Justin Bieber's Messy, Improbable Masterpiece
Briefly

Justin Bieber's celebrity often overshadows his music, as he resembles a Kardashian-like figure followed by tabloid controversies regarding his personal life. Despite significant challenges, including legal issues and mental health struggles, he remains a ubiquitous presence across media platforms. At thirty-one, he is among the most accomplished pop stars, albeit not viewed as an auteur. His diverse musical catalog includes various genres like trap-pop, R. & B., and Afrobeat, showcasing his vocal flexibility, although it often lacks a coherent artistic direction.
Bieber's music has come to be somewhat immaterial to his celebrity. For many, he is an almost Kardashian-like figure, whose songs are encountered in environments of poor taste.
He's thirty-one years old, one of the most accomplished pop stars ever, though he's certainly never been mistaken for an auteur.
His catalogue is searching and uneven, flitting between glossy renditions of trap-pop, mid-tempo R. & B., eighties new wave, campfire Christian sing-alongs, Afrobeat, and dancehall.
His stylistic malleability is mostly a strength; he can competently trade bars with Young Thug and Travis Scott in one breath, sing an aching piano ballad in another.
Read at The New Yorker
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