Connector Staff
Every human being on Gaia’s skin had been anticipating it. The moment when the Canadian demi-god, Justin Drew Bieber, would metamorphose from dungeon-dweller of tweenaged fandom to bona fide adult pop star. With his latest album, “Purpose: the Movement,” released on Nov. 13, Bieber may have finally found his purpose.
Every celebrity on Earth is under a microscope that would crack most people. Well, actually, celebrities are normal people, they just happen to be rich and famous. For every appearance on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” or “Ellen,” that hilarious roast on “Comedy Central,” and acts of charity, Bieber has also had mugshots, eggy incidents with neighbors and cameras catching the young man participating in acts of nefariousness. He has been called “immature” and harsher words many times. Bieber is very polarizing. If he could make music that was not so childish and annoying, perhaps he could win over some new fans.
Bieber’s 2012 album “Believe” was the Canadian’s first shot at transcending from boy pop sensation to adult singer. The album failed to separate the “Biebs” from his typical “Belieber” fan-base. So, Bieber and his entourage went back to the studio. He dyed his hair and changed his hairstyle. He got a lot of tattoos and tried to change his public persona. He had his Calvin Klein photoshoot Photoshopped. Perhaps most importantly of all, he found Skrillex.
Skrillex’s impact on “Purpose: the Movement” cannot be understated. The EDM superstar helped give Bieber a brand new sound, a hybrid between EDM and pop that helped Bieber show off his airy voice on spaced-out synthesizers and rhythms that crawl inside your brain and never want to leave. As a whole, “Purpose: the Movement” is a showcase of Bieber’s maturing voice to go along with an almost retro sound. The album definitely shows a maturity of musical ability. Nobody would deny that Bieber has talent, and he makes this talent evident throughout the album.
Every song on the deluxe edition of “Purpose: the Movement” brings something intangible to the album. Bieber displays that he can easily navigate through different genres. “No Pressure,” “No Sense” and “We Are” feature rappers on trap-style beats. Big Sean, Travis $cott and Nas wanted to be on Bieber’s album. Perhaps they wanted to be a part of it for financial gain, or maybe they truly liked what they heard. We will never know for sure.
When Justin Bieber sticks to simple piano or acoustic guitar, he shows that he does not require a typical pop beat to make an earworm. “Life is Worth Living” and “Purpose” show what Bieber can do when all the instrumentation is via piano. “Love Yourself,” co-written by Ed Sheeran, is as simple as a song can get, but it works with Bieber’s smooth voice. “What Do You Mean?” is a Skrillex-produced track, but the acoustic version is easily found on YouTube. The music video shows a playful Bieber skateboarding, holding a puppy and wrestling some dude with a man bun. He is having fun in a non-criminal way. “I’ll Show You” is a shot at all his critics who seem to forget that Bieber is a human just like them, and he never had a chance to have a normal adolescence.
“Sorry” and “Been You” are purely infectious. Both songs have amazing rhythms and are simply enjoyable to listen to. “Sorry” is a club banger with a fun dance music video to accompany it, and Bieber recently performed it electrically on Jimmy Fallon’s show. “Been You” sounds like a club banger from the 1980s or 1990s, and the chorus is insanely poisonous to the extent that the only antidote is to listen to the song on repeat for hours.
“Purpose,” whether you like or hate Bieber, is a good album. Deal with it. Ignore the artist and listen to the art. The album shows true maturity of voice, sound and character. If Bieber can clean up his act a little bit and become a more responsible young man, there is no reason why he could not continue to be a star for a long time. However, he should think about getting a haircut.
