Justin Bieber’s much anticipated album, “Believe,” hit store shelves today. His fourth studio album was immediately purchased by millions of screaming girls and their mothers, hitting the top of iTunes charts in mere hours and, according to Billboard Magazine, is well on its way to becoming the biggest debut of the year. It has finally been released as a masterful compilation of singles showcasing collaboration with smash-hit artists. With songs ranging from “Beauty and a Beat” with Nicki Minaj to “All Around the World” with Ludacris, plus an old-school throwback, “Die in Your Arms,” sampling Michael Jackson’s “We’ve Got a Good Thing Going,” the Biebs is back and better than ever (though, I think my opinion is probably subject to debate by jealous males worldwide – check out this review of his album by 8-year-old girls, published in the National Post, that says: “A lot of boys at my school don’t like Justin Bieber because they think his voice is too high and he sings like a girl!”).
Even though his voice may be higher pitched than bass country star Josh Turner’s, ever since I met Justin Bieber while working as an intern for the Dave Ryan in the Morning Show at 101.3 KDWB-FM in Minneapolis, Minnesota during the summer of 2009, I’ve been a Belieber. But, as stated in my bio (“Who is Sister Christian?“), JC is still my main man. That’s why, when I got Cathleen Falsani’s (@godgrrl) book, “Belieber!,” for Christmas last year, I freaked out – it turns out the Biebs loves Jesus too! According to an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, as quoted on “Belieberbook.com”: “I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that he put me in this position, and that I have to always give him the glory he deserves for putting me here. But I don’t consider myself religious. A lot of people who are religious, I feel like they get lost. They go to church just to go to church. I am not trying to disrespect them at all, you know, whatever works for you; but for me, I focus more on praying and talking to Him..I haven’t been to church in a long time, but I know I have a relationship with Him. People can be like, “If you don’t go to church, what do you mean, how are you a Christian?” But I am. I talk to Him, and that’s all.”
This was a striking revelation for me to hear, and an encouraging one. Faith never came up as a topic of conversation during our brief meeting in-studio in August 2009 – we were too busy playing Pac-Man – and he doesn’t overtly mention Jesus on his new album “Believe,” but the Biebs should be commended for keeping the faith at all in a grueling materialistic culture. His loyalty to his mother is remarkable, his respect for his fans and critics is commendable, and his fidelity to Selena is yet to be called into question (their kiss at the 2011 Billboard awards was pretty cute). All of these things make me love the Biebs, and his new album, even more – almost as much as Jesus, who called the Biebs, and his talent, into being. GOD IS SOOO GOOD! 😛
Enough blogging – I’m off to jam to his grooves – and maybe, so should you! Who knows – maybe “Baby” will be blasting at the pearly gates.