It's hard to think of something more embarrassing for a 17-year-old boy than going to the mall with his mom to buy jeans and having her measure his inseam while all his friends fall out of their food court chairs giggling.

Well, except being a 17-year-old international pop superstar and having your manager discuss the status of your little fellas with all the world. Cue to what we can only imagine was a very red-faced Justin Bieber slouching on a couch during a cover story interview with Billboard magazine recently in which his longtime manager, Scooter Braun, dropped this bon mot. "Vocally, his balls have dropped," Braun said of the vocal changes fans might hear on the singer's upcoming Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe.

Wow, okay. Thanks Scooter, but seriously dude, TMI.

Of course, Bieber isn't the only teen dream who's had to deal with ch-ch-ch-changes to his voice at the peak of his powers.

Usher: Bieber's mentor signed to Island Def Jam Music Group when he was just 14 and was almost a wash out before he got his chance to shine when his voice changed in 1994. Label boss Antonio "L.A." Reid was ready to drop the teen singer at the time, but Diddy stepped in and convinced the "X Factor" judge that Ush would be just fine. The rest, as they say, is history.

Michael Jackson: When he was starting out as a child singer, late pop icon Jackson had the kind of crisp, clean soprano that comes along once a generation. But, like his mentor, Stevie Wonder, what was cute coming from a pre-teen turned into a struggle when hormones kicked in. In Jackson's case, that was around 1973 (at age 15) on the Jackson 5's Get it Together album. Fans probably didn't really notice it until a few years later because Motown producers reportedly encouraged him to keep singing at the top of his range for as long as he could.

Ricky Martin: It's hard to remember now, but for a while in the early 1980s Latin boy band Menudo was the biggest thing on the planet. The group had an unusual format, in which the teen boy singers were forced to retire at age 16, or when their voices changed or they grew facial hair. Martin joined the band in 1983 at age 12 and was timed-out in 1988 at age 17 when his voice changed. He, of course, went on to massive success as a solo artists in the following years and will soon star in "Evita" on Broadway.

Taylor Hanson: When brother band Hanson got together, lead singer Taylor was a mere nine years old. They released their first album in 1997, when he was 14 years old, right around the time his voice began to change as the world was just getting used to his high and mighty vocals on "MMMbop." Now 28, he survived the ravages of puberty and continues to rock out with his bros.

By James Dinh

Collaborations are all the rage these days, and Usher appears to be stirring the pot big-time. On Monday, the R&B crooner teased the Twitterverse about a mystery team-up, offering fans with just one cryptic clue – “YO WHAT UP NY!!...I bet you'd never guess who I'm in the studio wit right now? A Clue. Borough starts wit a B! The record is CRAZY!!”

Now, Usher has a long history of star-studded team-ups, including tunes with Alicia Keys (“My Boo”), Ludacris (“Yeah!”) and Mary J. Blige (“Shake Down”), but the chart-topper has the Newsroom pondering who exactly his secret studio partner is. Assuming that his subliminal clue indicates that the collaborator’s name begins with a B, take a look at some our guesses (and wishes) for Ush’s hush-hush matchup.

Beyoncé
With her string of “intimate” New York shows lined up this week, King B serves as our first guess for Usher’s secret collabo. Not only have these two hit the studio together before for a remix to the R&B singer’s slow jam “Love in This Club Part II,” but they’ve also sizzled in front of the cameras for Bey’s “Naughty Girl” clip in 2004. Call us Team Sherlock Holmes, but why does Usher tease NY boroughs that begin with a B? Brooklyn stands as the most populous borough in the city with the simple BK abbreviation, which also remains the initials for the pop queen.

Britney Spears
Usher and Britney have danced their way into the hearts of fans throughout their decade-long careers, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the twosome created some magic together in the studio — especially with both acts catering toward the recent Euro-pop dance craze.

In the past year, Ush has even revealed that he and Brit have spoken about a duet. “I think it would be great. We’ve actually talked about working together in the past,” he told Access Hollywood Live of pairing with the “I Wanna Go” songstress.

Bruno Mars
As an industry newbie, Mars has already parlayed his way into the game of duets with B.o.B. ("Nothin' On You") and Travie McCoy ("Billionaire"), so pairing the singer-songwriter with another soulful crooner like Ush sounds only fitting. With the rap royalty match up that is Watch The Throne, other R&B collaborations have taken a backseat. We think these two could fill that void.

Justin Bieber
Everyone under the sun knows that Usher and Justin Bieber are besties. Much like the Beyoncé pairing, Usher has not collaborated with the Biebs on a track from scratch and instead hopped on a remix to his dance tune “Somebody to Love” last year. JB is currently hard at work on his sophomore album, which is set to feature some star-studded credits. Usher anyone?

Who do you think Usher’s mystery collaborator is? Sound off below.

Justin Bieber, Usher and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine came out to party together on Saturday night. And just what occasion were they celebrating? Well, they were all on hand as Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, celebrated turning the big 3-0. The par-tay took place in Los Angeles, where Braun was roasted by his pals, including the night's MC, Usher.

Other attendees included Asher Roth, Kim Kardashian, Mary J Blige, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Jaden Smith, Wilmer Valderrama and Rita Wilson. Those who couldn't make the party but recorded well-wishes for the music mogul included Will Smith, Diddy, Ludacris and Keri Hilson.

Not only was there food and revelry, but there were also some A-list performances from The Dan Band, Usher and, yes, Bieber, who played drums and performed "Baby," as well as "Never Say Never" with Jaden.

But who turned up for the night's big surprise?

Perhaps the most surprising performance came from the one and only MC Hammer, who got on stage for "2 Legit 2 Quit." As one reveler pointed out, via a retweet from Biebs, "Only @scooterbraun would have MC Hammer perform at his Birthday party. This is soooo awesome!"

So was Scooter grateful for the good time? You bet! He tweeted, "won't ever forget last night. incredible childhood friends came out. was just a great night. EPIC is the only word 2 describe it. WE GOT DOWN."

As part of the Boys & Girls Clubs' “Be Great” campaign, the people of A-Town were greeted this morning with a shiny new outdoor display featuring a young Usher and the phrase "Be Iconic," which Usher certainly has become.

Like other famous alumni of the Boys & Girls Clubs, Usher found his club in Tennessee to be a place to explore and pursue the skills that would one day lead him to become Mr. Entertainment. "It helped reinforce the values I learned at home, including good character, leadership and giving back to my community, my country and my world," Usher said at the unveiling, according to a press release.

Young people of Atlanta, we wish you the best in fulfilling Usher's challenge.

Listening to the music, on which Ush sang about everything in his relationship, I knew I would hear — hell, the world would hear — something different this time. He was already a star, but with this joint, you had the feeling it was going to be different. Usher would be talking about realer things that older cats could also relate to.

Then he dropped the megaton bomb with “Yeah!” I remember hearing the record on a mixtape — I wanna say it was a Big Mike R&B mixtape. I told my brother Ari it was going to be huge — it just felt pop and 'hood at the same time, like nothing else that was on the radio — and Luda put the nail in the coffin with his verse at the end. We just listened to the mixtape all that weekend — it had to be close to Christmastime — and “Yeah!” in particular. As the album release date neared, I had the chance to hear more material and do more interviews and really get a chance to know more about Usher as a person. He really let his guard down and got pretty personal.

For some reason, it felt like I was there damn near every step of the way with him. Me and Whitney were there the day he got the projections for his first-week numbers — he was thinking 800,000 to 900,000 at first, but then we learned he was going to hit that mil ticket. A million! I was proud of him, because he clearly put out the best album of any genre that year and deserved all the accolades. It was dope to see that an album could be so artistically (in)credible and so huge at the same time.

Confessions is one of those albums that's still so great, you really can't decide on a favorite song until after months of living with it. From the intro to the last record, all classic tracks, and they fit together perfectly because the record feels so real.

I can't lie, though — after all this time, "Throwback" is still my favorite joint and I remember telling Usher all the time, "We need a video for my joint!" He would hit me with the Usher grin and be like, "I know. We're working on it." Well, you never came through, homie, but the album is still hot. In this day and age, I don't think we'll ever see another R&B album sell 10 million like Confessions did. If Justin Timberlake only sold like 3 or 4 million off his last album full of hits, I can't see any album topping Usher's sales. I honestly can't see anybody dropping another R&B record that lives up to the quality and the whole movie (the real-life drama with Chilli, the tour, the special re-release with the videos) he put behind it.

U2 can now add having their very own street (temporarily) to their stacked list of accomplishments. MTV News was there when the rockers christened U2 Way in New York City.

Can't wait for Kelly Clarkson's new album to drop? If you didn't already check it out when the songs were leaked last month, MTV has the official preview of Kelly's highly anticipated comeback.

Usher has some words of advice for Chris Brown. From one R&B star to another, Usher says Brown should lay low and stay off the jet skis.

Evan Rachel Wood told MTV News why you should be excited for the "Spider-Man" Broadway show. You know, besides the fact that it's a "Spider-Man" musical.

It's one of those questions that can keep you awake at night: Which Jonas Brother looks best in 3-D? Well, don't fret, we asked the boys themselves.

By Whitney-Gayle Benta

Like my colleagues Rahman, Shaheem, Erica and Yasmine, I have many fond memories of Kanye West's early days as he transitioned from producer to musician. The story that sticks out the most was during his first tour.

In 2004, the same year Kanye released his debut album, The College Dropout, he was also asked to join Usher's the Truth Tour as the opening act.

I was a part of a small crew that was sent down to North Carolina to do an interview with Usher and cover his show. Since Ush was the big star of the evening, he automatically received all the attention from everyone. His set was so expensive and well choreographed, he even incorporated trampolines into the show.

Since this was Kanye's first tour, naturally his set was extremely modest. It consisted of Kanye, DJ A-Trak, loyal brother in hip-hop GLC and most importantly his signature College Dropout teddy bear mascot. Despite a small production budget, Kanye rocked his show and gave 100 percent to the crowd.

The best part of this experience was that I got a chance to witness firsthand how Kanye utilized his time on tour to study Usher, a certified pro. Instead of hanging out backstage or heading to the hotel after his set, Kanye made sure he took in all the details of the headliner's show, because he knew that one day he'd have his shot.

By Yasmine Richard

OK, working at MTVizzle or "The Matrix" as my friends call it, I've met a whole lot of people. But here on the set of Usher's latest video for "Trading Places," I got to meet one of the coolest people in the biz. And it's not who you think!

Watch Usher talk about his new video after the jump.

I'm talking about Usher's mom. I'm sorry, but Ms. Jonetta Patton is one of the best mommagers ever. And the best part of it all is how much she and her son resemble each other. Love it!

Oh, and this video is fire. Classic Usher, ladies! And for you fellas, there's some eye candy for you too. So here's a quick recap for you.

Smokin' hot video: check. Tour about to kick off: check. Looks like Usher is back. Again!

Usher has announced his plans for an "intimate" 15-date tour especially made for the ladies, called the One Night Stand Tour. After all his talk about being a family man, it seems he hopes to prove he's still a sex symbol too. Read all about Usher's tour here.

So the question is, are there any guys out there who'll be feeling left out if Ush does, in fact, bar men from the shows?

Usher's wife Tameka Raymond, who felt inspired by her husband's voter-registration efforts in Atlanta and Detroit, will host the first annual "Back to School Expo" in Oakland, California, on August 24. The Oakland Natives Give Back fund has joined forces with Usher's I Can't But You Can voter -registration drive.
 
The expo, to be held at City Hall, will hand out backpacks filled with school supplies to over 600 Oakland public school students. The event will also include a surprise celebrity appearance as well as a fashion show, teen summit and talent showcase. The expo not only wishes to teach kids about the importance of academic success, but also seeks to tell the kids to encourage the adults in their lives to vote.
 
Oakland native Tameka, along with philanthropists Nyeisha DeWitt and Delicia Abdur-Rahim, started the Oakland Natives Give Back fund to show solidarity with the Oakland community.