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Justin Bieber · S1 E2
The Busker
A twelve-year-old sets up outside the Avon Theatre in Stratford with a guitar case open on the sidewalk
A twelve-year-old sits cross-legged on the sidewalk outside the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, with a guitar twice the size of his lap. A woman drops a coin in his case, stops, and stands there for the next four songs.
"Somebody to Love" remix ft. Usher (Justin Bieber, official music video, 2010). The energy in this track is what Justin was building on that Stratford sidewalk: the drive to make strangers stop, turn around, and stay. Usher on the remix is a preview of the mentor who would change everything.
Somebody to Love, Justin Bieber (2010)
Tricky Stewart and The-Dream built Justin a track with Motown energy and modern R&B polish. The vocal arrangement stacks his voice in layers, creating a wall of harmony from a kid who was fifteen when he recorded it. Listen for how the backing vocals are all Justin, multitracked to sound like a full choir. One kid filling a room the same way he filled a sidewalk.
Sources
Stewart, Tricky & The-Dream. Production credits, My World 2.0, Island Records, 2010.
The Sidewalk Stage
Every weekend, Justin sets up outside the Avon Theatre with his guitar case open and plays for anyone who'll stop. He covers Ne-Yo, Stevie Wonder, Chris Brown, whatever he thinks will make people pause. Some days he makes twenty dollars. Some days he makes enough to take his mom to dinner.
Sources
Bieber, Justin. "First Step 2 Forever: My Story." HarperCollins, 2010.
Mallette, Pattie. "Nowhere but Up." Revell, 2012.
TAP TO REVEAL: What happened when Justin entered a local singing competition?
“He would sit out there for hours. People going to the theatre would stop and listen, and they couldn't believe this little kid could sing like that. He'd come home with his guitar case full of coins.”
— Pattie Mallette, paraphrased from "Nowhere but Up" (Revell, 2012)
Avon Theatre, Stratford, Ontario
Home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Justin busked on the sidewalk outside, playing covers for theatregoers who expected Shakespeare and got a twelve-year-old singing Ne-Yo.
The Busker Years
Favorite Girl, Justin Bieber (2009)
"Favorite Girl" was one of the first songs Justin performed in front of strangers, and it ended up on My World. The vocal is sweet and unforced, the sound of a kid who's been singing on sidewalks and doesn't know how to fake it yet. After hearing about the Avon Theatre and the guitar case full of coins, this track sounds like a snapshot of exactly that moment.
Favorite Girl, Justin Bieber (2009)
"I always knew you were the best, the coolest girl I know." Justin recorded this at fourteen, and the simplicity of the lyrics is the point. No clever wordplay, no studio polish on the sentiment. Just a teenager saying what he feels, the same way he did on the sidewalk outside the Avon Theatre.
What was the name of the YouTube channel where Pattie uploaded Justin's early performances?
Pattie keeps uploading Justin's covers to the "kidrauhl" YouTube channel, mostly for family to watch. Next episode: one of those videos catches the attention of someone who was looking for something else entirely.
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