Redeeming features: why the Strategic Bieber is every hit single’s secret weapon right now

Last week, the highest charting Latin crossover hit in years finally established itself as a #1 on the TMN Hot 100. Despacito (Remix) overthrew DJ Khaled’s I’m The One and leads ahead of Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus. Following the remix’s service to radio it was widely adopted by commercial radio, taking #2 Most Added on the week of service (losing out only to Niall Horan’s Slow Hands) six weeks ago.

The original version has managed to stay as the worldwide Shazam #1 for eight weeks. Further to that, it’s taken out #1 in 45 different countries while also becoming the most predominantly Spanish song to top the Billboard 100 since Macarena.

While the track was already a smash without Justin Bieber’s feature, his contribution to the remix is undeniably what made it click with Western audiences. It helps highlight a reoccurring trend in 2016 and 2017: what the TMN office has dubbed the Strategic Bieber.

Before we move ahead, it’s worth keeping in mind that Justin Bieber’s last release as a lead artist was 2015’s #1 ARIA album Purpose, which featured Hot 100-dominating singles Sorry (#3) and What Do You Mean? (#1) and turned many an unsuspecting casual pop fan into Beliebers overnight.

Since then there have been no releases as lead artist from Bieber, but a fair few notable features, especially in 2017 – all of which have helped push the track or artist in various ways. Four Hot 100 #1s in the past year have featured him as a vocalist, only one of his guest spots in the last 12 months (the underwhelming Post Malone cutDeja Vu) hasn’t been a worldwide smash.

Starting in 2016, he contributed lead vocals on Major Lazer’s Cold Water, also featuring MØ. Providing their first big commercial hit following the record-breaking Lean On, which also featured MØ, it started the trend of the ‘strategic Bieber’. The track went on to hold #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks, and the clip has racked up over two billion views on YouTube.

DJ Snake (also credited on Lean On) deployed the Strategic Bieber on one of the biggest hits of 2016, Let Me Love You, which peaked at #2 on the ARIA Singles chart and #1 on the Hot 100.

Next comes DJ Khaled’s I’m The One. Also featuring Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne, it’s by far the most success Khaled has ever seen with a single in Australia. At #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks on top of being ARIA’s #1 single (before being dethroned by, of course, Despacito’s Bieber-featuring remix) and is one of the biggest tracks of 2017 thus far.

And last week’s Most Added track to radio, David Guetta’s 2U, also features the Strategic Biebs in full earnest croon mode. Added to every commercial radio network in Australia, it scored a debut at #22 on the TMN Hot 100 with just a week of airplay – an impressive feat – and has just debuted at #2 on the most recent ARIA Singles chart.

The time between releases is usually dedicated to touring and writing; but in Bieber’s case, and arguably most major label priorities, the standard industry schedule can be a little less rigid. The phenomena of successful feature after feature isnot unique to Bieber, but he has definitely been the most prominent featuring artist in recent memory. While MØ has definitely had a møment, the rapid rise of Migos as the de rigueur guest of the moment is likely the only competition here, with Migos as a group and Quavo’s solo endeavours also racking up a hefty feature count. But Migos are also a new act, benefiting from the enormous amount of hype around them, whereas Bieber’s far from a novelty.

Bieber’s distinctively light voice is instantly recognisable, yet versatile: he can sound emotional and earnest with cracks at the edges, or cheeky and youthful with his breathy enunciations. This makes him easily suited for various kinds of features and has seen him work on tracks spanning dancehall, R&B, hip hop and dance-pop to great effect.

It’s possible that at this stage in his career, Bieber is trying to shed the pre-teen heartthrob-turned-bad boy image that grew out of his younger releases and antics. The direction he moved in on Purpose no doubt aided that cause, and this recent flood in features shows that he is an artist capable of collaborating, as he works with other big names to push out heavy-hitting pop releases that don’t always feature him front and centre.

That said, he’s still one of the biggest stars in the world, and while there may be some strategic PR advantage to this run of feature-hopping before he dives into his next solo album cycle, there’s no denying that the commercial payoff for any collaborator with “(ft. Justin Bieber)” after their artist credit is greater still.

Whether the Bieber bubble bursts, he beats a retreat into a quiet period of writing, or he rides it straight into his next record, it’s proving to be a winning strategy.