Justin Bieber might have won over your ears with songs like Where R U Now and What Do You Mean? But while he might have mastered crooning four word question put over a housey beat courtesy of a shit-hot producer, he’s still, post-rebellion, to wrap his mind around the pithy interview quote.
So what happened when Complex interviewed him for their cover story? Justin spoke. He spoke a lot. And here are some of the best zingers to lollop out of that pouty, whisker-bordered mouth:
Why he’d hate himself if he wasn’t himself:
‘People don’t like when people are good at stuff. They just hate on it, and that has a lot to do with my hate in general. You see a dude who’s successful and he’s doing what he loves and people don’t take too well to that sometimes. I’d probably be the same way if I was in Canada, seeing this kid driving around in all these fancy cars and shit.’
Just how far off the rails he went:
‘I was doing anything. I was doing so many things that I shouldn’t even be on the planet still.’
Why he's got no regrets:
‘I would do it all the same way. I’m not going to say I’m sorry for the things that I’ve done because I think that it allows me to tell a story… I went through my shit, I came out on the other side, and I’m going to show you it gets better.’
His thoughts on the police officer who arrested him:
'The cop supposedly wanted to be famous for arresting celebrities…I felt it, dude. I was just like, Oh they’re trying to get me right now at any cost. I went in, and I’m telling you that 24 hours sucked. It was really cold. That was the worst part about it.’
**Justin's thoughts on other inmates at the prison he stayed the night in: **
‘There are people in there you just don’t want to be around’
Justin's thoughts on what the inmates thought of him:
What other inmates thought of him: ‘They were saying, “Bieber! We fuck with you, bro! We love you! Aye! Keep your head up, bro!” It was kind of funny to hear that, especially from cats in jail.’
On pissing in a bucket:
‘Imagine, you hear that fucking Ozzy Osbourne pisses backstage. Immediately, “Oh, he’s a freaking rock star!” As soon as I do it, “He’s being a brat.” Dude, what is bratty about pissing in a bucket? I had to go piss—we all have to pee.’
On religion:
'You don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. If you go to Taco Bell, that doesn’t make you a taco.'
On Jesus:
‘I do not want to shove this down anyone’s throat. I just wanna honestly live like Jesus. Not be Jesus—I could never—I don’t want that to come across weird. He created a pretty awesome template of how to love people and how to be gracious and kind.’
More on Jesus:
‘We have the greatest healer of all and his name is Jesus Christ. And he really heals.’
On moving in with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez aged 18:
‘It was a marriage kind of thing. Living with a girl, it was just too much at that age. But we were so in love. Nothing else mattered. We were all about each other.’
On becoming Selena Gomez:
‘My identity was in her. Her identity was in me. When stuff would happen, I would lose my freakin’ mind, and she would lose her mind, and we would fight so hard because we were so invested in each other.’
It’s deep, it’s meandering, but honestly, our favourite line is the taco line. Who doesn’t love a taco?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.