Justin bieber

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 hismanufactured 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 StevieWonder, Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth.

“I started singing about three years ago,” says the Canadian native who grew up an only child in Stratford, Ontario. “I entereda local singing competition called Stratford Idol. The other people in the competition had been taking singing lessons and had vocal coaches. I wasn’t taking it too seriously at the time, I would justsing around the house. I was only 12 and I got second place.”

In an effort to share his victory with his loved ones, Justin began posting his performance footage online. “I put my singing videosfrom the competition on YouTube so that my friends and family could watch them,” he says. “But it turned out that other people liked them and they started subscribing to them. That’s how my managerfound me. He saw me on YouTube and contacted my family and now I’m signed!”

Seven months after Justin started posting his videos online, former So So Def marketing executive Scooter Braun flew thethen 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-taughtmusician 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 myfirst 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.’”...