I don't take Justin Bieber too seriously. Even with all of those young female fans and his popularity with fellow male R&B stars, he doesn't really seem like a threat to anyone. N'Sync, for example, was exactly in the same situation for the entire duration of the forgotten group's career and they handled it with prowess, holding up the crown on their heads without breaking a sweat. Justin, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care about his popularity with young female fans; he brushes it off, plays it cool, and acts like a younger version of Usher, which just means everything he's doing has been done before. Cue the irony because Usher is the one who discovered him.

I guess the good thing about My World 2.0 is the fact that Bieber's voice doesn't sound as girly as it did on his debut. His voice is still flamboyantly high-pitched but there's growth. It's still a bit awkward, though, when Bieber references older things than his mother throughout the album and it doesn't really come off as sincere or believable, even if he had a hand in co-writing most of these songs. The topic of Sonny and Cher pop up on the enjoyable mid-tempo "Stuck In The Moment," the 60's soul-inspired tunes like "Baby" and the romantic ballad "U Smile" makes him sound like he was thrown in a time machine back in time, and the funky "Runaway Love" sounds like something young Michael Jackson would sing. This could all be taken as hidden potential behind that infamous hair but it all just seems forced, as if Usher's failure to become the next Michael Jackson is passed on to Justin, who really just wants to sweep females off their feet, not become anything of Michael's caliber.

Bieber's flaws lie in that cute, little voice of his. While there's growth in that voice, he still sounds like a young teenage girl and it becomes that much more evident when he tries to belt something out in a ballad. Just check out "Never Let You Go," a disastrous ballad that carries an embarrassing vocal. Then there's the mess of an up-tempo "Eenie Meenie," which features a boring cameo from a boring artist named Sean Kingston, "Overboard" sounds like a second-rate version of Jordin Sparks' hit "No Air," and when it all comes down to it, these songs would sound much better if sung by someone like, dare I say, Chris Brown (a romantic twist to his music could actually save his music career if he gave it a chance). On the other hand, the beats are attention-grabbing, the melodies are decently constructed, and Bieber's move to more of a Pop sound is genius. I mean, how long did Usher last with that stale R&B sound, right?

1. Baby feat. Ludacris
2. Somebody To Love
3. Stuck In That Moment
4. U Smile
5. Runaway Love
6. Never Let You Go
7. Overboard feat. Jessica Jarrell
8. Eenie Meenie w/ Sean Kingston
9. Up
10. That Should Be Me
RATING: 3/5

Recommended: No