"Papers" is a song by American recording artist Usher. The song was a buzz single for his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond. It was written by Usher, Alonzo "Gorilla Zoe" Mathis, Sean Garrett and Zaytoven, and was produced by the latter two. Although it was never identified as a track from the album, or as the lead single, it was released to U.S. urban and rhythmic radio stations on October 12, 2009, and subsequently available for digital download on October 16, 2009.

The song received positive reviews from critics who compared the track to his previous work, and embraced the lyrical content of the song. The song peaked at number thirty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, giving Usher his tenth number one song on the chart.

In June 2009, co-writer and producer of the song, Xavier "Zaytoven" Dotson revealed to MTV News that he worked with Usher on a song. Zaytoven divulged a few details, saying, "I can't wait for something like that to come out, so people can see I do more than just hip-hop. I can do R&B, pop, gospel ... whatever genre of music that's out. If you listen to [this new Usher song], you can't say, 'Zaytoven did that.'" According to Zaytoven in another interview with MTV News, the track was originally called "Filing Papers". Zaytoven said, "This is before there were any reports about Usher's marriage in the news. So I was thinking to myself, 'Is he trying to say something?' I don't know what Usher is going through, but Sean Garrett made a song about filling out papers, divorce papers. The beat, it's got a bounce to it. It's outta here." Sean Garrett later clarified, stating that the song was not necessarily called "Filing Papers", Garret commented,

"Let's say I wrote a record for Usher three or four months ago where I really didn't have any idea of what he was going through personally. I work really hard at creating records I feel that's gonna fit like a glove to an artist. Me and Usher have a close relationship; I tend to sort of assist certain artists in giving them a direction, where I think they need to go in their next move. I felt that was the direction we needed to go. I felt that was the question everyone wanted to know: Was [his relationship] good or was it bad? Was it right? Are you happy or you're not?"

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