Not a Boy, Not Yet a Man: The Evolution & Revolution of Nick Jonas

Just over a year ago, the Jonas Brothers officially announced their split up. Real life brothers, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas called it quits before releasing what would be their final record. Lingering fans were probably not surprised by the announcement, since the trio's last album, "Lines, Vines And Trying Times" was released in 2009. By now, most fans have grown up and traded in the innocent Disney Channel manufactured group for "grown up" music, only returning to the Jonas Brothers' tunes for a dose of nostalgia.

A few months after the break up, Joe Jonas wrote an in-depth piece for New York Magazine, detailing the behind the scenes workings of the trio, revealing intimate moments (like Joe getting high with Miley Cyrus) and confessing that it was the youngest bro, Nick, now 22, that wanted to end the Jonas Brothers.

"When Nick presented the idea of closing a chapter and moving on, I freaked out. I didn't know whether to pick up and leave or just punch something, because I was furious," Joe Jonas wrote. "...But once I started peeling back the layers, I understood. There were a lot of dysfunctional things going on. The music was getting stale, too, because we'd write it and record it and then it would sit around for a long time."

All three brothers probably knew it was time to move on and bury the Jonas Brothers in a casket full of cheesy and overpriced Jonas Brothers merchandise. And Nick Jonas, who had been working on solo projects for awhile (his first debut "Nicholas Jonas" came out in 2005) did just that.

Fast-forward about eight months and the rebranding of Nick Jonas is in full swing. Like any god pop star, Nick Jonas has a stellar team, with an equally fantastic campaign, clearly taking cues from Miley Cyrus, who dominated 2013 by shedding her good girl, wholesome Disney star image by twerking and sticking her tongue out any chance she got. Cyrus' name was constantly in the headlines with a new story seemingly popping up every week and Nick Jonas seems to be following that same path: even though his latest record, "Nick Jonas," came out nearly two weeks ago, the hunky pop star still is #trending -- he recently revealed he is no longer a virgin.

Nick Jonas' transformation didn't happen overnight, and things started to really pick up in September. It was clear that he wanted to shed his baby boy image while targeting a new audience, specifically, gays. In mid September, the singer made an appearance at BPM, a New York City gay club, and performed his new single "Jealous" before giving an impromptu strip tease.

But a few weeks later, Nick Jonas threw down the gauntlet. He wanted fans and everyone else to know he isn't the baby-faced baby brother in the Jonas Brothers: Nick Jonas reinvented himself as an incredibly sexy crooner and was ready to take a over the world after the release of his photo shoot with Flaunt magazine. Nick Jonas broke the Internet before Kim Kardashian did. It was a watershed moment, and with a few photos, he basically erased our minds of the Old Nick Jonas.

Those weren't just any photos though. Summoning the power of Marky Mark and his infamous Calvin Klein ad, Nick Jonas posed in a series of photos where he dropped his pants, and grabbed his dick. The reinvention went further than just show-and-tell. In interviews, he revealed he was no longer wearing the purity ring, which certainly made some moms in the Midwest faint. He had fun in interviews, like matching male celebrities to their bulges, and always oozed self-confidence and security; never worried about if people questioned his sexuality (it also helps he has a beautiful girlfriend by his side, Miss Universe Olivia Culpo).

As the old tired saying goes, sex sells. And for Nick Jonas' rebranding tour de force, his sexuality is centered right under the spotlight; and he clearly has no problem with that.

"There are songs on my record that I want people to have sex to," he told Flaunt magazine.

Indeed, "Nick Jonas" is a very sensual album, drawing on the recent funk and R&B trends that have been influential in top 40 pop music. "Jealous" sizzles as Nick Jonas shows off his man voice; he sounds like a blend of the goose-bump-educing Miguel and funk master Justin Timberlake. "Jealous" recently received a remix, featuring up-and-coming R&B diva Tinashe (and just to prove he's in his 20s now and not a teeny bopper, Nick Jonas drops an F-bomb), which brought more attention to the single, and propelling the original version to no. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100.

"Teacher," which is going to be the next single, is a whole lot of fun; a readymade wedding jam that summons the powers of Herbie Hancock. Opener and the LP's first single, "Chains," is a smoky, slow-burning jam that shows the singer is paying attention to the trendy dark side of R&B. "Warning" is a ballad but another standout thanks to its infectious hook and details to weird sound effects that accent the track.

There are two features on "Nick Jonas," one track with queer rapper Angel Haze (the "Dark Horse"-sounding "Numb") and another with fellow Disney star Demi Lovato (the emotional "Avalanche" that's too earnest for its own good). These songs are stuck on the album for those younger fans who are still clinging onto a Jonas Brothers and can't handle Nick Jonas singing "Motherfucker never loved me" on "I Want You," or the subtlety graphic "Push."

"Nick Jonas" doesn't achieve the highs of the records it's inspired by ("Future Sex / Love Sounds," "The 20 / 20 Experience," "Kaleidoscope Dream"), mostly because the production is pretty simple save for a few tracks, but it offers enough to show that Nick Jonas shouldn't be written off. He's more than just a pretty face, or a hairy ass crack; unlike some pop stars who really want to be nothing more than celebrities, Nick Jonas comes at this the other way around: he's been a celebrity for the majority of the first half of his life, now he just wants to make music on his own terms. And that shines through on his comeback album.