In 2002, Britney Spears proclaimed to the world that she was” not a girl, not yet a woman.” Now, a decade later, Justin Bieber wants everyone to know that he’s not the same 13-year-old who crooned “Baby” four years ago.
Like many longtime teen heartthrobs do, Bieber is trying to navigate away from the pages of Tiger Beat and onto the cover of more grown-up magazines, such as Rolling Stone and Complex.
“I feel like I just don’t want to be another teen heartthrob,” he told Ryan Seacrest in an interview set to air Thursday on NBC’s Today and Rock Center With Brian Williams. “I just think that just annoys me. To think that’s what people will – will think of me – or, like, I just want to prove people wrong.”
How is Bieber displaying his new maturity?
“My new album Believe has really showcased what I’m capable of — especially becoming an 18-year-old and becoming an adult,” he told Seacrest.
But for baby-faced Bieber, that’s not going to be easy. Despite the new sound, the fresh ink and the new hair, there’s still one thing he needs in order to prove to his critics that he has longevity: a Grammy.
“That’s something that I’ve always… when I was little, like, ‘Oh my God, like what if I won a Grammy?’ That would be crazy,” he said. “So that’s one of the things that I’m still striving for.”
If Bieber ever gets tired of being an international superstar, however, there’s always a career in professional hockey waiting for him. The ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors, a AA minor league team in California, has offered the Canadian an amateur tryout contract.
