The Transformation of Justin Bieber From a White Youth to a Black Man(FIGGA NATION)

In what took Usher most of his 20-year music career to accomplish, it took Justin Bieber just a short five years to reap similar financial success and actually surpass his mentor. Usher Raymond IV was an R&B phenom who started his career much like Bieber as a young teen and is among America's top selling artists. He saw something special in the young star during their initial meetings. But that does not explain the rate in which Bieber shot to fame compared to his current counterparts such as Jason Derulo, Trey Songz and even Chris Brown. In fact, Justin Bieber rose to financial prowess singing R&B/pop music faster than any other black entertainer, ever, despite this being a genre created by their own kin.

This is something W.E.B. Du Bois referred to as the "wages of whiteness" in his seminal work, Black Reconstruction. The inherent worth and sublime value of white skin privilege (in part) captures that "something more" that Usher articulated in reference to Bieber during his 2010 interview with the LA Times. With his unearned privilege, Bieber was able to emulate his black contemporaries and generate massive profits beyond their reach. As his early appearance was that of a clean-cut "boy-next-door" from Canada with good looks (and luscious locks) singing pop, he has since morphed his image into the pants-sagging, tattooed "bad boy," suffusing his music with an urban contemporary vibe. This is an attempt at acting cool, and his public "persona" is imbedded within popular perceptions of black manhood.

Black men and boys are "onstage" every day. Their audience, both outside whites as well as other blacks in or outside their communities, can be caught looking in on them, observing how they walk, talk, dress and adapt to their social environments. For whites, these patterns are frequently seen in widespread media portrayals that represent the "thug life" and gang banging most often associated with black males. But for blacks, this posing of "coolness" becomes a symbol of acceptance among peers. Cool masculinity or "cool pose," according to Majors and Billson, is a way of being for many black males, a performance born out of the stark realities of centuries-old white supremacy and ongoing oppression. Black bodies become the instrument used to hold at bay the anxiety-related troubles brought on by daily insults from members of the dominant group and the institutions they control. This form of ritualized masculinity is typically seen in the sporting world, the hip-hop scene and other spaces where black males congregate. Cool pose is about self-presentation of style -- the art of aloofness and emotional detachment, postulating toughness and strength as acceptable forms of male behavior. But in reality, these narratives revolve around the struggle for self-determination and the validation of manhood.

Last updated by poemoe Oct 30, 2014.

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