*UPDATED WITH NEW PICS* + VIDEO: USHER INTRODUCES HIS SON, USHER RAYMOND VI IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE'S AUGUST '08 ISSUE.

R&B artist Usher is showing off his baby son in a touching new photoshoot for Essence magazine. Father and son, Usher Raymond V, appear together on the cover of the new magazine with the adorable tot sporting a woollen onepiece and a country cap. Inside the August 2008 issue of the magazine, Usher dances for his staring child in one lovely shot, and the pair poses topless for two stunning family photos. The final portrait, taken by snapper Timothy White, features little Usher asleep in his father's arms. In the accompanying article, an article where Usher sounds as if he's finally speaking with the common sense God gave him before he lost his ever-loving mind, the singer tells actor/author Hill Harper his baby son has changed his life. He explains, "I thought I had felt love before. But the moment I heard my child's voice, I broke down and cried." And now, Usher Sr. insists his leading goal in life is to become a role model for the tot: "He's gonna admire me, he's gonna look up to me. He's gonna say...'I wanna be like my father. I wanna be a man of valor. I wanna possess what my father has as a man.'" To get married was a choice. To have a child is a responsibility." When Harper asked the singer what would he say to young men and women about what they should expect from a man who's a father, Usher replied, "That man would accept his responsibilities as a father, regardless of whether he was with the mother of the child. Men will leave a situation for several reasons. One, it's not comfortable. It may be violent. The two of you may grow apart. But you should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child's growth. That is communicating. That is making the choice to put your child before your own vanity."

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SCANNED IMAGES COURTESY OF USHERFOREVER.COM

Usher also hits back at suggestions he named his baby son after himself to boost his own ego insisting it was his tot's uncanny resemblance to him which prompted the decision. The star says he's angered his son's name has provoked such a negative reaction. He says, "He's called Usher because he looks so much like me. He looks so much like me it would have been hard to call him anything else. It was the obvious choice. It's really changed me for the better, he's a great kid."