Martin Luther King Jr. and Justin Bieber. Photo-Illustration: by Vulture; Photos by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images and Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images The first voice on Justin Bieber’s new album, JUSTICE, isn’t Bieber — it’s Martin Luther King Jr., delivering his oft-quoted line, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The line introduces a song called “2 Much,” a love song with lines like “Two seconds without you’s like two months.
Bieber did appear to get permission to use the clips from the King estate. “Thank you, @justinbieber, for your support,” Dr. King’s daughter, Bernice King, tweeted, in response to Bieber’s announcement that he would partner with the King Center, among other social justice organizations. But other artists have had trouble using King speeches in their work, as Moore noted, citing that Ava DuVernay wrote new speeches for her biopic, Selma. “This just feels trashy and inappropriate,” he added.
When he announced the album three weeks ago, Bieber tweeted about “healing and justice for humanity.” His goal with the album, he added, was “to make songs that people can relate to and connect to so they feel less alone.” Yet the album barely even alludes to social justice issues, even as Bieber continues to talk about his new music in that context.
Yet Bieber still released a song visualizer for the “MLK Interlude” on YouTube, alongside the rest of the songs on his new album. If Martin Luther King Jr. cracks the Billboard charts, you know who to blame.
Justin Bieber anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Virtue signaling.
Oh is the income going to MLKs family?