Justin Bieber Is Not a Piece of Sh*t: A Shameless Defense Posted by Alex Siber on 01/22/14 | Filed under Opinion, Justin Bieber, In Defense

Somewhere in Scranton, Pennsylvania, resides an ugly building on the side of an ill paved road. Blown out neon lights above dusted glass doors read “Hall of Shame”, marking the entrance to our proud country’s pantheon of misfortune. The worst moments in pop culture history are immortalized here (Bill Buckner’s missed grounder in the 1986 World Series, the infamous Super Bowl mishap featuring Janet Jackson, etc.). Nicolas Cage’s acting choices will forever be commemorated, and video clips of Bill O’Reilly interviews with various hip-hop figures repeatedly play on old television monitors.

Travel to the Hall’s farthest corridor, and you shall find a long line of portraits of America’s most infamous celebrities. A caption beneath the depiction of Kanye West makes note of the South Park skit in which he was portrayed as a fish stick, and Lindsey Lohan smiles in a frame to the left. Justin Bieber, in all of his newly post-pubescent rage, projects his trademarked look of smug and disdain.

We all hate Justin Bieber... right? Well, here’s the catch: he doesn’t belong there. Here's why...

Overcoming Obstacles: Before you scoff at the subtitle of this section and wag your finger in my face, please do allow me to wag my finger in yours. Also, excuse that touch of arrogance. It was a joke, and my editor will have almost certainly removed it before this article is published. Then again, this is RefinedHype, so we get to shit around every once in a while. Seriously, this should probably be removed.

Bieber grew up in a low income home in Canada with his mother the primary caretaker. He did not ascend to super stardom thanks to a rich family, nor was he raised in a well-to-do, middle class suburb like his pal, Drake. No, Justin Bieber “made it” thanks to a tireless work ethic, luck, and talent. Drum techniques graced the young mind of a future star around the raw age of two. He developed a strong understanding of guitar, trumpet and piano patterns all while organically stretching an already impressive vocal range. The kid is no Future - he can actually sing.

Yes, he was incredibly marketable. Yes, his early releases existed somewhere between the “garbage” and “pitiful” galaxies of the music universe. But he had talent. Back in early 2010, when “Baby” dropped and YouTube dislikers assembled to form a giant, button-pressing iron fist, you would need to pay me to listen to Bieber. Following some internet research, I stumbled upon the actual clips of the talent show performances that led to his signing with Usher. No effects, no auto-tune, just singing. It was damn good.

From that point onward, whenever I found myself in the middle of a Justin Bieber roast (easily four to seven times annually), I’d concede that his music was disappointing, but then insisted that he had promise. Well, with the release of his newest album, "Journals", he delivered on his potential (more on this later).

Additionally, 2013 marked a year that saw childhood personas die mercilessly. By eradicating Hannah Montana from the country’s conscience, Miley Cyrus has rightfully received credit for reaching the true goal of her public antics (no, not record sales, that’s secondary to her new image). Similarly, the Canadian star consistently annihilated his pre-pubescent image with tabloid story after tabloid story of adolescent debauchery. He looks and acts like an entitled prick, to utilize a euphemism, but he has also constructed a far more mature (defined loosely here) profile-for better or worse. The new Bieber appeals to a hip-hop audience, a group he blatantly tried to infiltrate for years. The only difference? It does not appear contrived. He’s truly engaging in some “terrible” behavior that angers most of the pop-attentive people in the United States. And is it even that terrible? Bieber’s doing what most teenagers are doing but with more money, so the consequences are magnified.

The Canadian star, though quite possibly less strategic than Cyrus with his antics, is in a position to clean up his act a bit, move on from his little Beliebers (haven’t they all graduated middle school, yet?) and sustain his career with a fan base not entirely dependent on 7th graders.

The Tom Brady Effect: Have you ever seen an old friend, coworker, or stranger walk by with a girlfriend significantly more attractive than yours? Have you ever fancied yourself as a pretty great backyard football player before watching a real quarterback on television, then you’re put back in your place? Generally, do you get jealous of the success of others? If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’re like most of us.

Public Policy Polling conducted their annual NFL poll several weeks ago, and Tom Brady was voted the most hated quarterback in the league. Brady, also known as Tom Terrific by New Englanders and sports analysts, has never endured a public backlash. He has never made headlines for unlikable clubhouse activity and seems to live an incredibly fortunate, positive life. Brady is hated because he has attained more success than those who hate him.

To some extent, this effect also applies to Bieber. People detested him long before he was committing minor crimes for the world to see (thanks, TMZ). We all loved to make fun of him, but a lot of us were jealous, too. Here was this kid making millions and hanging with Rihanna when most of us were slacking off in Geometry class. Dozens of millions of dollars and an undoubtedly, erm, passionate relationship with Selena Gomez later, and we still have quite a lot to feel envious over. Hell, there are thousands of “wild hoodlums” wishing they were doing what Bieber’s been getting publicly destroyed for (Brazilian hookers, drugs, egging houses etc.).

[Most Important] The Music: Regardless of the publicity nightmares, Bieber’s music perhaps serves as the chief roadblock that prevents most from admitting, “Okay, this is good”. The psychological association formed between “Justin Bieber” and “horrifically awful music” is remarkably widespread and tightly wielded, but that bond is breakable. Good music can overcome near any controversy. We’ve seen it before with Kanye West’s release of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". Similarly to Bieber, West had his lowest first week sales total of his career following the Taylor Swift Incident. However, that project’s quality readmitted Kanye into the arms of rap stans the world over (and perhaps every music critic) and reaffirmed his legacy as one of the greats.

"Journals", though it sold less and is far less impressive than "Fantasy", is surprisingly good enough to not only deserve praise for its musicality, but also negate the impact of some recent press stories that continue to paint the 19-year-old as a train wreck. Bieber broke into the cool kids party held at the R&B Club in late 2013, and he used a copy of "Journals" to pass through the door. He also brought an eclectic and purposeful entourage with him. The guests on Justin’s newest album are meant to, and successfully do, provide credibility for an act largely lacking in that department. The aforementioned Future teams up with Bieber for an enjoyable listen in “What’s Hatnin’”, and Lil Wayne and R. Kelly make worthy contributions. It might be the presence of Chance the Rapper, an incredibly talented independent artist who ran laps around 2013, that really made writing about Bieber acceptable for certain readerships. The move can be likened to Drake’s decision to gift an album-stealing hidden track solely to Kendrick Lamar. We loved Drake for it then, and we love Bieber for sharing his gigantic spotlight with one of rap’s finest upstarts now.

His supporting cast is an appreciated touch, but once he’s passed the bouncer Bieber can handle himself all on his one. “Heartbreaker”, “All That Matters”, and “Roller Coaster” are all highly listenable tracks that might shake anti-Biebers up: several dorm friends could not believe that that was the same artist behind “Baby”.

“I think that people are just waiting for that time when I make a mistake”: Musically, he’s rapidly ascending towards that “Anyone can mention your name, sneer, and everyone else in the room immediately laughs along” position. His creative output is quite frankly too undeserving of such a level of hatred at this point, which makes those still calling Bieber a talentless piece of shit relatively ignorant. As for his extracurricular activities? At best, it’s a result of his newfound existence in front of the cameras (imagine every time you indulged in a vice  there were paparazzi around). At worst, he is yet another corrupted example of the Hollywood lifestyle’s toll on youthful stars thrusted on to the national stage. Regardless, he possesses commendable talent. In 2014, you have to admit that.

(By @Alex_Siber.)