Justin Bieber Previews Trippy, Stripped-Down New Song Snippet About Shaking Off the Hate
It’s been more than two years since Justin Bieber released new music, but a video the singer posted on Instagram Story on Wednesday (Jan. 15) got fans excited for the new dad’s next musical era.
The clip was preceded by a brief infrared video of the singer bobbing his head to an ominous-sounding, chopped-and-screwed track, which funneled into footage of Bieber — shown from behind in a hoodie that initially obscures his face — nodding along to what sounded like a rough demo. The on-screen graphics read “2:57:04,” and were accompanied by video camera and hand writing emoji just below.
More from Billboard
In a 24-second snippet, a raspy-voiced Bieber sings lines that sound like, “B–ch I’m takin’ bait/ I’m takin’ it/ You takin’ bait/ I’m shakin’ it/ You’re shakin’ it/ Shakin’ off the hate/ Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay/ I’m shakin’ off the hate, okay (undecipherable)/ Go out the country and I’m not feelin’ nice/ Got the sun on my skin/ Okay, okay, okay, okay/ I bought my Birkin for my b–ch/ You lookin’ good for a Tuesday.” By the end of the preview, the camera zooms in on the rear-view mirror, confirming that the man shaking his head is a a shades-wearing Justin, smiling and mouthing the lyrics to the song that features only spare acoustic guitar accompaniment.
Given Bieber’s boatload of finely-crafted big pop hits, the untitled song sounds more like a rough iPhone Notes sketch at this point, with scratchy, sometimes mumbled vocals, no drums or the singer’s signature sky-high falsetto vocals. The clip ends at the 3:26 mark, suggesting that the track will land somewhere around the pop radio single sweet spot.
At press time a spokesperson said there was no other information available about the unnamed song.
The rest of the reel featured Bieber vibing to other artist’s tracks, including Gunna’s “Got Damn” in a snowy snap of JB’s shadow flipping the middle finger in a winter wonderland; he later included a close-up of his face nodding along to the track as the camera zoomed in on a diamond-studded hoop earring. Elsewhere, he communed with an impressively antlered buck to Sleepy Hallow’s “Call Me,” while another clip that looked like footage from his recent holiday get-away in Aspen, CO with wife Hailey and their infant son, Jack Blues, with Bieber swinging the camera around to the strains of Playboi Carti’s “Cancun.”
The reel ended with a pull-out image of Bieber in full winter regalia — black snow pants, boots, a purple hoodie, black vest, knee-length striped scarf and pink wool hat — talking on his phone while listening to NAV, Cash Cobain and Bay Swag’s “6AM Thoughts.” A final slide was a re-post of a viral video of a salty young man on a bus raising his eyebrows to the strains of 1990s R&B crooner Tevin Campbell’s 1993 slow jam classic “Can We Talk.”
Bieber’s most recent album was 2021’s Justice and to date he has not announced an official release date for his next project. The singer launched a tour in support of that album in February 2022, revealing that June that he’d been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused “full paralysis” on one side of his face. His struggle with the symptoms of that ailment led to the postponement of some dates, before Bieber cancelled the entire rest of the world tour to focus on his health.
He has been mostly off the music radar since, with the exception of a surprise appearance in October on stage with Don Toliver at L.A.’s Crypto.com arena, where he jumped out during “Private Landing,” the pair’s 2023 track that also featured Future. Bieber didn’t sing at that gig, but showed up to seemingly act as hype man.
Bieber did, however, play his first gig in more than a year last February, when performed a short, surprise set of classics and recent hits at Drake’s Toronto club History during NHL All-Star weekend. A few days earlier, he’d posted a series of snaps from what looked like studio sessions, in which he seemed to be laying down vocals alongside a drummer and vibing out in a recording session.
He’s continued to tease his next era with more pics in October from a studio session in which he was seen at the keyboard and microphone, again, presumably working on new music.
Just a few weeks before that, singer/producer Mk.gee told the New York Times that he’s been in the studio with Bieber, revealing, “He’s searching. Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music. You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”
Bieber’s most recent single was 2022’s one-off, “Honest,” which featured Toliver.
Best of Billboard
Sign up for Billboard's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
