Ne-Yo, Conor Maynard: Singer Defends Protege From Justin Bieber Comparisons

Even though there's been a surge of YouTube wanna-Biebers, Ne-Yo has made it clear that his protégé, Conor Maynard, is not one of them.

In a chat with Britain's Daily Star, Ne-Yo, who mentors Maynard, said: "I don't feel like he's a copycat of Justin Bieber. That's what being a human being is all about -- we categorize things. But Conor is going to be around long enough for people to go, 'That's Conor Maynard' as opposed to, 'He sounds like Bieber.'"

Nineteen-year-old Conor, who was discovered on YouTube like Justin Bieber, hails from Brighton, England. After Ne-Yo saw a video of Conor covering his song "Beautiful Monster," the R&B singer offered to be his mentor.

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