When people think of Justin Bieber, a number of different opinions may come to mind. Some may still see him as the teenager who packed malls across America past their fire codes. Others might immediately associate Bieber with his girlfriend, actress/singer Selena Gomez. But for Mike Posner, the teen star is simply a “really cool kid.”
“Justin is 18 now, so the kid that I went in to the studio with is like, buddies with Lil Wayne,” Posner explained during a sit-down interview with The Ralphie Radio Show. “He like, skateboards with Weezy.”
So how do you convey that image to the public, while not alienating the millions of teens who adore The Biebs? Posner feels they achieved just that with “Boyfriend.”
“My goal was to make something that me and my friends could put on in the car, smoke and drive to, and chill to,” he said. “But also, not abandon this amazing and gigantic fan base that he’s built thus far.”
So Posner co-wrote and co-produced the track, which serves as the lead single from Bieber’s forthcoming album, Believe.
“I’m just honored to be a part of the Bieber project,” Posner said. “He’s such a high profile artist that he really has the opportunity to change where music is and push it in a new direction, and I think that’s exactly what he’s doing with his new album.”
Speaking of different directions and new music, Posner himself is in the midst of writing and recording his sophomore LP, Sky High. The “Cooler Than Me” singer revealed that the album is about 75 percent complete.
“The sound of the record, and the emotion of the record, and the tone of the record; I’m not rapping, I’m singing, but it grows out of hip-hop,” he said of the project. “There’s a lot of soul in the record, and there’s not a lot of synths and techno-beats.”
The album’s first single, “Looks Like Sex,” will be about as “dance-y” as the new material gets. Posner did create a track in studio with David Guetta, however that will not make the LP. The Duke University grad did note that Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, and J. Cole will all contribute to the final piece, due out before the end of the year.
Visit RalphieAversa.com to hear the interview with Mike Posner.
