Justin Bieber Channels *N Sync In “Boyfriend” Music Video
Justin Bieber "Boyfriend" RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG
Teen Pop superstar Justin Bieber has finally released the highly anticipated music video for his latest hit single, “Boyfriend.” Music video director Colin Tilley was first hired to direct. Tilley had previously worked with Justin on the videos for his 2010 singles “U Smile,” and “Never Let You Go”. Tilley also hooked up with Bieber while working with another frequent collaborator, of his, Chris Brown. Tilley was the visionary behind Brown’s big budget apocalyptic video for his duet with Justin,“Next To You “. Justin teased Tilley’s video for “Boyfriend virally on Vevo and as a guest on NBC’s The Voice,
However despite the millions of hits and exposure through one of the most popular shows on television, Tilley’s version of the video was ultimately scrapped and Bieber’s team had to quickly reshoot the video. Island Def Jam hired video director “X”, formerly known as “Little X”, or “Mr. X” to take on the project. X has recently been the man behind the hit videos “Glad You Came”, and “Chasing The Sun”, by another Island Def Jam act, UK boy band. The Wanted.. So when it came time to give the “Boyfriend” video an emergency reboot, X was the man to turn to.
The new version of the video was filmed on April 21st and April 22nd, and was finally released via MTV promotional platforms on Thursday May 3rd. Tilley’s original teased version can be seen in the beginning as two girls watch it on a smart phone, and the camera then Panned into X’s version of the video. While Tilley’s version is dark, abstract, and full of women like his work with Diddy-Dirty Money, and Sean Garrett, it appears that X found inspiration from another Teen Pop/R&B act.
X’s version and the final version of the “Boyfriend” video still shows Justin outside surrounded by dancers and on lookers. It also shows the group sitting in various cars as JB sings to a girl that resembles his real girlfriend, Selena Gomez. Aside from a couple of obvious performance differences, this concept looks remarkably similar to *N Sync and Nelly’s 2002 music video, “Girlfriend.” This is particularly interesting because *N Sync’s Justin Timberlake was in a bidding war in 2008 to sign Bieber to is label, Tennman Records, but lost out to Usher and Island Def Jam. Timberlake was also a huge influence on Bieber musically as well, one of the videos JB got famous for was an acoustic cover of JT’s hit, “Cry Me A River.” *N Sync’s “Girlfriend” music video came at a time when the group was going in a more mature direction, and Timberlake had more creative involvement. Is Justin Bieber the next Justin Timberlake? Only time will reveal the answer to what many people have already predicted to be true. Many music fans are still just waiting to see what JB does, since his forthcoming album, Believe is technically only his second album. (excluding his holiday album, Under The Mistletoe) But until Believe is released on June 19th, enjoy the video below.
Justin Bieber
“Boyfriend”
From Believe
RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG
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