Purpose (Justin Bieber album)
Purpose
is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter
Justin Bieber
. It was released on November 13, 2015 by
Def Jam Recordings
and
School Boy Records
. It serves as the follow-up to Bieber’s third studio album
Believe
(2012), and it was developed after the release of his collection
Journals
(2013), which saw him in a more
R&B
direction. The album was created over a period of two years, in which Bieber struggled to find a musical direction for recording, scrapping each of these tracks many times. The album features guest vocals from
Travis Scott
,
Big Sean
and
Halsey
, and production help from
Skrillex
and
Diplo
. With the help of his personal friend and frequent collaborator
Jason Boyd
, Bieber started writing and recording with the idea of making an inspirational album that could encourage people through uplifting messages during a period of all his media scrutiny and his involvement in various misdemeanours, as well as his relationship with his former girlfriend
Selena Gomez
.
While working with
producer
Skrillex
, who has also been working along with his then-partner
Diplo
into their project
Jack Ü
, releasing their top 10 single ”
Where Are Ü Now
” (2015), featuring Bieber’s vocals, Bieber found the record’s sonic direction and worked with Skrillex on a handful of the album’s songs.
Purpose
was described as a mix of
dance-pop
and
EDM music
as well as including influences of
tropical house
in some tracks and live instruments such as
acoustic guitars
in some others, while lyrically addressing subjects such as
apologies
and
faith
. The album received generally favorable reviews from most
critics
, who praised its sound and deemed it his best album to date. Other critics, however, criticized its lyrical content, felt that the album focused excessively on his requests for forgiveness, and found him tiring.
Skrillex
played a pivotal role on the album’s direction, producing six songs.
Critic/Publication
List
Rank
Ref.
The 40 Best Albums of 2015
17
The 10 Best Pop Albums of 2015
7
The 20 Best Albums of 2015
15
20 Best Pop Albums of 2015
11
The 25 Best Pop Albums of 2015
15
Purpose
iTunes Store
pre-order edition (bonus track)
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Length
14.
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Levy
- MdL
- Bieber
3:24
51:37
Purpose
Spotify
edition (bonus track)
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Length
14.
“What Do You Mean?”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Levy
- MdL
- Bieber
3:24
51:37
Purpose
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Length
14.
“Been You”
- Bieber
- Boyd
-
Josh Abraham
- Green
- Oliver “Oligee” Goldstein
- Saul Alexander “A.C.” Castillo Vasquez
- Abraham
- Oligee
- Maejor
- A.C.
3:19
15.
“Get Used to It”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Green
- Abraham
- Ely Weisfield
- Hartikainen
- Gudwin
- Vasquez
- Abraham
- Hartikainen
- Maejor
- A.C.
3:58
16.
- Bieber
- Boyd
-
Andre Harris
- Donovan “DK The Punisher” Knight
-
Nasir Jones
- Harris
- Boyd
- DK The Punisher
3:22
17.
“Trust”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Jackson
- Jackson
- DJ Tay James
3:23
18.
“All in It”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Jackson
- Levy
- Gudwin
- Jackson
- MdL
- Gudwin
3:51
66:06
Purpose
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Length
19.
“Hit the Ground”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Tucker
- Moore
-
Andrew Watt
- Louis Bell
-
Brian Lee
- Skrillex
- Watt
- Bell
3:48
20.
“The Most”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Rubin Brutus
- Ware
- Wallace Joseph
- Ware
- Brutus
3:20
73:14
Purpose
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Length
21.
”
Home to Mama
”
- Bieber
- Watt
- Gudwin
-
Cody Simpson
- Sam Hook
- Tom Strahle
- Strahle
- Gudwin
3:23
22.
“What Do You Mean?”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Levy
- MdL
- Bieber
23.
“What Do You Mean?”
- Bieber
- Boyd
- Levy
- MdL
- Bieber
-
^
signifies a co-producer -
“Get Used to It” was mislabeled as “Get Used to Me” on early CD pressings.
- Korey Aaron – assistant
- Henrique Andrade – engineer, assistant, mixing assistant
-
Chelsea Avery –
A&R
-
Axident –
producer
- Jennifer Beal – package production
- Philip Beaudreau – trumpet
-
Justin Bieber –
executive producer
, lead vocals, producer - Big Sean – featured artist
-
Benny Blanco
– instrumentation, producer, programming - Blood – producer
- Jason Boyd – A&R, producer
- Scott “Scooter” Braun – A&R, executive producer, producer
- Leesa D. Brunson – A&R
- Chris Burkard – photography
-
Maddox Chhim –
mixing assistant
-
Leroy Clampitt –
bass
- Simon Cohen – engineer
- Josh Connolly – engineer
- Tom Coyne – mastering
- Mike Dean – producer
- Diplo – featured artist, mixing, producer
-
Theron Feemster –
piano
- Chris Galland – mixing assistant
- Jimmy Giannos – keyboards
- Mark “Exit” Goodchild – engineer
- Josh Gudwin – A&R, engineer, mixing, producer, vocal engineer
- Halsey – featured artist
- Brandon Harding – mixing assistant
- Nico Hartikainen – producer
- Seif “Mageef” Hussain – production coordination
- Mark “the Mogul” Jackson – piano, producer
- Samuel Jacquet – engineer
- Steve James – producer
- Jaycen Joshua – mixing
-
Dominic Jordan
– drums - Terese Joseph – A&R
- Ryan Kaul – mixing assistant
- Ian Kirkpatirck – producer
- Andrew Luftman – production coordination
- Manny Marroquin – mixing
- Randy Merrill – mastering
- Julia Michaels – background vocals
- Zeke Mishanec – assistant, mixing assistant
-
Chris “Tek” O’Ryan
– engineer, vocal engineer - Teddy Photo – background vocals
- Jimmy Powers – guitar
- Andy Proctor – package production
- Johannes Raassina – engineer
-
Usher Raymond IV
– executive producer - David Rodriguez – assistant
- Gregg Rominiecki – engineer
- Jon Schacter – assistant
- Bart Schoudel – engineer
- Andreas Schuller – percussion
- Ike Schultz – mixing assistant
- Chris Sclafani – engineer
- Travis Scott – featured artist
- Jessica Severn – graphic design, packaging
- Cooper Sebastian – graphic design, digital
- Sasha Sirota – bass
- Skrillex – A&R, featured artist, mixing, producer
- Jeremy Snyder – producer
- Derrick Stockwell – mixing assistant
- Big Taste – producer
- Trevon Trapper – background vocals
- Dylan William – vocal engineer
- James Wong – guitar
- Andrew Wuepper – mixing
-
^
The alternative cover was reportedly created by Bieber’s team after several Muslim nations across the Middle East, as well as Indonesia, took issue with Bieber being shirtless in the artwork and flaunting his cross tattoo, promoting Christianity.
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