Justin Bieber Sampled Martin Luther King, Jr. On New ‘Justice’ Album For Educational Purposes
During his welcome party on the Clubhouse app and after being called out for it, Justin Bieber revealed that he sampled Martin Luther King, Jr. on his new ‘Justice‘ album track “2 Much” for educational purposes. Specifically, Bieber used Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “But If Not” sermon that he gave at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia in November 1967.
On Tuesday (Mar. 30), Bieber entered into his first-ever Clubhouse room and during the conversation, one of the Bieber Nation co-founders, Kristal Terrell, asked JB how he believes music plays a role in social advocacy. The 27-year-old popstar began to explain, using his MLK Jr placement as a way to showcase his social growth, “amplify” MLK Jr’s speech and pay homage to the legendary Black Civil Rights activist.
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In a room of about 8,000 people, Bieber said, “Being Canadian,… they didn’t teach us about Black history. It was just not a part of our education system. I think for me, coming from Canada and being uneducated and making insensitive jokes when I was a kid and being insensitive and being honestly just a part of the problem because I just didn’t know better. For me to have this platform to just share this raw moment of Martin Luther King in a time where he knew he was going to die for what he was standing up for.” Elsewhere, Dr. King’s daughter Bernice King defending JB.
Bieber goes on to say, “I want to keep growing and learning about just all social injustices and what it looks like for me to be better, what it looks like for my friends to be better. And I know I have a long way to go. I love that when people are listening to my album, these conversations are coming up and they’re like, ‘Well, how is he going from Martin Luther King into a love song?'”
He adds, “I’m not trying to make a connection between me and Martin Luther King. That’s why I never try to talk about social injustice or I didn’t want to be the one to talk about it because I just have so much more learning to do. But I have this man who was ready to die and what he believed to be true. If I’m not willing to face some sort of ridicule or judgment of people wondering my motives or whatever that is, for me, it was a no brainer.”
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Thank you, @justinbieber, for your support, in honor of #Justice, of @TheKingCenter’s work and of our #BeLove campaign, which is a part of our global movement for justice. #MLK #EndRacism https://t.co/nTkR1XdcvW
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) March 18, 2021