Eddie Hustle

By Gary Eskow

Aug 27 2001

Though he's currently enjoying a great deal of success as an individual, Eddie Hustle is quick to point out that his family is central to the dreams that are now being played out. "I grew up in Philadelphia and got my first education in music by watching my parents, who were performers, on stage," he says.

Early piano lessons from their mom would serve both Eddie and his sister, Anita McCloud, well. Usher's number one hit, "U Remind Me," was penned by the siblings, who are devoted writing partners. "Anita and I collaborate often, and have been writing together since we were children. Landing an Usher single and the success it's brought has given us the opportunity to bring our family talent to the light. When people point the spotlight at me I tell them that I'm just a fraction of the action."

Hustle had to keep his ambition as a performer in check in order to make the Usher record possible. "I have a group of my own, Hustle Child, and my manager, Mark Pitts, Vice President of A&R at Arista Records, was shopping our demo. LA Reid heard 'U Remind Me' and thought it would be an excellent song for Usher. LA guaranteed us that the song would be the first single off of Usher's album. It was tough to let the song go, because as an artist you get attached to your material. But Usher's an extreme talent, a superstar, so I gave it up to him. Fortunately, things worked out."

That would be an understatement, since the success of the track, coupled with Hustle's other accomplishments has led to a spate of new recording assignments with a handful of major artists, including TLC, Whitney Houston and Brandy.