Timberlake’s hip hop heartthrob status has questionably been replaced: there is a new Justin in town. And he’s cute, talented, and officially 18.
Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber’s newly released song “Boyfriend” is a kitschy yet catchy R&B attempt that proves puberty has finally knocked on his door.
It has been quite the year for the Biebs since his overly-successful 2011 album “Never Say Never.” But since this is the first non-holiday release for Biebs for just under a year, Justin is striving to prove how much he has grown up. There are full-on hip hop/R&B flavors displayed, both in production and cadence. Though his voice has undoubtedly changed, there is no dismissing the extra Taco-Bell level of cheesiness that seems to douse all Bieber works. The song, written by Bieber, Mike Posner and Mat Musto, starts out after dropping a few club beats and as Bieber starts rapping…yes, rapping…in a whisper tone. Whether this is an attempt to be sexy or to distract the listener from the grade-school lyrics, is unclear. “Swag swag swag, on you/ Chillin by the fire why we eatin’ fondue,” he says under his breath.
Whaa?
Swag was repeated not twice, but three times, and used in verb form, as if Bieber is erroneously screaming to prove his “hip adult male” status. Unfortunately the result is the exact opposite: it feels much like a 13-year-old suburban kid karaokeing an old Snoop Dogg track at his school talent show.
Thirty long seconds later, Bieber warns us to greet his falsetto “in 3..2..” as an acoustic guitar strums and he starts singing. Here is where we are reminded of why he became so famous: leaving little backtrack, Bieber’s voice, new and improved, takes center stage and melts your heart to pieces–suddenly fondue with Bieber doesn’t sound so bad. But this is also where die- hard Timberlake fans become offended: it’s sound is reminiscent to the original falsetto king’s vocals on tracks such as N’Sync’s “Girlfriend.”
Regardless, Bieber has much growing up to do before he can be compared to the boy-band superstar. The lyrically-fruitless chorus ends and we are brought back to a whisper, where Bieber raps, “Imma make you shine bright like you’re laying in the snow, burr!” Nice try Bieber, but at 18, you must have better things to say than that. If he were smart and actually followed Timberlake’s footsteps via “Justified,” this would be the essential time to start creating more personal music (or at least crack a thesaurus for a new way to say, “I can be your boyfriend, or anything you want me to be, oooh yeah.”)
Do you Belieb?
Photo credit: popcrush.com