Since he was a preteen squealing out Boyz II Men covers on YouTube, Justin Bieber has been partial to R&B. It’s where he learned to shape his syllables and string them together into cleanly contoured squiggles. But during his last stretch in the limelight, it seemed as if he was abandoning straight-ahead R&B for of-the-moment EDM-pop and kinetic pop that didn’t ask much of him or his voice. On Changes, the singer finally stakes his claim, honing a vocal approach that’s soothing and tender although maybe just slightly tentative.
The first single to reach a billion views on YouTube, “Baby” is fun and flirty—and totally adorable. With the help of some ’80s-inspired dance moves, it made Bieber a worldwide sensation. The song’s official video, filmed at a bowling alley, is a riot of youthful delight. It’s a time capsule of young love and teenage joy.
With 127 million followers, Bieber is the most popular male musician on Instagram. He’s famous at the level of global shorthand, known even to the type of people who pride themselves on ignoring pop culture. And he’s the last of a certain kind of white male R&B-adjacent pop star: the mania-inducing hurricane whose power is far greater than the art he makes.
On the surface, it seems as if Bieber is going through a crisis of confidence. His latest album, which arrived in 2021, was a massive commercial and critical failure. And he’s been a regular target of tabloid hysteria, from his rocky relationship with Selena Gomez to his skirmishes with the law. The man who once dangled above screaming arena crowds in a Lucite box now just wants to hibernate, if not disappear completely.
But while he’s tried to escape the spotlight, the world keeps spinning around him. He’s still a figure of fascination and obsession, and it’s hard to imagine that his devoted fan base will ever go away. He’s also the youngest artist to have seven albums reach number one in the US.
On a windy afternoon in February, Bieber pulls up to a Laurel Canyon mansion in Los Angeles in three cars: a hulking Yukon Denali, a grey Tesla Model X, and a black Range Rover. He steps out of the SUV and into a buttercream Fear of God Essentials hoodie, a beanie, and a butter yellow hat.