Justin Bieber put Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches in JUSTICE

Martin Luther King Jr. and Justin Bieber.
Photo-illustration: by Vulture; Photos by Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images and Will Heath / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

The first voice on Justin Bieber’s new album, JUSTICE, it’s not Bieber – it’s Martin Luther King Jr., delivering his frequently quoted line, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The line features a song called “2 Much”, a love song with verses like “Two seconds without you is two months”. It is one of two speeches by Dr. King taken in JUSTICE and turning heads, along with a 104-second interlude from a 1967 sermon. “I still can’t get Justin Bieber to name his album ‘Justice’ and use that MLK audio clip before making the transition to what’s left of the Monster of Fame, ”TV writer Kirk A. Moore tweeted. “Besides, no one at the label thought to tell him … that’s not it.” Podcast host Alex Lewis joked about Bieber and the US government “giving ‘justice’ to blacks, but in reality they are just quotes from MLK.” And the first reviews also had problems with Bieber citing King on an album that largely seemed to be about his wife, Hailey. (After the interlude, in which King talks about dying for justice, there is a song called “Die for You,” in which Bieber sings, “I would be on fire / Even if your kiss could kill me.”) “If you are me asking why someone thought it was a good idea to confuse the martyrdom of the civil right with the idea of ​​succumbing to a hot woman, keep asking yourself, ” Variety wrote in his review. “Hot activities, not What is happening,” a Guardian spearheaded his analysis, referencing Marvin Gaye’s 1971 protest album.

Bieber seemed to get permission to use the clips from the King estate. “Thank you, @justinbieber, for your support,” Dr. King’s daughter, Bernice King, tweeted, in reply to Bieber ad that he would be a partner of the King Center, among other social justice organizations. But other artists have had trouble using King’s speeches in their work, as Moore noted, citing that Ava DuVernay wrote new speeches for his biopic, Selma. “This looks like rubbish and inappropriate,” he added.

When he announced the album three weeks ago, Bieber tweeted about “healing and justice for humanity”. His goal with the album, he added, was “to make music that people can relate to and connect with so that they feel less alone.” Still, the album barely hints at issues of social justice, even as Bieber continues to talk about his new music in that context. “If we are not defending what is right, what are we doing? It is very timely and very necessary, ”he told the press about King’s interlude during an album audition event, according to Official Charts.

However, Bieber still launched a music viewer for “MLK Interlude” on YouTube, along with the rest of the songs on his new album. If Martin Luther King Jr. breaks the Billboard charts, you know whose fault it is.

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