Above the Buzz breaks down the teen star’s leap from tween-hood to maturity with ‘Boyfriend,’ a la Justin Timberlake. By Jocelyn Vena Justin Bieber Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images In 2002, Justin Timberlake blew everyone’s minds when he dropped Justified , his star-making solo album. It propelled him from tween-dream poster boy to legitimate pop star. Exactly 10 years later, there’s another young singer who is looking to make the same leap. When Justin Bieber dropped “Boyfriend” earlier this week, he laid down the gauntlet and declared his pop-star manhood. His transition is one that Timberlake faced a decade ago as he looked to carve a new path for himself in a post-‘NSYNC world. With grinding, ear-busting production from the Neptunes and Timbaland , the onetime boy-bander created an album that sounded unlike anything his fans had heard before. Sure, he had teased it on ‘NSYNC’s last album, Celebrity , but this album was different — it was all Timberlake. It was sexy and definitely much edgier lyrically, with him singing about girls and sex in a more-mature way. At the time, he faced the incredibly difficult pop conundrum of having to grow up right before an audience. That’s the challenge Bieber now faces. At 18, he can’t stray too far from his My World days, but in order to grow as an artist and a person, he also can’t make “Baby” over and over again. And, honestly, who would want him to? Edgy and sexy feel like the innate next step for the teen star, with Usher as his mentor — a dude who made a name for himself singing songs about the things he does in the bedroom and flaunting his abs all over town. Although, it’s interesting to note that Bieber chose to follow in Timberlake’s footsteps. A little history lesson: Timberlake once was in a bidding war to sign Bieber on as his prot
