Changes is the 5th studio album of Justin Bieber, released February 14, 2020.[1] This album is dedicated to his wife, Hailey Bieber.
Background[]
@justinbieber jb5!?!? 😁😳😋🤔 Jan 5, 2019[2]
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On January 5, 2019, Bieber's manager Scooter Braun posted the tweet: "@justinbieber jb5!?!? 😁😳😋🤔." In reference to Justin Bieber's fifth studio album. Minutes later he deleted it and posted: "2019 is gonna be a wild one. I just feel it."[3]
On March 11, 2019, Justin Bieber posted a photo on Instagram stories of a Drew House t-shirt with the "drop the album alerady" print[4]. Referring to fans' request for Bieber to release a new album. While on March 25th, Bieber posted an emotional message on Instagram about the request for a new album. He commented that he was focusing on his mental health, wife and family; and when it's ready, he'd come back with a new album.
"So I read a lot of messages saying you want an album .. I’ve toured my whole teenage life, and early 20s, I realized and as you guys probably saw I was unhappy last tour and I don’t deserve that and you don’t deserve that, you pay money to come and have a lively energetic fun light concert and I was unable emotionally to give you that near the end of the tour. I have been looking, seeking, trial and error as most of us do, I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be. Music is very important to me but Nothing comes before my family and my health. I will come with a kick ass album ASAP, my swag is undeniable and my drive is indescribable his love is supernatural his grace is that reliable.... the top is where I reside period whether I make music or not the king said so. 👑 but I will come with a vengeance believe that.. (grammar and punctuation will be terrible pretend it’s a text where u just don’t care)."[5]
On April 22, at Coachella 2019, Weekend 2, Ariana Grande invited Justin Bieber on stage, where he confirmed that he will be releasing a new album soon.[6]
On October 27, Bieber posted a screenshot on his Instagram with the text "If this gets 20 million likes Justin Bieber will release an album before Christmas"[7]; With the caption, "Share it, like it, post it your story, I gotta see the demand ;) Love you guys pumped for it! I'm almost done but your support will make me move faster." The post was deleted after 11.7 million likes. While the same day, he posted another screenshot with the word "R&BIEBER"[8]. Doing a reference with his name and the music genre R&B. Hinting that his album was going to be of that genre.
On November 28, Justin and Hailey Bieber were photographed by paparazzi on Los Angeles streets. Justin with blonde hair was wearing the "drop the album already" t-shirt[9]. Until then it was not known, but a few weeks later he did the album photo shoot, filmed Changes: The Movement, and three days before Yummy's music video. Wearing that shirt was not a coincidence, but rather a preview of the announcement that would arrive a month later.
On December 24, Justin uploaded a teaser for his upcoming YouTube documentary Justin Bieber: Seasons, which features snippets of four songs from Changes: Forever, Second Emotion, Come Around Me and lead single Yummy. This was released on January 27, 2020, you can see Bieber recording several songs from the album.
In the fourth episode of Seasons, Justin was making the album's track list, and Hailey Bieber recommends adding E.T.A., this sparked positive reaction from Poo Bear and Josh Gudwin.
Announcement[]
On January 21, 2020, Bieber posted a tweet: "January 27, January 28, January 29... February 14."[10]
On January 27, Justin on The Ellen DeGeneres Show announced that Changes would be released on February 14. While on January 28, on his social medias he revealed the album cover, and that it could already be pre-ordered. Although he had already put the unedited cover photo as his profile picture on Instagram on December 24, 2019, and then quickly changed it[11]. Fans who pre-ordered the album on iTunes were able to see that the project had 17 songs. That same 28th, "Get Me" with Kehlani was also released as a promotional single.
Recording[]
In an episode of Justin Bieber: Seasons, Scooter Braun commented that Justin decided to record the album without many people in the studio. This can be seen in the chapters of the docu-series; where Justin is only with Hailey, Ryan Good, with his engineer Josh Gudwin and his assistant, and sometimes with Poo Bear.
The songs were recorded in 2019 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. and some on Jungle City Studios in New York, from the end of April and/or beginning of May, until the end of that same year. Some of those were already recorded from previous years and were re-recorded mainly because Justin's voice change; as was the example of "Double Negative" or "Wish You Would". These two songs were considered by Justin to be part of the album, but didn't made the cut. Although later was added to the Triple Chuck Deluxe version of Justice.
Release[]
A week before the release, Justin announced via Weibo that he was postponing the presale of Changes in China due to the complications the country was experiencing due to COVID-19: "Hello my friends in China. I want to let you know that you are not standing alone, and I believe we will conquer the virus together. Under this situation I decided to postpone the presale of my new album #Changes#. Thank you for your understanding. Be brave and strong. Wuhan Jiayou!"
Trivia[]
- Changes was the third Justin's album to earn a Grammy nomination.
- It was the 10th most listened to album on Spotify in 2020.
- 1554 days have passed between Purpose and Changes, making it the longest release gap between two Justin Bieber albums.
Live Performances[]
Track list[]
Justin Bieber revealed the tracklist on February 4, 2020 through an Instagram filter in collaboration with Spotify.
- All Around Me 2:16
- Habitual 2:48
- Come Around Me 3:20
- Intentions (featuring Quavo) 3:32
- Yummy 3:28
- Available 3:15
- Forever (featuring Post Malone and Clever) 3:39
- Running Over (featuring Lil Dicky) 2:59
- Take It Out On Me 2:58
- Second Emotion (featuring Travis Scott) 3:22
- Get Me (featuring Kehlani) 3:05
- E.T.A. 2:56
- Changes 2:15
- Confirmation 2:50
- That's What Love Is 2:45
- At Least For Now 2:29
Bonus songs[]
- Yummy (Summer Walker Remix) (with Summer Walker) (Digital, streaming and Japan bonus track) 3:29
Japanese deluxe edition[]
Early version[]
Early tracklist
In episode 6 of Justin Bieber: Seasons, they put together the official track list at the Record Plant Studio (exactly on August 29, 2019). A 15 song list, with "Angels Speak" and "Recognition". "Angels Speak" did not made the album final cut, and "Recognition" was renamed as "That's What Love Is". Songs were missing from the list; "Forever" and "At Least For Now". Which were added after the early version of the tracklist. Justin himself in the episode commented that there were a few more left to add.
Deluxe edition[]
In June 2024, a Poo Bear demo made for Justin Bieber called "Officially" was leaked. In te file says that the song was for a deluxe version of Changes. The album never had a deluxe version, nor was it even announced or previewed by Bieber or anyone on his team. Although fan theories emerged as to why. Mainly due to the fact that thirteen days after the release of the album, on February 27, 2020, Justin recorded "La Bomba" music video, a song that appears in the docu-series Justin Bieber: Season but is not part of the album. On February 11, Bieber responded to a fan that the song would be released soon.
Possible tracklist[]
- Officially
- La Bomba (featuring J Balvin)
- Angels Speak (featuring Poo Bear) (discarded from the standard version)
- Red Eye (released on Justice featuring TroyBoi)
Singles[]
On January 3rd, 2020 was released Yummy, lead single of this album. Next day was released music video along with Yummy T-Shirt collaborated with Justin’s clothing line Drew House.
On January 31, 2020 was released a promo single Get Me featuring Kehlani.
on February 7, 2020 was released Intentions featuring Quavo as second and last single of this album. Through music video Justin announced he donated 200k dollars to the Alexandria House.
In February 2021, Forever was released as the fourth single featuring Post Malone and Clever.
Remixes[]
A month after lead single Yummy was released remix version with Summer Walker.
Yummy (Country Remix) was released on Febraury 19, featured Florida Georgia Line.
Artwork[]
The album photoshoot was taken on December 16, 2019 in Los Angeles by Joe Termini. The cover shows us Justin looking to the side. Where the color red predominates. Even so, it is not the first time that this color predominates in a Justin album, this was in the limited edition of Under the Mistletoe released in 2011. The Changes cover shows us a shirtless Justin, his second time doing this since his fourth studio album Purpose.
Also like Purpose, Justin Bieber's own name does not appear on the cover. These two are the only ones where that doesn't appear. But what does appear, as on all of Justin's albums, is the title logo, designed by "Buff Monster."
The most important detail appears at the top right, where it appears from number 1 to 5, where the latter is circled. Making reference that they are in front of the 5th studio album Changes.
- Design: Jessica Severn & Chris Shelley from Deadhappy
- Lettering: Buff Monster
- Photography: Joe Termini
Alternative cover[]
An alternate album cover was released for China. It was the same but with the zoom in on Bieber's face. With the detail that his necklace, the tattoo behind his ear and the three on his neck we're deleted. The reason why was not reported, but it may be due to the Chinese government's controversial censorship of tattoos.
Charts[]
Changes debuted number 1 in the US Billboard 200, becoming Justin's 5th No. 1 studio album and his 7 overall. At 25 years old, Justin becomes the youngest solo artist with seven No. 1 albums, surpassing Elvis Presley's record set in 1961.
| CHART (2020) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 2 |
| Austrian Albums (O3 Austria) | 2 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 3 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 5 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 1 |
| Czech Album (CNS IFPI) | 1 |
| Danish Albums (Album top 100) | 3 |
| Dutch Albums (Album top 100) | 1 |
| Estonian Albums (Eesti Tipp-40) | 1 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 5 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 9 |
| German albums (Offizielle top 100) | 4 |
| Hungarian albums (MAHASZ) | 24 |
| Irish albums (OCC) | 2 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 7 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) | 10 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 16 |
| Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) | 3 |
| Mexican Albums (AMPROFON) | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 2 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-Lista) | 2 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 7 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) | 2 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 5 |
| Slovak Albums (CNS IFP) | 1 |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon) | 81 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 2 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 1 |
| Swiss Albums (Scheweizer Hitparade) | 1 |
| Swiss Albums (Romandie) | 4 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| USA Billboard 200 | 1 |
| USA Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 1 |
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Nomination | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | E! People Choice Awards | The Album of 2020 | Nominated |
| ARIA Music Awards | Best International Artist | Nominated | |
| Billboard Music Awards | Top R&B Album | Nominated | |
| TDY Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Grammy Awards | Best Pop Vocal Album | Nominated |
| Juno Awards | Pop Album of the Year | Won |
References[]
- ↑ Halperin, Shirley (January 23, 2020). "Justin Bieber Gives Emotional Speech at Album Preview Event". Variety.
- ↑ "@justinbieber jb5!?!? 😁😳😋🤔". Jan 5, 2019.
- ↑ "2019 is gonna be a wild one. I just feel it".
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- ↑ Shaffer (April 20, 2019). "Justin Bieber Performs ‘Sorry’ at Ariana Grande’s Coachella Set, Teases Upcoming Album". Rolling Stone.
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- ↑ "January 27, January 28, January 29... February 14th".
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