Diplo Teases New Collab Between Justin Bieber and Major Lazer
After Jack Ü’s successful hits with Justin Bieber, it was only a matter of time before Diplo or Skrillex collaborated with him again.
@diplo when are we bringing this new music?
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 16, 2016
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Let me just whip up this artwork quick because this song is ????? @justinbieber X @MAJORLAZER wow https://t.co/htCsuTX9H0
— dip (@diplo) May 17, 2016
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@diplo @MAJORLAZER it's happening
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 17, 2016
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After Diplo and Major Lazer‘s successful hit song “Lean On,” we can only expect the future of their collab with Justin Bieber will be a “pop/dance” infused track. Will it be more of Justin Bieber or Major Lazer’s roots? That’s the real question. Whichever the case is, we can only expect that this track will be a chart topper.
It’s worth remembering how casual this whole rollout was. There was no press release, no label campaign kickoff — just Diplo and Bieber going back and forth in public on Twitter like a couple of buddies hyping each other up, which is honestly on brand for both of them. Diplo has always run his career a little differently than most producers at his level, treating social media like a direct line to fans instead of something to be managed by a PR team, and this tease is a pretty perfect example of that approach paying off.
Update: Diplo wasn’t blowing smoke — this one was real, and it turned out to be a monster. The track, “Cold Water,” officially arrived on July 22, 2016 as the lead single off Major Lazer Essentials, featuring both Justin Bieber and Danish singer MØ. True to Diplo’s Twitter-fueled rollout, Bieber was reportedly the one who tipped fans off before an official announcement even went out, with Diplo joking at the time that “Twitter is the only reason I know he’s excited about the song. I don’t have his number, so he Twitters at me.”
The song more than lived up to the hype. “Cold Water” debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, ending Drake’s 15-week reign at the top, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., kept out of the top spot only by Sia’s “Cheap Thrills.” It also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Brazil, and a long list of European countries, and finished as the 14th biggest song of 2016 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart. Not bad for a collaboration that started as a couple of cryptic tweets between a producer and a pop star.
