Justin Bieber has been behaving like a bad boy to boost his career, R&B singer Brian McKnight has claimed.
The 19-year-old pop star has endured a turbulent last month, being arrested last week for driving under the influence (DUI), driving with an expired license and resisting arrest. He was also investigated by police for allegedly throwing eggs at his neighbour's house in Calabasas, California.
But 16-time Grammy Award nominee McKnight believes Bieber's wild antics are part of a plan to get people even more interested in his music.
The "My Kind of Girl" singer -- who has worked with many top music stars, including Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Nelly and Christina Aguilera -- exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I think that the mere fact that everyone is talking about Justin, and Miley Cyrus, now shows that they know exactly what they're doing. In this day and age there really isn't bad publicity, no matter what has happened. With what's happened with Justin these past few weeks he's probably got a new record that's about to come out, I would almost bet my life ... He's got to do something to drum up interest in him so if that means going and getting arrested, or egging his neighbour's house he does whatever it takes. It seems to be working with Miley Cyrus, at the end of the day people are talking about her."
Although McKnight thinks Bieber's behaviour will work for him while he's young, he isn't sure if he can continue it when he reaches his 30s.
The 44-year-old star said: "At the end of the day, at least he's got the talent to back up his shenanigans, so I think it's a good formula for him. With the exception of One Direction, he doesn't really have any competition, he's the only game in town. My only question is, 'What do you do next?' If you're always trying to top yourself, and it's not musically topping yourself, what do you do at 30? Well he'd probably say, 'I'll be so rich at that point it won't matter.' "
McKnight -- who started his career in 1992 and released his 15th studio album, "More Than Words", last year -- is currently touring Europe and Australia with Eric Benet and he has been blown away by the response from audiences so far.
He said: "I've been to Paris and Basel, Switzerland, and now I'm in England. Paris was incredible ... It's amazing to me that after 20 years there are people everywhere that still want to come out and see me."
