood, TX with the 74TH Multi Role Bridge Company. It was there that Usher met Antonio "RiP" Acosta and joined BlockStyle ReCs. in 2007. In early 2009, he was court-martialed. Facing 7 years in prison for desertion and missing movement, Usher plead guilty to going AWOL and served 25 days in Bell County Jail. He was generally discharged from the Army in May 2009 and appeared on The Rebirth Volume 1. Later that year, he returned to Chicago to focus on his growing family and Rastafari.

After a 4 year hiatus, Usher made a brief return in 2013. He made appearances on Scriptures From Hades by Buddy Wood & RiP, My Awakening by RiP and several other tracks. In 2016, Usher began mixing vocals. Then on June 1, 2016, he confirmed his full return with the release of the single "Conspiracy Theorist." He also ventured into soca with the track "Shake Dat Ting" (a song he wrote at the age of 17). Usher released his 1st mixtape The Ramblings Of Maurice on April 26, 2017. Due to the unavailability of the original version of "Smoke De Herb," Usher released a remixed version in 2017 called "All The While." On April 3, 2019, he released his 2nd mixtape entitled Dance Tonight.

Over the years, Speedy Usher has undergone several name changes. Nicknamed BLING BLAOH by his classmates in the 8TH grade due to his braces, he used it as his first stage name. He adopted the name Speedy from his favorite cartoon character, Speedy Gonzales. He would go by the names Speedy Bling and Speedy Bling-Blaoh until he added his real surname and became Speedy Usher.

Usher is the cousin-in-law of jazz musician Eddie Harris and NFL offensive lineman Jeff Allen.

&#x27;Martyn Moon is following

'Martyn Moon is following