Nobody asked for it, but it’s here. Justin Bieber used his standard slot for covers on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge to cover Tupac Shakur. To the Biebz credit, he didn’t completely lose his mind and do “Ballad Of A Dead Soulja” or “Hit Em Up” (Leave that to SpongeBob). Instead he settled on the much more chill and acoustic-cover friendly “Thugz Mansion.”
And Bieber also knew better than to embarrass himself and go full “Feel me!” with his delivery, instead offering a laid-back version that’s about half-a-notch above reading the lyrics off a printed sheet of paper on the energy scale. Still if folks got mad over Bieber wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, we can’t imagine how they’re going to react to a Makaveli cover. Check it out up top.
The coffeehouse set also included takes on Bieber’s recent hits “Let Me Love You,” “What Do You Mean?” and “Love Yourself.” He also played his Major Lazer collaboration “Cold Water” and snuck another cover in that — while not entirely expected — is much closer to de rigueur for acoustic sets: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Justin took over from his guitar player for his take on the 1988 track and he did a pretty good job of it (after a few false starts). Watch that below.
(Va The Fader)
