Justin Bieber’s turn toward a more grown ‘n’ sexy sound might have seemed sudden but, to pop fans, it also felt familiar. In trying to make the transition from teenybopper music to adult jams, Justin Bieber is very closely mirroring the career of Justin Timberlake. According to Bieber, that’s intentional.
He spoke about Timberlake and his influence on the way pop stars can shift into adulthood in a recent interview with BBC Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw.
“He was in *NSYNC and of course they had an amazing sound but it was also, it was young. It was for teenagers. And I feel when he transitioned and started making ‘SexyBack’ and stuff, he really found something that was unique to what he was feeling and what he wanted to do. So I think it takes time as an artist to develop your style and develop what you like and what you don’t like.”
Bieber has certainly been developing a sound different from his “Baby” days with releases like Journals and recent trop-house singles “What Do You Mean?” and “Sorry.” Of course, JT didn’t have quite the same image problem as Bieber, and it remains to be seen whether Bieber can actually make the leap. After all, there are less lanes open for the Biebz since sexy has already been brought back definitively. But there are definitely people at Uproxx HQ rooting for him.
Check out the whole interview up top, where he confirms that Kanye West is one of the many collaborators on his new album Purpose.
(Via Idolator)
