Count Me In Justin...I am a Belieber!

Forgive me…I think I am a Belieber!

Justin Bieber burst onto the scene a couple of years ago, while just a child. I am sure this musically gifted child believed with all his heart that he was going to be thrust into a world of music, not realizing the music business isn’t exactly all about music. Of course, when he came on the scene, apart from the legion of fans that loved his music, there were the so-called music purists that hated him or so they pretended to. You could count me in as one of ‘them’. But the truth is, I couldn’t take the ‘Baby’ chorus off my mind when it came out and as a vocalist myself, it wasn’t too hard for me to see this boy had extraordinary talent. One of those voices that sound seemingly ordinary to casual listeners but if you are a singer, you will know it is anything but. Anyway, like most people, I continued pretending that Justin Bieber was for young girls in need of a boyfriend and grownups needed to stay away. Besides when you are in India where half the ‘in’ crowd pretends to love ‘rock’ more than ‘pop’ because well, rock is cool and pop is Britney…you know what I mean, it gets kind of lonely being a Justin fan! 

(In a way, right now, I am a little proud of my musical evolution…bring me anything that sounds good to my ears and I’ll take it. My days of exclusivity to genres have long gone, when I realized my idea of a vocalist was Mariah and star was Steven Tyler. I began straddling both worlds and realized I didn’t have to necessarily settle for one.)

His next album came out and the first song named ‘Boyfriend’ was a radio nightmare. But the next one (As long as you love me) was vocal bliss! I had it on my playlist for over two years. And then I forgot about Justin because well, that’s what you do with pop stars. They pop.

But Justin never did. 

Years passed and as he became a man, he got into trouble that seemed out of the world…when in fact, what he did or was accused of doing was exactly what all of us have done but never had the curse of the camera following us. And a few endless months of negative press, arrests, complaints of arrogance and absolutely horrendous user comments later, I thought Justin was done. 

The boy sank to music industry hell for mistakes which I still believe are NOT mistakes…they are just stuff that kids do. I’ve done most of what he did and had to apologize to no one, because well…no one was going to make a million bucks talking about me. No one was going to accuse me of sleeping with them because they weren’t going to get big bucks out of it and no one followed me around with a camera…let’s face it, there is only one Justin Bieber and the cameras followed him around for exactly THAT reason! 

And then came ‘Purpose!’

I vividly remember the day I was heading back home on the subway at New York…and noticed I had downloaded ‘Purpose’ on my Spotify and hadn’t listened to it until the end of November. They called it good. They called it a bonafide hit. They called his talent legitimate, as if this boy’s talent was ever anything but. 

Anyway, I began listening and by that evening, I officially became an unashamed, out-of-the-closet belieber…once and for all. That album was so good, that I still have some of the songs on my playlist. I listened to ‘Mark my Words’ yet again, just last evening.

And it wasn’t just me. All over the world, suddenly people in their 20s and 30s woke up and began talking about Justin’s new album being so good, so mature and all the nonsense to somehow explain why they hadn’t listened to him from the beginning.

I think more than the music, more than his showmanship, more than his extraordinary vocal abilities…I love Justin because he went to the depths, found perspective, and came back strong and swinging, with an album that was so good, real good! He went where no one expected him to go and then came back up where no one expected him to rise. And that to me, is a winner! 

I know people like to trash him around. I am from the church and I get to hear it often. ‘Oh, look…he is Christian, but look at what he is doing?’ ‘Look he is wearing a Bible verse on his shirt but he was doing this the other day?’ ‘Oh, he goes to Hillsong church? What’s the use?’ The questions are endless.

Well…the pot calling the kettle black was never a good Sunday sermon, though it is the story of many a ‘people of God’! And my Christian friends don’t realize that being a Bible-wielding hypocrite isn’t all that difficult as being a show-business conquering boy of 22! There!

Now, Is Justin perfect? Of course not. But the question is…is he a musician or is he an example in social behavior?

The answer is: A MUSICIAN…GIFTED NO LESS!

He came to me as one and I am going to look at him as one and know that he qualifies for the time I spend listening to him and for the 9.99$ I pay Spotify every month, to have him on my phone!

So, finally I can proclaim it. I am a proud, lifelong, ardent Belieber and I hope Justin continues making good music, continues loving God the way he knows best, continues performing and bringing happiness to millions of people and hopefully in the process will continue to grow as a man, as fine as the one he has grown into right now. 

That is my wish and my prayer, and somehow I am pretty sure, that is exactly what time is going to show, and show off!