Justin Bieber Wasn't Melting Down — He Was Locked In
More from Rolling Stone
Travis Scott's 'Jackboys 2' Tops Albums Chart
The Sabrina Carpenter You Don't Know
Justin Bieber Finally Had '100% Creative Freedom' on 'Swag' After Scooter Braun Split: Source
In the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, we break down the last few years of Bieber's life and career, with Jeff Ihaza (who wrote a smart piece on Bieber's cultural savvy) and Brittany Spanos joining host Brian Hiatt. (To hear the whole episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.)
The discussion notes that Bieber stepped off the pop treadmill after the endless work of his younger years — Swag is only his third album of the past 10 years. It's also a welcome throwback to an era where male pop stars drew from R&B instead of, say, soft rock. The panel goes on to dig into Bieber's enduring influence — stars like Billie Eilish worship him, and he still carries weight as 'a cool white boy,' as Ihaza puts it, in hip-hop and R&B.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone's weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out eight years' worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Kirk Hammett, Coco Jones, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone's critics and reporters.
Best of Rolling Stone
Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs
The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs
All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
StudBudz shoot back after facing fan backlash from Dave Portnoy & Angel Reese controversy
After the WNBA's All-Star weekend, two new stars emerged: Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman, AKA the StudBudz. But after a meteoric rise due to their 72-hour all-access livestream during the All-Star festivities, the Twitch streamers are mired in controversy over Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. Less than a week after gaining countless new devoted fans because their livestream gave a behind-the-scenes look at the WNBA, the two Minnesota Lynx players are facing backlash from fans who are disappointed that Williams and Hiedeman admitted they would consider having Portnoy come on their Twitch show. The controversy kicked off on July 19, when Portnoy shouted out the StudBudz on X, and the pair said they'd be open to talking to him. Fans were immediately up in arms because of Portnoy's very vocal attacks on Chicago Sky star Angel Reese, but now the StudBudz have addressed the backlash. "Okay, so guess what? When Dave comes on, we're gonna ask him, 'Hey Dave, 'Why are you talking about Angel like that?'" Williams said on a July 23 livestream. "Because we love her, bad," Hiedeman added. "Y'all see how simple that is?" Williams continued. "Y'all all over like here like, 'No, no, no!' We don't run away from [this stuff]. ... I don't think he gonna deny it, he seem like the type of guy that's gonna stand on what he feels." The pair continued to defend themselves on another livestream, where they talked about not wanting 'conditional love' from fans. 'We literally just said we open to having a conversations with anybody and that just made everybody be in like shambles,' Williams said. 'It's like c'mon bro. That conditional love, you can keep that, twin. Keep that conditional love because it's going to be a lot of things me and T probably do that y'all probably ain't gonna like.' Yesterday, Williams also took to X to point out that Reese is not upset with the StudBudz over their comments. 'The Studbudz have talked to Angel and she knows we don't play about her AT ALL End of Story,' she wrote. Who is Dave Portnoy? Portnoy caught the StudBudz attention when he posted on X after having watched their All-Star weekend livestream, writing, "I've never downloaded Twitch or any streaming platform in my life. That was until today. Studbudz has done more marketing for the @WNBA with their 72 hour stream than the bozos running the league have done since its inception. They are hilarious and humanize everybody.' But who is Portnoy? Portnoy is a social media personality and businessman who founded Barstool Sports in 2003. What started as a free sports newspaper with edgy, controversial content has since grown into a media empire worth half a billion dollars. Barstool Sports is well known for popular podcasts like Pardon My Take, for helping to popularize Call Her Daddy before the podcast's controversial exit, and Brianna Chickenfry's BFFs podcast before she left the network. Portnoy also made headlines in the past when he was accused of sexual assault by two women who made allegations that were made public in a 2021 Insider exposé. But it is his ongoing criticism of WNBA star Reese that has fans up in arms with the StudBudz because they feel his comments are racially charged. Angel Reese controversy explained Portnoy is a vocal fan of the WNBA and has been a Caitlin Clark stan since she was first drafted, but has directed a lot of ongoing hate at Reese. He has pushed the narrative that Angel Reese is classless, fueling the racially coded way people talk about Reese. He's called her an 'instigator, agitator, and jacka—,' has said that Reese is jealous of Clark, that she "deserved to get booed,' and has gotten angry at people who say his hatred for Reese has anything to do with race. "I'm sick of ESPN making it a race issue," he said in a video posted to X. "You have a superior basketball player who constantly has someone below taking shots at them, won't shut up, and then plays the victim. … If [Angel] didn't have Caitlin, nobody would know who she is. If Caitlin didn't have Angel, it would be the same popularity for Caitlin." After allegations were made that fans were hurling racist comments at Reese during a game against Clark, Portnoy called the WNBA's investigation into the incident 'bulls–t.' 'It's okay to have a spine @IndianaFever,' Portnoy posted on X,'The 'investigation' was bulls–t. Both you and @WNBA gave credibly [sic] to a very obvious troll. @espn ran with it. @CaitlinClark22 had to defend her fans for no reason. You made something outta nothing. @IndianaFever fans deserve better.' StudBudz fan backlash After the StudBudz's comments about Portnoy, fans quickly took to TikTok and X to criticize the pair for saying they would share their, now very large, platform with someone like Portnoy. "#studbudz threw it all away Portnoy!" "The tragic irony in this….The only reason the Stud Budz are on Portnoy's radar is because they were under Angel Reese all-star weekend & he's obsessed with her! Now they trying to make deals with the [devil emoji] because he bought a Stud Budz jumpsuit." "Before I buy anymore #wnba merch this year.. let's see what players stand by studbudz after this bs especially with them blocking people who are just trying to inform them! David Portnoy is a racist essaier whonis also homophobic!" It was fun while it lasted. I'm off them #studbudz #daveportnoy #wnba #wbb #fyp "studbudz trying to hold portnoy accountable bouta look like this" Dave is a sick man #wnba #wbb #studbudz #courtneywilliams #natishahiedeman #basketball #daveportnoy "i personally don't see what studbudz is trying to do with dave portnoy. you are not going to change his view or mind nor are you doing a service for angel . i would respect more if they said they just want to get him on the stream and call it a day ." This article originally appeared on Pride: StudBudz shoot back after facing fan backlash from Dave Portnoy & Angel Reese controversy RELATED This wild livestream seemingly confirmed nearly every WNBA relationship conspiracy The StudBudz WNBA livestream had everything from Megan Rapinoe talking strap-ons to dissing Diplo Who are the StudBudz? The basketball duo behind the 72-hour WNBA All-Star livestream
Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
Otters beat the heat with frozen fish treats at Memphis Zoo
At the Memphis Zoo, otters beat the Tennessee heat with frozen fish treats that are part snack, part cooling enrichment. The chilly bites help them stay refreshed while giving guests a fun summertime show.
Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
Pudgy Penguins drop first-ever exclusive VIBES packs at The National — with $1,000 bounties up for grabs
What do penguins, Steve Bartman and Michael Jordan have in common? Pudgy Penguins' exclusive packs at The National. Pudgy Penguins, the beloved web3 brand, has been making waves in the collectible space — both digitally and physically. Originally launched as an NFT series in 2021, the brand has steadily expanded into the physical world with toys, merchandise, and now trading cards. In 2024, they introduced VIBES — the official Pudgy Penguins trading card game — with its debut set, 'Enter the Huddle.' Now, for the first time ever, Pudgy Penguins and VIBES are releasing exclusive packs at The National Sports Collectors Convention. In partnership with Mantel and CGC, they're giving away two special edition packs: 'Be a Lil Evil' and 'Lil Who Hoops.' These sets build on their upcoming expansion, 'Legend of the Lils,' slated for release in Q3. The theme of the exclusive cards — Pudgy Metal Gems — pays homage to iconic moments in Chicago sports history and trading card culture. 'Be a Lil Evil,' Mantel's exclusive, is a nod to the infamous Steve Bartman play during the 2003 NLCS, while 'Lil Who Hoops,' CGC's exclusive, honors one of the most iconic visuals in sports: Michael Jordan's soaring All-Star Weekend dunk. Not only is this the brand's first exclusive pack drop - it also comes with some high-value bounties. Select cards in the set are eligible for $1,000 rewards. You might just pull a winner. Here's what you need to know about each exclusive pack. Vibes x Mantel 'Be a Lil Evil' Vibes x Mantel 'Be a Lil Evil' Checklist: Unnumbered Base (1000) Foil (400) Green Foil (numbered 1/99 through 10/99) Red Foil (numbered 11/99 through 99/99) How to Get Your Hands on the 'Be a Lil Evil' Packs at the National: Find Mojo Sports and take a photo with him and tag and follow Mantel, and Vibes on Instagram Story - he will have limited packs/day. Find a Mantel employee (will be wearing a Mantel hat on the show floor) and show that you downloaded the Mantel app and you will receive a pack. Come to the Mantel table at trade night and trade the Mantel team any of the following cards for a pack: PSA, Beckett, or CGC slab (any grade) 2003 Topps/Topps Chrome Basketball card 1999 or earlier Pokemon card Baseball card from 1964 Michael Jordan card Sammy Sosa Card 2003 Florida Marlins card Numbered card of a player in a Chicago team uniform. Any Mickey Mantle Card Bring and open a Vibes Enter the Huddle Series 1 Booster Box at the Mantel table at trade night and receive 5 packs. Win Big with $1,000 Bounties $1,000 offer to purchase the 'Be a Lil Evil' Card 6/99 - first person to post a selfie holding it on Mantel. $1,000 offer to purchase the 'Be a Lil Evil' Card 23/99 - first person to post a selfie holding it on Mantel. Vibes x CGC 'Lil Who Hoops' Vibes x CGC 'Lil Who Hoops' Checklist: Unnumbered Base (1000) Foil (400) Green Foil (numbered 1/99 through 10/99) Red Foil (numbered 11/99 through 99/99) How to Get Your Hands on the 'Lil Who Hoops' Packs at the National Submit any collectible item for grading at the CGC booth and receive one 'Lil Who Hoops' pack - while supplies last. Redeem $500 in Grading Credit with CGC Pull the 'Lil Who Hoops' card numbered 23/99 and receive $500 in CGC grading credit. To redeem, see a CGC representative at the show. Please note: grading credit cannot be used at the National Sports Collectors Convention. Chasing one of the Pudgy Penguins bounty packs at The National? Let us know what you're hunting for on Mantel.
