Usher, who helped launched “Bieber fever” when Justin was just 14, brought in his old assistant, Ryan Good— dubbed the “swagger coach” — to turn the “Baby” boy into a hip man. (FilmMagic)
(Mandatory Credit: Plixi.com/ WEN)
A year ago he had a walk. Today, Justin Bieber has a swagger.
But Bieber isn’t strutting because he’s the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart in the Billboard Hot 100.
No, he had help from 24-year-old Ryan Good, a Florida-raised, self-proclaimed “beach boy” who’s been hailed as The Bieb’s “swagger coach.” (His other jobs include Bieber’s stylist/road manager/all-around big brother.)
“[Justin’s] a cool kid. He’s got a lot of character. A lot of ‘swagger,’ as the kids like to say,” laughs Good, whose appointment came in January 2009 after he got a call from Bieber’s mentor, R&B singer Usher, suggesting he work with the burgeoning pop star. (Good had previously toiled as Usher’s assistant, but “wasn’t very good at it,” he admits.) Since then, he’s helped Bieber maintain his hip factor with tips such as “only eat red Swedish Fish” and “go 100 percent when playing Nerf basketball.”
And while Good’s suggestions are eccentric to say the least, it’s clear something’s working for Bieber. The wide-eyed singer, who broke onto the scene just last January with his hit “Baby,” now outfits himself in Dolce & Gabbana, is looking to buy a few properties across the US (Atlanta is still homebase for now) and is spending less time playing NBA video games and more time brushing up on current affairs.
But perhaps the biggest sign of Bieber’s new maturity is that his days of tween puppy love are behind him. Now that Bieber’s entering his late teens (he turns 17 on March 1), he’s all ears for love advice. And his swagger coach has plenty of it.
For one, when leaving a restaurant on a date, Good suggests Bieber “grab mints and toothpicks on the way out.” He also advises him to wear suits with vests and court girls with handwritten notes. “Scribble it on the hotel paper and drop it in the mail. Nobody does that anymore,” says Good. (Of course, he adds, asking a girl out via text is perfectly acceptable in this day and age.)
Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, 29, has also seen a clear change in Justin’s attitude toward the ladies. “He knows more about love and relationships now. He’s getting to a place where he’s asking real questions. Like, ‘When do I call her?’ and ‘Why is she playing with my head?’”
In fact, Scooter’s father (and Bieber’s dentist), Dr. Ervin Braun, recalls the teen learning a lot during an April 2010 family trip to Africa.
“Justin shared a room with my other son, Adam, who is also single, so the two of them had some serious big brother/young brother conversations,” Dr. Braun laughs. “Justin would wake up the next morning and say, ‘Adam was telling me some really cool stories!’ He’s taken him under his wing in terms of being a bachelor.”
Lucky for Bieber, he has a film out to capture his frame-by-frame transition from child crooner to teenage star. On Friday, the pop powerhouse will release “Never Say Never,” a documentary about his rise to stardom interspersed with footage from his blowout August concert at Madison Square Garden.
While the film captures his growth as an artist over the past year, there have been some recent changes to Bieber’s physical appearance as well. His infamous hair, for one, has gone from a thick, heavy-on-top sidesweep to a more tousled, punky ’do. “He’s been wearing some product and [keeping] it messy and disheveled,” says his hairstylist, Vanessa Price, 35, who admits the two of them have been pow-wowing over some potential new looks for his locks.
His boyish face has also matured, according to Dr. Braun. “His facial features are sharpening up. . .he’s taller. He’s so excited that he’s taller!”
As for Bieber’s money-maker?
“That’s been a big thing, his voice changing,” says Mama Jan, vocal coach to Bieber (or as she likes to call him, Jelly Bean). “We needed to get his head around that.” But, she points out, men don’t reach their full vocal maturity until around the age of 20, so it’ll continue to be a work in progress.
“His voice is more mature,” says Braun. “He’s even more soulful now.”
He’s also using his voice for more than just singing.
“When he was a little kid, he just wanted to go and play video games, but now he’ll sit around and talk about what’s going on in Egypt,” says Dr. Braun of Bieber’s emotional and intellectual evolution.
Maturing in the Bieber Bubble does have its downfalls, though. As he’s gotten older, the singer has acquired a sense of wariness that’s caught some of his closest confidants off guard.
Braun, who is with Bieber almost 24-7, saw the changes first-hand during filming.
“When it was two camera crews, we barely got anything out of Justin because he’s so incredibly guarded,” explains Braun. “He’s never been like that before, but he just doesn’t trust people as much [now].”
The film’s director, Jon M. Chu, quickly learned that he’d have to film the singer on his own with a little 5-D camera — not that he was always guaranteed access.
“There were a lot of times we had to shut off the cameras,” says Chu. “When he got sick [during the tour], after the shows he’d lay on the couch and Mama Jan would sit with him, he would ask us to leave.”
It’s no surprise that Bieber would be a tad on edge, considering how intensely his fan base follows his every move. “There have been a few times on the road when mothers have offered themselves to security and things like that [so their daughters could meet Justin]. And it’s just totally inappropriate. It’s sad to me that people will demean themselves. And quite frankly, Justin would never have anything like that happen,” says Mama Jan.
Bieber’s timidity isn’t always a defense mechanism, though.
Despite always being a performer and ringleader among his peers, Mimi Price, CEO of the YMCA in Stratford, Ontario, where the basketball-loving Bieber grew up, says that as a child, he was “the shy one with adults.” Price saw Justin this past Christmas when he came to the Y to shoot hoops with his dad, and says that although he’s a prank-pulling megastar he’s still “really shy and quiet.”
But when Bieber’s singing, performing or with his extended family, though, he’s outgoing, confident and not afraid to step on it.
“He thinks it’s cool to get places quickly,” says Braun, who isn’t rushing to let Bieber — who has his learner’s permit and a black Range Rover given to him by Usher — drive his BMW anytime soon.
“Justin’s a good driver,” Braun adds hesitantly. “But he could be a little bit more careful.”
And muscular, maybe.
In a scene from “Never Say Never,” a shirtless Bieber is backstage where he’s supposed to be warming up his vocal chords with Mama Jan. Instead, he’s flexing his muscles, practicing kung fu and hamming it up for the camera.
Last Tuesday, during a screening of the movie in his native Ontario, Braun recalls Bieber wincing at that very clip.
“Justin leaned over to me,” says Braun, “and said, ‘For anyone who says I’m skinny, I’m growing!’”
Bieber may no longer be a “Baby,” but he’s not yet a man.