Friday, May 7, 2010

When dealing with Justin, it is important to read between the lines.

Ok, so, Justin Bieber, is undoubtedly one of my new favourite people, or kids, I should say. I'm going to take the liberty right here and now to coin the term "Biebermania" to explain the pop sensation and cultural phenomena he has become. His catchy love ballads are irresistibly addictive, and have most certainly climbed their way up on my itunes "Top 25 Most Played" (sad, I know, but shit happens). He has taken the tween/teen/young twenty-something female population by storm and it doesn't appear that he will be letting up anytime soon. On top of the fact that he has possibly reached greater heights of popularity than the Jonas Brothers (yep, I said it, deal with it) he has paired up with some seriously established and LEGIT artists. With having only released one album, he has songs with Ludacris and Usher. I mean, Ludacris sort of went off the radar, but Usher will always remain one of the most worthy and accomplished R&B stars in the industry. I mean, he is no doubt so smooth, so ballin' (thanks to his Confessions album) and a person who delivers serious street cred. Sure, Usher has done about 1000 duets and remixes, but with a sixteen year-old white boy with an emo slice? Dayum, Bieber, boy is stepping up. Despite the fact that he recently hit the ripe ago of 16, and yet still looks like he's 12 sometimes (not that this makes me have any less of a HUGE crush on him, which essentially makes me a pedophile), all of his songs are about love, heartbreak, the struggles of heartbreak, the agonies of heartbreak, the ups and downs of heartbreak and the eventual end of heartbreak. For a sixteen year-old, it seems that Justin has a lot of experience with love and heartbreak, which makes sense, right? I mean he's sixteen. Just because I was still watching the family channel and eating fruit roll-ups at that age does not mean that all sixteen year-olds are not as experienced with love as I was. Sometimes, however, I can't shake the feeling that he really has no idea what he's talking about. OR, on the flip side, he knows exactly what he is singing about in his songs, and is simply a marketing genius who is able to cleverly convey two entirely different messages that appeal to two different age groups. Let's take his song with Usher, "First Dance." It is a great slow jam, has a solid beat-something you can relax to yet also shuffle your feet to perhaps- and Usher is in it, so like, just because of that single fact, the song is obviously that much more bomb. Moving on to the actual lyrics of the song however, stirs up some confusion. When I first heard the song, I was all like, "Aw, JB, sewww cute! Singing about his first dance with a girl he likes! That is seww preshy!!" But, then, after listening to it a few more times my naivety began to waver. I mean, he's supposed to be talking about sharing his first dance with some other young sixteen-year old girl at prom. But lyrics such as, "Girl I promise I'll be gentle , I know we gotta do it slowly. If you give, give the first dance to me, I'm gonna' cherish every moment, 'Cuz it only happens once, once in a lifetime," really don't create an image of two teeny-boppers sharing an awkward first dance together. This sounds a lot like Justin planning on getting it in for the first time after prom, probably in some five-star hotel room that his manager had to sign for (you have to be eighteen to book a hotel room). The whole "Girl I promise I'll be gentle," really does not seem to be discussing one's first dance. I mean, how gentle does one have to be when SLOW dancing? Maybe if they were bumping and grinding or something, I can understand how an injury might take place, but slow dancing? Justin is clearly talking about losing his virginity to this girl. A very close look at his lyrics is not only indication of this, but the fact that USHER, one of the most sexual beings on this earth is accompanying young JB on this track, makes it beyond clear that "First Dance" really is about losing one's virginity. Such a BOLD move on JB's part. Luckily for him, his young and clueless fans would have no idea, but as for me, a much more sophisticated and informed fan, I know exactly what JB is referring to. Regardless of his songs' hidden messages, he is still the adorable Justin Bieber to me, whose songs I still shamelessly sing out loud and request at clubs.

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