He is the man that unleashed Justine Bieber to the world. He goes by one name and a hundred different smooth moves, and Bieber could do well to move over and watch his mentor, the master of swagger, at work.

“In this lifetime, we would have gone through a lot of good times and bad times,” he begins on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I put myself on pause, I saved my swag…but, you know, now I’m back.”

With his followup album to 2008’s “Here I Stand,” Usher bounces back to deliver what perhaps is a musical re-telling of his evolution as a person. His seventh studio album, “Raymond vs. Raymond,” tells the story of the different sides of Usher—of people’s perception of him, and the true person he is.

Born Usher Raymond IV, Usher began his pop music journey as a 13-year-old competitor on “Star Search,” where an A&R representative from LaFace Records spotted him and arranged for him to audition for the label’s co-founder, L.A. Reid. Today, his multi-platinum stardom has put him on top of the list of premiere American entertainers with a reported collective album sales of 30 million.

Usher, however, had a bad few years, which began with his divorce from the mother of his two sons. Being reticent about discussing his personal life, Usher was surprisingly candid about his failed relationship on “Good Morning America.”

“Anonymity is something that goes out the window when you decide that you want to be an entertainer,” he points out. When asked if he thought his celebrity took its toll on their marriage, he replies, “I’m pretty sure it did.”

He also had to sever his professional relationship with his mother, who had been his manager since he started his recording career. “We began to grow apart in our theory.” But he hastens to add, “I could have many managers, but I can only have one mother…”

Hoping that his kids would live by his example and become “passionate young men” who would “believe in something and stick to it until it’s finished,” Usher likewise works tirelessly on his New Look Foundation, which provides kids what they need to be leaders and entrepreneurs. Through this, Usher hopes they would be able to shape tomorrow’s Oprah Winfrey or Barrack Obama.

Through it all, Usher only pays forward the inspiration he got from his own hero and mentor, Michael Jackson. “One thing that Michael told me… He said, what you do and what you’re capable of doing is not easy. Not everybody can do it, you know. Be mindful of history… ‘cause it’s never just a moment, it’s about making history.”

Perhaps Bieber, who is already enjoying huge success at such a young age by flashing his $200,000 Ferrari, would imbibe his own mentor’s sense of humility and gratitude.