Roughly two weeks after Justin Bieber made a surprise appearance at Coachella alongside Daniel Caesar, the pop superstar gave his fans another gift. Justin, 28, teamed with Don Toliver for the first time since their 2021 collab “Don’t Go” for “Honest.” The song, which you can listen to above with its accompanying video, will likely be on regular rotation throughout the summer — it’s that good.
Justin gave a preview of the “Honest” video on Aug. 27, but in a way no one thought possible. In “I Feel Funny,” published to the Lyrical Lemonade YouTube page, Justin gave a behind-the-scenes of the “Honest” video while shooting a second video for the comedy track. “This shit dicey (Ooh, so dicey) / You entice me (Yeah) / What’s your sign? (What’s your sign?) / I’m a Pisces (I’m a Pisces),” raps Justin against a very minimalistic beat. The video is Bieber goofing around in an orange ski mask, which comes off charming if not a little confusing.
“Justin randomly texted me this song one day and said ‘should we do a visual to this? song straight to number 1,’” Cole Bennett, director of the “Honest” video, explained in a statement, per Rolling Stone. “We joked around about doing a video for it but never did. A few weeks later we were doing a pick up day for a video we had recently shot, but never finished (Honest). We had a bit of time switching over from scene to scene. So, I went into his trailer and said ‘Remember that song you sent me? Let’s shoot a video for it on my phone in between takes of the actual video.’”
“Honest” continues Justin’s momentum from the prior year. Bieber dropped Justice in March 2021, roughly a year after putting out his R&B album, Changes. While Changes did give Justin a hit with “Yummy” and “Intentions,” Justice was generally better-received by critics and fans alike. It also spawned the chart-topping hit “Peaches” with Daniel Caesar and Giveon. Justin also topped the charts in 2021 with “Stay,” his collab with The Kid Laroi.
It’s unclear if “Honest” heralds a new album from Justin (which would be his seventh, which is why the project is referred to as #JB7 online.) The release could also be a way to hype up Justin’s Justice world tour. Bieber is currently on the road with the North American leg of his tour. After taking most of July off, he’ll cross the Atlantic to perform to his fans in Europe, before traveling to South America and Asia. The tour continues into next year, with the (current) final date being in Krakau, Poland, on Mar. 25, 2023.