Justin Bieber is 18 now. And he's not wasting any time letting people know adulthood is looming.
Boyfriend, the teen idol's new single out Monday on iTunes, trades the Canadian Web phenom's typical fare — cuddly singalong anthems belted out in a high register — for a whispered, rap-heavy track that conjures up a date in the back seat of a car.
That's right: Justin's gettin' his groove on.
"I'm maturing, and my music's maturing, so I wanted to do something different," says Bieber, on a break from recording his new album, Believe, due this summer. "I've got a lot of great collaborators working with me, and we're thinking outside the box."
Bieber says he wrote "some of the hook and the rap" for Boyfriend, whose lines include references younger Beliebers will appreciate, such as "Tell me what you like, yeah/Tell me what you don't/I could be your Buzz Lightyear/Fly across the globe." Other writers credited on the track are Mike Posner, Mat Musto and Mason Levy.
"I like the vibe of this song," Bieber says.
Though Bieber's new sound is "more vocally assertive," he has an opportunity to broaden his audience with the new, more mature material, says Island Def Jam Music Group president and chief operating officer Steve Bartels.
"I have a daughter who is 8 and has always loved Justin, but what's interesting is that when I played Boyfriend for my 14-year-old son, he thought it was cool," Bartels says. "I think Justin will hold on to his core crowd but also win new fans."
Bieber's ubiquity in social media circles will help his cause. The singer recently used Twitter to ask fans to vote on which of two photos should be featured on the single's cover. When the voting proved heated, he decided to release a special Walmart single that will feature a cover with both photos.
"I'm very competitive," Bieber says with a laugh. "And I want my fans to get the best. They made me who I am."
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