Watch a Tween Justin Bieber Predict His Pivot to R&B in 2008 Interview

Was Justin Bieber pulling a long con on us this whole time? The singer who surprise dropped his soulful, 21-song Swag album on Friday doubled-down on his seventh album’s swerve to a more spare, less pop radio-ready vibe in a throwback video he posted on Tuesday morning (July 15).

In the way back clip from a 2008 interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV’s eTalk program, Bieber, 31, is asked by the interviewer if he gets nervous when he sings. “To be honest, no, not really,” says tween JB, who was likely 12 or 13 when the chat was recorded. Looking dwarfed by the red leather chair he’s sitting on, Bieber says of his chance to showcase his talents, “I would never have thought this opportunity would happen, like, it’s out of this world.”

Flashing forward to the day when he might have some success and a recording deal, London, Ontario-born, Stratford-raised Bieber predicts that when his day comes, “I see myself doing more, like, R&B.” The video is cued to the sultry Swag between-the-sheets soul ballad “Too Long,” which features the grown man lyrics, “Yeah, sometimes I get insecure/ I be trying you know I do/ But I wanna let go/ Keep on stroking my ego while you’re stroking my…”

In the full version of the conversation, Bieber talks about playing guitar, piano and trumpet after teaching himself to strum when he was “really little,” and posting videos online of his early efforts that, at that point, were starting to rack up views. “It’s kind of weird, because I’m just like a normal person. I play sports and stuff with my friends… it’s kind of different for me,” he says shyly about the widening spotlight. He admitted then had sometimes didn’t tell his friends about his cover song videos because he just wanted to be “a regular kid.”

At the time the video was recorded, Bieber said he had just returned from hanging out with one of his musical heroes, Usher. Soon after, he would sign with his longtime, now former, manager Scooter Braun, who discovered those early YouTube videos and signed the singer to a joint venture management contract with Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG). The pair would team with Island Def Jam to release Bieber’s debut EP, My World, in Nov. 2009.

While Bieber’s career would mostly follow a pop path in the years to come thanks to hits such as breakout 2010 smash “Baby” and Billboard Hot 100 No. 1’s “Boyfriend,” “What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry,” “Love Yourself” and “Peaches,” on his first full-length since 2021’s Justice he appears to have been fully in charge of the look, feel and sound following his split with Braun in 2023.

The result is an album featuring a new cast of contributors including Carter Lang (SZA), Australian singer Eddie Benjamin, indie guitarist-singer Mk.gee and Dijon (Kanye West, Bon Iver), as well as features from rappers Gunna, Sexyy Red, Cash Cobain and Lil B on songs that get back to his early love of Usher-like balladry. On seductive, spare tracks that chronicle his turbulent personal life and struggles in the spotlight, Bieber seems to have achieved his early dream on an effort Variety said in a review, “lands somewhere in between Bieber’s greatness and his proclivity to give in to his artistic impulses, for better or worse, existing in a pocket of R&B that can often feel aimless but is nevertheless intentional.”

Check out Bieber’s clip below.