If you have yet to catch Justin Bieber Fever, consider yourself lucky. Symptoms include: excessive shaking, screaming and/or crying at the sight of the young superstar—or, in much milder cases, failure to change the station when his music comes on.
Clearly, there’s much more to Justin Bieber than his boyish charm and at-times-strikingly-girlish singing voice. Record producer D’Mile, producer of Bieber’s single “Favorite Girl,” tells me, “ was impressive and really cool to work with. I was impressed with his studio smarts and he knew what he wanted. He’s outta here.”
And there are certainly the numbers to back up that statement. Bieber is only 16 years old and already has a platinum plaque under his belt. In November 2009, his debut album, My World, was released and went certified platinum in the United States. For those of you not up on your RIAA lingo, platinum is 1,000,000 units sold (and Bieber actually sold a couple hundred thousand more than that).
For an artist to go platinum today isn’t nearly as easy as it was ten years ago. Due to the current state of our economy and the online shift to consuming music, it is undeniable that Justin Bieber has accomplished quite a feat here.
Bieber’s sophomore album, My World 2.0, was released last month. If you haven’t already heard the lead single “Baby” featuring hip-hop heavy weight Ludacris, don’t go listening to it now. I can guarantee you’ll be singing along by the time the second chorus comes around—an embarrassment you can save yourself from.
The follow-up single, “Somebody to Love” is an electro-pop anthem sure to be blowing up mainstream radio stations soon enough. Bieber croons, “I need somebody to love, I—I don’t need much, just somebody to love.” Cute.
Other tracks on My World 2.0 include:
- “Stuck In the Moment” – Definitely one of the more feminine songs on the album. A pretty mid-tempo about a relationship that just won’t work out.
- “U Smile” – This song sounds like a hybrid of “I’ll Be There” and “ABC” by the Jackson 5. It has an old school vibe and Justin’s voice is reminiscent of a young Michael Jackson.
- “Runaway Love” – Here’s a great summer jam and one that also sounds a bit Michael Jackson-ish. I’m beginning to see a trend.
- “Never Let You Go” – The music video for this song was released in late March and already has nearly 21 million views on YouTube. Despite the attention it’s getting, I’m not a huge fan of the song. To me, it’s just another cookie-cutter love ballad. But for some reason, people eat that sort of thing up.
- “Overboard” – Am I the only one who thinks Justin is too young to be talking about love so much? Can he even drive?
- “Eenie Meenie” – I can’t help but to love this song. It features reggae-pop sensation, Sean Kingston, which brings a cool Caribbean element to the album. Overall, a very catchy song.
- “Up” – Finally a slow jam! The content still seems a little too grown for Bieber, so it’s still a little awkward to hear him sing things like, “We can take it to the sky past the moon through the galaxy/As long as you’re with me/Honestly (honestly) with the strength of our love/We can go nowhere but up.” Nonetheless, adorable.
- “That Should Be Me” – This is a great song because it is so relatable. It has a sad sentiment, but Justin keeps hope alive that he can win back an ex. Favorite lines: “Do you do what you did, what you did with me/Does he love you the way I can/Did you forget all the plans that you made with me”
Click here to buy My World 2.0