Justin Bieber is controversially one of the biggest artists of the 21st century. His stardom has a point in his career where all eyes are on him, where fans and critics are anxiously waiting for him to deliver the “next big thing”.

Two years after the installation of ‘Journals’ in 2013, an R&B album that speaks heavily of relationships through his start of adulthood, ‘Purpose’ brings vibrancy and eloquence to his discography. The album is 69 minutes consisting of 19 songs:

Mark My Words, I’ll Show You, What Do You Mean?, Sorry, Love Yourself, Company, No Pressure, No sense, The feeling, Life Is Worth Living, Where Are U Now, Children, Purpose, Been You, Get Used To It, We Are, Trust, All In It, What Do You Mean? – Acoustic.

There is a dramatic shift in maturity from his previous albums ‘Journals’, ‘My World’, and ‘My World 2.0’. Bieber’s standout opener ‘Mark My Words’ uses his vocals for the backtracking melody and an airy falsetto run to close out the song. It’s completely different from any song he’s created and emphasizes his playfulness craft. He relays to hold onto what he says during his career, but most importantly throughout the rest of the album with: “Mark my words, that’s all that I have/ Oh, I don’t wanna live a lie“.

We see this continuation of maturity and emotional expression in ‘I’ll Show You’ and ‘Love Yourself’. ‘I’ll Show You’ mixes funky beats that derive from DJ mixes similar to ‘Where Are Ü Now’, with lyrics about staying true to one’s self without being judged for it, that he has feelings too:

“Sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing/ When the pressure’s coming down like lightning/ It’s like they want me to be perfect/ When they don’t even know that I’m hurtin’ / ‘Cause life’s not easy, I’m not made out of steel/ Don’t forget that I’m human, don’t forget that I’m real”.  

The raw and emotional symbolism is illustrated in the music video, which was filmed in Iceland, featuring rolling hills and waterfalls. The scenery serves as a beautiful representation of tranquility and receptiveness.

Produced by Jack Ü, ‘Where Are Ü Now’ is arguably the coolest song in his discography. The collaboration with Diplo and Skrillex- well-known DJs featured on ‘I’ll Show You’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Children’, ‘The Feeling’, and ‘Cold Water’- turned EDM fans’ eyes to Bieber.

This left-field song grabs his vowels and transforms them into a whistle note by amping up the pitch and distorting the sound, also adding base drops, vibratos, and odd instruments together. The music video is a continuation of this artistry, as it takes photos of Justin that fans have drawn on to create a motion-stop-like video. Consequently, the tune was such a hit that The New York Times reached out to the three requesting a step-by-step on the making.

Following this, ‘Love Yourself’ is one of the artist’s most streamed songs, reaching 2,530,224,091 streams. It is one of my favorite songs as the simple chords throughout are easy to learn on the guitar, creating a lullubaic melody.

Given that Ed Sheeran originally wrote it, the four-minute track is effortless to put on, credibly from the blending of styles. It brings attention to conflicting feelings that consist of meaning no harm to your past partner, “And I think you should be somethin’ I don’t wanna hold back/ Maybe you should know that” while simultaneously calling them out on the careless things they did: “And every time you told me my opinion was wrong/ And tried to make me forget where I came from/ For all the times that you made me feel small/ I never felt so low and I was vulnerable”. 

‘Purpose’ and “Life Is Worth Living’ solidify the album. ‘Purpose’ is a noel about his newfound relationship with God, singing “And you’ve given me the best gift/ That I’ve ever known/ You give me purpose every day/ Ask you to forgive me for my sins, oh would you please?”. Additionally, Bieber gives an insight on his humanity in his spoken outro: “I feel this so let me just like try my best not to let this happen again. We weren’t necessarily put in the best position to make the best decisions”.

‘Life Is Worth Living’ is another track relating to his faith, detailing overcoming three separate unfortunate events and holding decency for others: “The meaning of forgiveness/ People make mistakes, doesn’t mean you have to give in/ Life is worth living again”.

Yet again the musician pours his heart out, advocating for himself and trusting the outcome of his apologies with “What I get from my reflection/ Is a different perception/ From what the world may see/ They try to crucify me/ I ain’t perfect, won’t deny/ My reputation’s on the line/ So I’m working on a better me/ Only God can judge me”. Both ballads highlight the tone using solely piano as the backdrop melody, perfecting a billowy and undecorated feel.

It is no secret that Bieber is a fan favorite. Yet, this shone through when he was nominated for Artist of the Year and won Collaboration of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Album, Favorite Pop/Rock Song, and Video of the Year. With 649,000 units sold, his largest first-week sale ever, fans on Google stated “For an entire modern pop album to have such high quality and uniqueness, across its entirety, is rare” and that it “paved the way for other EDM-Pop albums”.