Justin Bieber’s ‘Justice’ songs explained by Harv and Aldae

Changes introduced the world to a new Justin Bieber. When the pop star’s first album in almost five years arrived in February 2020, he was found as a newlywed and born-again Christian. He also found Bieber plunging headlong into R&B after the genre started to top the charts and other couples like Ariana Grande dipped their fingers too. (It was not the first time; he became interested in R&B in 2013 Daily, also, but called it a “compilation” rather than a proper release.) Maybe Bieber went a little too far when he called the Grammy to put Changes in the pop category after being signed up for R&B (not without precedent: Grande’s sweetener and thank you next were still nominated on the Pop Vocal Album, as well as Kelly Clarkson’s 2017 soul pivot Meaning of life) But by criticizing the Recording Academy, Bieber also set the stage for what came next. “To be clear, I absolutely love pop music,” he wrote in a note on social media, “it just wasn’t what I intended to do this time.”

Bieber supported his claim a month later, when he released “Anyone”, his most undeniable pop song in years. Now with Justice outside, the curve looks even sharper. Released just 13 months later Changes, the new album positions Bieber’s R&B phase as yet another detour. Instead of, Justice catch later Purpose, which Vulture music critic Craig Jenkins recently hailed as “one of the best pop projects of the past decade”. But while much of Purpose diluted EDM trends in pop hits, Justice he prefers polished and synthesized pop-rock from the 1980s as a starting point.

The biggest choruses come up in the same way as good worship music, like what you could hear at Bieber’s old church, Hillsong. Even more than Changes, Justice it is a clear product of Bieber’s faith, spreading a gospel of positivity, love and hope. He announced the album and title by tweeting a series of vague buzzwords about “justice” and “healing”. “I know I can’t just resolve the injustice by making music, but I know that if we all do our part, using our gifts to serve this planet and each other, we will be much closer to being united,” he wrote. Then, after the delivery of the album, he was criticized for using clips from two speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. to present the first “2 Much” and as an interlude in the middle of the album (before a song called “Die for You” , about his love for wife Hailey).

It’s a lot to sue for Bieber, who gave few interviews about the new song. So, to look behind the scenes at Justice, Vulture spoke to two of Bieber’s top collaborators on the album: a member of Bieber’s band since 2010 and current musical director, Bernard “Harv” Harvey, and composer Gregory “Aldae” Hein. Harv co-wrote and co-produced “Somebody” and “Peaches”, while Aldae co-wrote “2 Much”, “As I Am”, “Unstable” and “Somebody”. Both contributors described the quick, detail-oriented process behind Bieber’s sonic pivot. “It’s about making sure this album is going to be the best album of the year,” says Harv. “Each producer and writer, we all had the same idea.”

With Justice launched so close to Changes – Bieber debuted the first single “Holy” just seven months after putting Changes it may have looked like the album was cut from the same sessions, like Taylor Swift’s folklore sequence ever. “The original plan was to make two consecutive albums,” says Harv, but to keep the processes separate. “Literally, we started from scratch,” he adds. “We wanted to Justice to have your own sound, your own identity, so we put those old songs back on the shelf. ”To better establish this division between projects, Bieber brought a series of new writers to Justice, including Aldae. “People know Justin as a pop star,” he says of the move. “I think he rocks R&B, but I personally love that style of music with him.”

In his note to the Recording Academy, Bieber specifically noted the “hip-hop drums” in Changes, many of which were produced on electronic drums. But in Justice, Harv and Aldae say they wanted to emphasize live instrumentation, whether that meant starting songs on the piano or playing guitars with writer and producer Skrillex. None of the collaborators has the 80s references that many listeners have taken away, but they do not deny that the influences of rock are a setback. Neither did Bieber when it came to “Somebody” – but he also didn’t want the song to be in the past. “He was like, ‘I want it to sound like a 90s rock song,'” says Harv. “‘But let’s do it now.'”

That energy bleeds in live performances of the music as well. As music director, Harv leads and performs in Bieber’s support band We the Band, playing bass in recent performances for NPR and Good Morning America. “The way the song is, we have to do that with the band,” he says of the presentation of the new songs. Expect to see We the Band – which also includes longtime collaborators like guitarist Julian McGuire, drummer Devon “Stixx” Taylor and DJ Tay James – supporting Bieber in an eventual Justice tour too. Harv especially anticipates playing “Anyone”, which he calls “a song with stadium status”, for that crowd size.

The debate over whether pop music is moving away from album form persists, but Bieber remained focused on that. The approach pays off in Justice; critics praised its cohesion. (Even Pitchfork called it “Bieber’s smoothest album length statement yet.”) “It’s a format, as we list the album,” Harv explains of the 16 songs. “We kind of let the album grow while you listen to it.” And it does, with Bieber making way for slower ballads at the beginning of the album for more animated songs after “MLK Interlude”. “We literally sat and listened to all the songs and made sure that they all seemed to be on the same project, ”adds Harv. “For me, it was kind of difficult, because I had a lot more songs that should be on the album, but I just didn’t [fit together with the sound]. That was a moment for me to think, Okay, this is all the work.“The sessions started to be less about sound than about the unifying spirit of the work. As Aldae puts it, “There are songs you can dance to, but I think each song makes you feel something.”

When Bieber teased a photo of him planning the track list on social media, an impressive list of featured artists – from Khalid and Daniel Caesar to Burna Boy and Beam – caught the attention of fans. In all the songs they worked on, Harv and Aldae said the resources came from Bieber himself. With “Peaches”, Bieber switched to A&R mode shortly after cutting his vocals. “Like, two hours later, he FaceTimed me,” says Harv. “Justin was like, ‘Hey, I think we have one.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘I put Giveon in the movie.’ ”The rising R&B singer first broke the top 40 as a feature on Drake’s“ Chicago Freestyle ”last year. Then, about a month later, Harv received another call. “Just like Justin is, he’ll FaceTime me out of nowhere,” he says. “He was like, ‘Hey, let’s put Daniel César on this.’” Some of the other characteristics, however, came down to the thread. Aldae notes that both Khalid and the rapper Kid Laroi’s parts in their respective songs came days before the album’s release.

And yes, Bieber’s resource options have also extended to Dr. King. “2 Much” begins with his famous quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King’s daughter, Bernice King, later said she approved the quote along with the album’s longest interlude, while Bieber committed to work with the King Center among other social justice organizations. Aldae admits that he did not plan to put the quote in “2 Much”. “At first, I was a little confused when I saw MLK in the credits,” he says. “Many classic albums have an insert at the beginning, something to bring you to the album. People close to me told me that there was a disconnect between these two things, but for me, it was like, ‘Hey, welcome to my album.’ MLK, one of the greatest speakers of all time. Why not?”

As he presented the world with the ideas behind Justice on a Twitter topic, Bieber had been thinking about them for months. In December, Bieber had a meeting with his collaborators about the meaning that drives the project. “He talked about how important this album was to us, and how its name was really translated into justice [from Latin], and how important it was for him to make an impact and how he was in this high position. He was calling us to help be the ship for what he wanted to channel to the world, ”says Aldae. “He was very vulnerable with us about wanting to put that kindness in the songs.”

Some fans saw a discrepancy between Bieber’s intended message and the content of songs on the album, many of which seem to be about his relationship with his wife. But for Harv, they go hand in hand. “If you hear the words, it is putting love back,” he says. “It sounds like great pop, but if you listen to the lyrics, they are very simple love songs.” Having worked with Bieber for a decade, Harv says he saw the album coming from a genuine place. “Where he is in your life is probably the best I have ever seen. Like, how is he now: his mind [health], your relationship with Hailey, your career and just your overall happiness, ”he says. “He put it all on this album.”