Usher: Dance moves are code

Usher says the way he dances is from a secret "code of communication" he used in his youth.

The singer was talking about the inspiration behind his famously slick moves and revealed that many of them were developed while hanging out with peers on the streets.

Usher explained that dance and fashion were used as signals in his neighbourhood where he grew up.

"Michael Jackson. There were plenty of people who were an inspiration," he told Australian radio show Kyle and Jackie O when asked who his dance idols were. "But it was also part of my lifestyle in the 80s and 90s because that was the way we communicated. It was kind of like a code; you know what I mean? People use communication when they talk, and our way to communicate was our different styles, our clothing, the way we wore our hair and the way we danced in the street - all of those things."

Usher also spoke about the recent internet hoax which spread rumours of his death online in April 2012. The star revealed how his plan to ignore the claims almost backfired because his dignified silence worried fans that he might have died.

"I was as dumbfounded by it as anyone, it was just crazy. I didn't respond to it at first because it obviously wasn't true, but as the day went on people became more afraid because they hadn't heard from me - I hadn't really talked on my Twitter or Instagram, so I decided to post a picture and that was it. But it's crazy how people can say things and put things online that are not true and there's no ramifications for doing it," he said.