IU reminds me of Japan’s Otsuka Ai because while making really infectious pop songs, her vocal abilities are shown on the ballads that also litter the CD. Carrying an actually very good voice, IU can perform both styles with ease.

Obviously, the more pop-saturated singles perform better on the charts and on the music shows, so those are the songs that are heard, but again like Otsuka Ai, her real talents is for more melodic and ballad-type of songs.

Growing Up seems to favor more ballads and the pop is scattered to break the album flow a bit. Though the pop songs have IU singing much more monotone than her ballads.

IU has a good chance of making a good run in the music industry, if she can get a company behind her that will nurture her vocal skills and let her experiential, they could have a multi-talented seller on their hands.