An old soul is the last thing you would expect to find inside Justin Bieber. But all it takes is one listen to the 15 year-old soul-singing phenomenon to realize that he is light years ahead of his manufactured pop peers.
After posting dozens of homemade videos on YouTube in 2007, where the multi-talented Bieber put his impeccable spin on songs from artists like Usher, Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder, Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth.
Seven months after Justin started posting his videos online, former So So Def marketing executive Scooter Braun flew the then 13-year old singer to Atlanta, GA to meet with his elite colleagues. As if Justin?s natural singing talent wasn?t enough to impress Scooter?s inner circle, Braun knew Bieber was also a self-taught musician who plays the drums, guitar, piano and trumpet.
?Right when we flew into Atlanta, Scooter drove us to the studio and Usher was there in the parking lot, remembers Bieber. That was my first time ever being out of Canada so I went up to him and was like, ?Hey Usher, I love your songs, do you want me to sing you one?? He was like, ?No little buddy, just come inside, it?s cold out.?
All it took was a short time online for Usher to realize he was in the company of a future superstar. A week later Usher flew me back to Atlanta, says Bieber. I sang for him and his people and he really wanted to sign me then and there but I still had a meeting with Justin Timberlake who also wanted to sign me. It turned out Usher?s deal was way better. He had L.A. Reid backing him up and Scooter had a lot of really good connections in Atlanta. I always tease Usher now and remind him he how he blew me off the first time we met.
In October of 2008, Justin Bieber officially signed to Island Records. His debut album, My World is an intimate look into the mind of a budding young renaissance man.
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