Justin Bieber has called "Boyfriend," the first single from his forthcoming album Believe, "hater-proof." But how can a song that begins with Bieber rapping in his thickest patois about his "swag" not be hater-bait? With a taut, funky beat by Mason D. Levy and Mike Posner and a lyric that mixes kiddie-movie references ("I could be your Buzz Lightyear"), chivalry ("I can be a gentleman") and hip-hop braggadocio ("Chillin' by the fire while we eatin' fondue"), the song is expertly calculated to ease the Biebs' transition from tweenpop dreamboat to post-tweenpop dreamboat. The subtext is clear: Justin Has Actually Had Sexual Intercourse – But He Won't Harm Your Nine-Year-Old. "Hater-proof"? Try foolproof.

Listen to Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend":

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“Too Close”

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'"