How Did Justin Bieber Stage Such a Successful Comeback?
You might have noticed, but Justin Bieber dropped his new single "What Do You Mean?" last week and everybody loves it—in fact, it's the No. 1 song in the country right now. From high-brow culture blogs to J-14, people are giving rave reviews and full-on supporting the tropical-yet-melancholy dance tune, amounting to the best press the once-troubled pop star has gotten in a hot minute. So, how did the biggest teen idol get to a point where the hipsters and the kids are giving the dude his props?
Flashback to January 2014, when Bieber essentially stripped away the last of his pure image when he was arrested for drunk driving in Miami. It wasn't his first run-in with the law (he had legal drama for reckless driving and vandalism in the previous two years), but it was the beginning of a slew of slip-ups and stumbles. It began overshadowing his actual career.
Months before the arrest, Bieber embarked on the ambitious one-song-a-week Journals project that showcased his sentimental, R&B tendencies and produced some of the best tracks of his career. His music video for the Chance the Rapper collaboration "Confident" came out that same month, but few could tell you about it. The year didn't get better for him as more legal issues, celebrity feuds, public stripping, and nasty old videos came his way—no one was really digging Biebs, but no one really had a reason to be digging him either.
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