is it finally clocking to you fucking losers?
bieber or die
thursday was a good day to be a belieber. justin bieber surprised-dropped his new album swag after four years without new music. it was teased all day via billboards, social media, and a photoshoot featuring hailey bieber and jack blues.
recently, justin made headlines in a paparazzi video where he says, “i’m a dad, i’m a husband. you’re not getting it. it’s not clocking to you. it’s not clocking to you that i’m standing on business, is it?” quote, unquote. which has now become a meme.
he’s also been posting weird and concerning stories on social media about his anger issues and mental health.
when hailey was on the cover of vogue and justin joked, “i told hails she’d never be on the cover of vogue,” strangers flooded social media telling hailey to “leave him” — but honestly, i feel like he was joking. justin bieber has been in the hurricane of the media since he was fifteen years old and his crash out was imminent.
but there was once a time…
a kid was discovered through youtube. a kid who loved the color purple and wore backward caps. who sang with his whole heart in that angelic little-boy voice and made entire malls of tween girls absolutely feral. a kid who posted homemade covers with a mop of hair that launched a thousand swoons and even more heartbreaks.
he went from busking on the street in stratford, canada—playing ne‑yo’s “so sick” at age 12—to meeting usher and signing a record deal at 13, all thanks to scooter braun spotting his raw youtube buzz. usher’s team and la‑a reid signed him under rbmg/island‑def jam, and suddenly he was on his way.
within months he was dropping one time, his debut single, going platinum in canada and climbing american charts. by 2010’s my world 2.0 he was the youngest solo male to top the billboard 200 since 1963, thanks to “baby” becoming a global anthem and basically every girl you knew in 2011 having his poster on their wall.
he became a cultural reset: the bieber haircut, the merch, the screaming crowds, the 3d concert film never say never—he was the first teen global pop icon of the social media era. a whirlwind of fame exploded around him before he even had chest hair.
and yes, usher and scooter and that whole rbmg machine made it happen (we don’t like scooter braun at the time, we didn’t know that). usher added the swagger, the credibility in r&b circles; scooter built the hype, controlled the machine. they created a stage for that purple‑cap kid to become the teen popstar.
is it clocking to you yet?
fast-forward a bit…
by 2015, that purple‑cap kid had fully evolved. at 21, he dropped purpose—a sonic rebirth blending dance-pop, edm, r&b, tropical house—and earned praise for maturing into an artist with real depth. lead singles like “what do you mean?”, “sorry” and “love yourself” weren’t just chart-toppers—they became anthems of self-reflection. the purpose world tour followed in 2016, grossing over $257 million, though it ended early in 2017 when he got physically and emotionally exhausted.
after taking a step back, he re-emerged in 2020 with changes, leaning even deeper into r&b—“yummy” and “intentions” showed a softer, personal side. then came justice in spring 2021, a pop‑r&b fusion packed with bangers like “peaches” and “holy,” reflecting his growth as a husband and a man of faith.
that leads us to now—with swag, his first album since justice, heavily influenced by being a dad to jack blues, marked by guest spots from gunna, sexyy red and cash cobain, and described as darker, rawer, more vulnerable than anything he’s done.
he is justin fucking bieber, guys. he can do whatever he wants. he can decide to do an eras tour style stadium tour and fill the whole place. not an empty seat in this house. or did you forget? is it clocking to you? he showed us what a fandom was, he is justin fucking bieber and don’t you forget it.