Save for a nod on John Waters’ annual Top 10 Films list, serious critical accolades largely eluded Justin Bieber in 2011 (the Bieber concert film appeared number three on the director’s list).
However, the ageing tween star has been exploring more adult styles better suited to his deepening voice.
Though it must’ve hurt when DJ Premier barred him from BET’s Hip-Hop Awards Cypher after he discovered Ludacris ghost-wrote his verses (“Write your own rhymes, honey,” Primo said.), Bieber remains intent on becoming Stratford, Ontario’s hottest rapper.
Undeterred, he took to American radio and freestyled over Tupac’s Thugz Mansion, Gang Starr’s DWYCK and Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Otis. Taken with his covers of Drake’s Trust Issues and Frank Ocean’s Thinking About You, it seems the 17-year-old is searching for his more cerebral, post-pubescent self.
The hip-hop move makes sense: his voice drop is obvious on his version of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, the most vocally-challenging song from his Xmas album, Under The Mistleto. The multi-octave diva insisted he sings the classic in its original key and opinion remains divided over whether he pulled it off.
For a professional prognosis, we asked singer, arranger and casual Bieber watcher Owen Pallett to listen to All I Want ‘11 and, despite pitch-modification, he heard potential. “No adult male singer should be expected to hit a high E-flat, that’s castrato territory,” he said. “Overall he’s doing great, considering his voice is probably so fucked right now. He’s gonna have a beautiful high tenor in a year or so.”
