It’s a sweet Instagram tribute but it’s leaving some folks scratching their heads. Is it trite to ask the Biebz “what do you mean?”
Justin Bieber and Drake have known each other for a long time and yes, they both hail from Canada, but these are still some heavy compliments to lay down out of the blue.
That was back in 2011. Justin was just a baby!
Drake was looking pretty young himself.
But Justin had some flattering things to say about the Canadian rapper who first earned fame for his role as Wheelchair Jimmy on Degrassi.
He took to Instagram, posting a photo of Drake and captioned it:
“More than a rapper, a culture shifter and legend. Best of our generation.”
Like, that first part we’ll accept.
Rap is mainstream at this point, though it’s not usually my sort of music.
Is Drake a culture-shifter? Sure.
Is he a legend? That’s obviously premature.
But that’s the kind of thing that people say anyway. That’s where “living legends” come from, though they’re usually not 30.
But then there’s that second part.
“Best of our generation.”
That’s a super bold claim.
Never mind that it’s a massive claim that potentially insults all Millennials who aren’t Drake …
(Though, obviously, we have to consider that)
… Justin’s indirectly slighting some people he knows personally.
Basically, he’s insulting every girlfriend he’s ever had.
Including Selena Gomez, whose music represents the peak of human musical potential.
Maybe … maybe he just means the best rapper or musician of the generation?
That would still be an indirect slight to everyone else in the industry.
At the very least everyone else who raps.
Like, Drake is absolutely one of the biggest names in rap, but Justin’s saying that he’s the very best.
As if he doesn’t know that Nicki Minaj exists?
(Though Drake’s accidentally ignored Nicki Minaj before, too)
We get that he was excited to see Drake take the stage to host the inaugural 2017 NBA Awards, which we hear is some sort of sportsball thing.
But spontaneous declarations of admiration can sometimes rub other people the wrong way, you know?
Mostly, though, it’s sweet and dumb, which represents Justin at his best.
Also, this isn’t technically related, but let’s not forget that Drake has impersonate Bieber before for a video of his own.
Yeah, you can’t really unsee that weirdness.
If we have to live with it, so do you.
Honestly, our takeaway from Bieber’s post is that he’s sort of … well, not quite waxing nostalgic.
And certainly not philosophical.
But he’s been uncharacteristically pensive lately.
(That’s one of the side-effects of sobriety).
He posted that throwback photo to his DUI mugshot.
The Biebz was also super sweet in his Manchester tribute, earning praise from Selena Gomez herself.
Justin might not be the wisest anything in the anything, but he’s trying to be a better person.
And part of that means standing up for his friends.
So … let’s let him be sweet and see where that takes him.
