I'm not a Belieber by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it honestly pains me to even be writing an article about Justin Bieber. It's not that I hate pop music—I love it. Top 40 radio is always on in my car, and One Direction is my guilty pleasure. And it's not that I don't understand the teenage girl hype about the Biebs. I was #TeamJonas all throughout middle school, and I have lots of embarrassing pictures of my bedroom covered in their posters. So I know what it's like for younger girls to be in love with Justin Bieber, and I don't blame them for it.

For the longest time, I couldn't stand this baby-faced, bad tattoo-covered, floppy-haired phenomenon of a pop singer because I hated his personality. He was cocky, arrogant and obnoxious in interviews. I always felt like he let the fame get to his head, and it rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't like his music very much because it didn't seem genuine. I always had the feeling that he was perfectly fine churning out hits from a factory just so he could keep getting money and attention. A lot of people felt the same way. His personality was getting in the way of the respect he may have been able to earn beyond the teenybopper audience.

Now, things are changing for J-Biebs. He's made a new album that sticks to his pop roots but seems more genuine. He's put more effort into a grown-up sound, and he's reaching a wider audience. He seems to be in the business for the music now more than the fame. He even has Kanye West's support.

I was reluctant to listen to new Justin Bieber songs. When I used to hear him on the radio, I would get actually angry and change the station as fast as I could. But when the song "Sorry" came out, everything changed for me. The first time I heard it, I didn't even know it was him. Then, I tried not to like it because I didn't want to like a JB song. Ever. I refused.

But I couldn't resist; it was too good. Following it up with "Love Yourself" as the next single was a brilliant move to show yet another side of Justin Bieber's new musical persona. Beyond mere catchiness like some of his other music, it felt real. It was written about everyone's breakup.

Surprisingly (I really never thought I would say this), the Biebs has taught me quite a lot through his second wave of popularity. I still don't like his personality, but his music has grown on me.

This is what I've learned: You don't have to like a person to respect them. I can see that he has tried to improve himself and put out better music. I have a new respect for the work that he does, and even if I think he feeds off that respect a little too much, he still deserves it.

People grow and change, and you can't always stick with your first impression of them. Everyone is entitled to get better. We can't just write people off for all eternity just because they rub us the wrong way when we meet them.

We tend to be unforgiving of celebrities, but people are not their jobs. Singers are not in the business to be nice people—they're here to make music for us. Now, that's what Justin Bieber is doing. And now, he has my respect.