12 Musicians You Didn't Realise Have Truly Bizarre Alter Egos
10. Justin Bieber's "Rap" Persona, Shawty Mane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcjTq9QaWJ8&spfreload=10 Justin Bieber has had very few moments of self-awareness in his career. So when a then 16-year-old pop sensation rapped a verse over Cam'ron's "Speaking in Tungs" and started calling himself Shawty Mane, it would seem as if Bieber's path to complete ignorance was well under way. His cringe-inducing explanation of how the alter ego came about certainly doesn't help:
Shawty Mane, I dont know, me and my friends were just messing around and they were like "Shawty Mane" and I was like "Yeah, thatll be my nickname."
But Bieber was actually rather grounded about the whole ordeal. Even as real rappers were genuinely complimenting his style, he denied any suggestions he might change his career course and even explicitly said "Justin Bieber is not a rapper, and it would just be lame if I came out rapping." Of course, Bieber found a way to ruin that bit of goodwill by attempting to legitimately revive Shawty by "rapping" alongside Juicy J in 2013 for a song called "Lolly."