Justin Bieber has claimed that he has been embraced by the hip-hop community because he is not a "corny" Disney star like his contemporaries.

Bieber, who is mentored by R&B superstar Usher, said that he was glad of the support he receives from more experienced artists in his field. "I like hop-hop a lot. I'm really glad they've taken a liking to me," he told MTV. "Having (Ludacris) and having Lil Wayne give me shout me out on UStream, you know - it's cool. I think it's because I didn't go through the Disney route. I didn't go corny, but, like, at the same time I've been cool and collected."

However the 16-year-old admits that he is inspired by former Disney star and ex-Mouseketeer Justin Timberlake. He added, "Well, basically I look at people like Usher and Justin Timberlake and how they went from being a child star to blowing up and doing what they're doing now. I look up and see what they do and see that's what I want to do... and things that I want to do that's different and things that I wanna do that's working for them."