Justin Bieber Releases Truly Beautiful Acoustic Version Of ‘What Do You Mean?’
If you thought Justin Bieber’s performance of his smash hit “What Do You Mean?” with The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week was great, a new acoustic version of him breezing through a powerhouse yet dreamy version of the single will blow you away.
The acoustic gem arrived wrapped in a superbly filmed black and white video produced by Bieber’s new videographer, Rory Kramer, on Tuesday, a few hours after “What Do You Mean?” stormed into the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, which is a first for the singer and the 23rd song ever to achieve that milestone.
It did so after seven days of the song owning iTunes charts, breaking Spotify’s record for most streamed track in a debut week globally and the U.S., and scoring international No 1.’s, before the Biebs dethroned The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” to become the youngest male solo artist to top the 100 in its 57 year history.
Fittingly, as the acoustic version is a thanks to Beliebers, who unlocked this rendition after they helped to punch in a record-breaking 21 million-plus streams in five days on Spotify, Justin shared the clip (and text “Thank u my beliebers. this is for u,”) at his “kidrauhl” YouTube account — the superstar’s oldest YouTube listing, and where his public online life began eight years ago.
Justin unplugged mounts an impressive challenge to the tropical house glory that is the single, and gifts viewers with a beautifully touching and nurturing musical experience.
“What Do You Mean?” gets reimagined as an intimate love ballad that makes a complete nonsense of Lena Dunham’s off-base ridiculousness, as the lyrics tell the universal tale of romantic confusion and miscommunication.
The 3.25 video starts with the hoodie-clad, ripped jean-wearing singer sitting on a sofa next to longtime guitarist and musical director Dan Kanter, who is in fine form. Demonstrating total control of his most skilled instrument, Justin’s — at times — John Mayer-esque voice coaxes the already familiar melodies of this quiet juggernaut of a song into new, gorgeous places.
Thanks for breaking the spotify record and making us #1. As promised #WhatDoYouMean acoustic ? https://t.co/bTFKGzUl8z #kidrauhl
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) September 8, 2015
UNLOCKED: Acoustic performance of @JustinBieber‘s “What Do You Mean?” after reaching 40+ million streams on @Spotify https://t.co/C0BnFMV0V8
— Def Jam Recordings (@DefJamRecords) September 8, 2015
Kramer proceeds to takes a tour through Justin Bieber’s comeback trail and downtime pursuits. We see the singer tricking out at his regular skate park in Los Angeles, on radio promo rounds in New York City before the release of “What Do You Mean?,” hanging out with a puppy at his hotel cum home in Beverly Hills, and pulling off some Alpha male shots, cue private jet and hoverboard edits.
We also get a look at his jacked-up, bold, new hair that’s just right for the singer’s triumphant return to the game.
Then, it’s more of Justin’s favorite things as the singer is seen hiking with friends, reflecting on a hillside, and jumping stones in a lagoon-like area, before fast-forwarding to skating around New York City before he filmed his Fallon appearance.
Reveals of the heartthrob surfing, hanging out with pro-skater Ryan Sheckler on the music video set for “Mean?,” and having fun with fans shifts again into a glimpse of the singer descending on a harness at the MTV VMAs, just before his raw, emotional unraveling, which conversely humanized Bieber before a world that has done so much to dehumanize him.
Towards the end of the video, Justin is seen in a time-lapse sequence in a recording studio, then sitting in a kitchen holding up a piece of paper with handwritten words that read, “Thank you 4 making What Do You Mean #1 Love Justin.”
This is just a perfect way to mark Bieber’s personal and historic Hot 100 achievement. It’s also an elegant cherry on the cake of what must be many months of behind-the-scenes planning and work that has gone into relaunching an artist who is now showing everyone that he thoroughly deserves his plaudits.
In short: This is really cool slice of acoustic and visual loveliness for fans, and non fans, that underscores the start of Justin Bieber’s new musical era, and brilliantly teases his now insanely anticipated, November 13-dropping new album.
Brace yourselves.
[Images via Karla Welch for The Wall Group]
