The last time someone compared Justin Bieber to Justin Timberlake, the teen sensation had an on-air tantrum. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding -- or in this case, the mash-up video.
Raheem D decided to take Bieber's single "Boyfriend" and combine it with *NSYNC's hit "Girlfriend" to create the ultimate summer jam supercut. The producer of this mash-up acknowledges that Bieber and Timberlake have dissimilar voices, but it's pretty hard to deny that their respective hits sound somewhat alike. However, we're not quite sure Bieber would agree.
When the teenage phenomenon premiered the music video of his lead single "Boyfriend," MTV's Sway Calloway compared the video -- which featured vintage cars and plenty of girls -- to another infamous music video: *NSYNC's "Girlfriend." After all, both videos feature parking-lot parties filled with fast cars, pretty girls and hip-hop-influenced dance breaks. Bieber, however, didn't catch the similarities because he says he's never seen the classic *NSYNC clip.
"I just feel like my music is going a completely different route, but ... hats go off to him," Bieber told MTV in May. However, the Biebs was singing an entirely different tune during a recent interview with a morning radio show, "Mojo in the Morning." Bieber quickly became agitated when radio host Mojo commented on his similarities with Timberlake.
“I hope you take this as a compliment,” said Mojo. “When I first got played the song by your record people, and this was months and months before it came out, they said 'Take a listen to this and tell me if you can tell me who this is.' I thought it was Justin Timberlake."
"When I heard 'Boyfriend' for the very first time,” he continued. “I thought it was Justin Timberlake's single.”
However, Bieber didn't take it as a compliment. “Man, that’s crazy because our voices sound nothing alike," he said. "I mean, I'm not trying to sound like anyone. Saying I sound like someone else is not really a compliment. ... I think if you were to say 'I heard some Justin Timberlake-esque things in your sound,' I would take that as a compliment."
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, the mash-up just doesn't hide the songs' similarities.
What do you think of the mash-up? Should Bieber embrace his inner boy bander, or do the two tracks sound nothing alike? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Check out the reactions to Justin Bieber's latest album, Believe, below.