Justin Bieber has been a household name since his mom first uploaded a video of him singing in 2008 online. For many people growing up in the 2000s, he became an icon that we watched grow physically as well as stylistically. For as long as I can remember, he has always been a symbol of pop culture but also of a new movement. Bieber’s rise to fame marked the beginning of the social media era. As Youtube and other streaming platforms evolved throughout the years, interactions between artists and their fans became a lot more common. As a result, he was one of the first child stars to amass such a large platform and following. Fans of all ages idolized and adored him. They’d show off their Justin Bieber merchandise at school, or put up large posters of him in their rooms. New music was also constantly in demand. Bieber was compliant and released new music relatively often—most of which was groundbreaking. He won award after award, fueling his fans’ passion and appreciation for him.

When he released his latest single “Yummy” after a mental-health-related hiatus of three years, fans anticipated another classic Justin Bieber song. However, what they received shocked them. Much unlike his typical love songs about teenage love and wholesome relationships, “Yummy” is an ode to his wife Hailey Baldwin. The lyrics are overtly sexual and simple - some so cliché it was quite honestly painful to hear. For example, the lyric “you make my toes curl” was quite overdone and unoriginal, but what’s concerning isn’t simply the clichés within “Yummy”. There seems to be no attempts on Bieber’s end to avoid writing these clichés. In comparison to his biggest hit “Baby”, in which Bieber sings: “I’m in pieces, baby fix me and just shake me ’til you wake me from this bad dream,” the lyrics of “Yummy” seem to be virtually the same quality, just no longer PG-13. Bieber was 16 when “Baby” was released; he is currently 25. His lyrics should at least reflect his age and experience.

One aspect of his new single that is deeply off-putting is his marketing. In an effort to rise to the top of the charts, Bieber released a guide on his Instagram account labeled “How to Get Yummy to #1” in which he essentially told his fans to manipulate the Spotify and iTunes algorithm in order to reach the top spot. Among other things, the list included playing “Yummy” non-stop while you sleep and using a VPN to stream the song for those not in the United States. He has also been promoting it on all of his social media platforms (as most creators do) - but he takes it to a bit of an extreme. On one of his live streams, he discussed his new song with an excited young fan. Rather than thanking her for her support, he persistently? asked how much she had been streaming “Yummy”. He asked her if she had both downloaded and bought the song on iTunes repeatedly. When she said that she had, he replied with “You’re crushing it as a fan.” This sets up the ideal that a “true fan” is someone who obsessively listens to his music only in order to get it to #1.

The new single “Yummy” was met with mixed reactions from fans. Famous YouTuber David Dobrik collaborated with Bieber in one of his most recent videos, “SURPRISING PEOPLE WITH JUSTIN BIEBER”. In this video, Dobrik interviews strangers on their thoughts on Bieber. All of them were fans or former fans and had gushing reviews for him when asked. While everyone was extremely supportive of the young artist, one fan gave some criticism. When asked about the pop icon, he replied, “Oh my God, love him, but “Yummy” is just like, not it. It's not that good." Bieber popped out from behind and jokingly replied “I’m going to kill you!”. They laughed it off, but it seemed that quite a lot of the public agreed with his opinion; how could someone so talented and iconic produce something that doesn’t show musical growth?

It is also, however, important to remember that Bieber is not the same person he was three years ago. He has grown up and changed into someone different. He was only a child when he became famous—of course, his style and content has changed as he has grown up. If society was never allowed to change, a person would never go anywhere. His lyrics are more sexual because he doesn’t need to write about teenage love and firsts—if he did, it would be quite odd. The R&B style of “Yummy” is definitely different from his old crooning love songs. As his new album “Changes” drops, we’ll be given more insights into the life of the new and married Justin Bieber.