Every New Zealand #1 single…
1
Yummy by Justin Bieber
Topped the NZ chart for 2 weeks from 20 January 2020
Justin Bieber
Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was discovered via YouTube. His mother uploaded videos of Bieber singing onto the video platform. Eventually, entrepreneur Scooter Braun saw one. Bieber reached the US top 20 with his debut single ‘One Time’, released at the age of 15.
I’d have picked him to be a flash in the pan. But Bieber’s successfully maintained a blockbuster career in the fickle pop industry. All six of his albums have topped the charts in the USA and Canada. While I have strong opinions on many other blockbuster pop artists of the 21st century, I’m on the fence about Bieber so far.
‘Yummy’ was a comeback for Bieber – the lead single from Changes, his first new album since 2015. Bieber had recently got married, and the song is an ode to his wife. It’s certainly the height of romance!
Bona fide stallion
Ain’t in no stable, no, you stay on the run
Ain’t on the side, you’re number one
The Controversy
‘Yummy’ is a banal song, but it’s somehow controversial. Conspiracy theorists linked it to “Pizzagate”, the QAnon name for a supposed worldwide cabal of paedophiles and human traffickers. Someone posted a social media comment asking Bieber to touch his hat if he was a victim. Bieber adjusted his beanie, inadvertently popularising the #savebieber hashtag.
My verdict
‘Yummy’ is among the weakest NZ number one hits. The hook is irritating, and the lyrics are banal. Bieber’s vocal performance is strong, but wasted on a disposable song.
Somewhere between “Hotline Bling” and a Cadbury’s jingle, the song relies on Bieber repeatedly cooing “you got the yum, yum, yum, yum” and “yeah babe, yeah babe, yeah babe (yeah babe)”. Listen to it and you might find yourself blurting out your most guarded secrets – so efficient is it as a means of torture. The upsettingly generic lyrics are purpose-built to hook in phone addicted tweenagers to dance along to in between Juul rips.
Annie Lord, The Independent
You’d assume releasing a trash lead single would be a career killer. But Bieber has merrily continued his pop success.
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One could say that this single started the 2020 pandemic. That’s how bad this is.
LOL, that sounds reasonable. You could maybe make a link between the song and eating bats?
I personally don’t think bats are yummy but yet again I’ve never tried it.
With Bieber, I’m sure there’s talent there… right? But at the same time I couldn’t name a single one of his songs that I’ve ever enjoyed.
I haven’t heard that many, but I like ‘Holy’ and ‘Love Yourself’.
Graham…you have made some of my favorite comments on my blog. One of my favorites was on the Herman Hermits…the only post I did of them…it stuck with me and it still makes me laugh…I’m going to use it here!
“I feel like I agree with your choices 90% of the time, but this is one of the 10%.” …that is classic!
Do you disagree with the 1/10?
The randomiser chose it – it’s not a recommendation.
I was just playing Graham…I know you do these based on a series….but no I’m not a fan of his.