Usher may takes his job as a singer very seriously, but it's nothing compared to how focused he is on raising his 9-month-old namesake, Usher Raymond V.

The latter makes his public debut on the August cover of Essence magazine, as the former talks up the responsibility of fatherhood.

"Now I represent what he is to become," Usher says about his son. "He's gonna admire me, he's gonna look up to me. He's gonna say, 'I wanna be' or he should say 'I wanna be like my father. I wanna be a man of valor. I wanna possess what my father has as a man.'"

As for advice Usher and wife Tameka Foster have for other parents, the musician says:

"You should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child's growth."

We have one other piece of advice: you should never debut your child the same day Jamie Lynn Spears comes out with her first photo with Maddie Briann.

Come on, Usher and Tameka. Little Usher simply can't compete with Maddie for publicity.