Justin Bieber's presence in our Times Square studio for the 30-minute special "Bieber Live" was cause for celebration, expertly timed with the release of his new album, Believe, which arrived in stores today.
Bieber kicked off the MTV News special with a stripped-down performance of "Die in Your Arms," which, in addition to inducing frenzied screams from the 100 lucky fans in the audience, set the tone for an insightful and lighthearted look into how much of himself Bieber put into the new album.
Speaking to his inspiration for the dance track "All Around the World," featuring Ludacris, Bieber said he was introduced to more and more dance music throughout his world travels and wanted to be able to showcase it in some way on Believe.
"I wanted to incorporate it somewhat into my music and not overly use it," he said. "But I felt like 'All Around the World' has that melodic feel to it, but also that dance feel, so I felt that was the perfect song for me."
Bieber said he is grateful Ludacris was able to contribute to another one of his songs.
"To reunite with him was awesome," Bieber said of Ludacris. "All my fans now love Luda because of 'Baby,' so having him back on this song was great. I'm taller than him now," he added with a smile.
The 18-year-old was also happy to surprise the audience with two special gifts: a copy of Believe and a bottle of his new fragrance, Girlfriend, which he described as being "not too fruity, nice and flowery."
"I told them they have to smell like all of my fans," Bieber said of what he wanted the perfume manufacturers to incorporate in the fragrance. "Not too fruity, nice and flowery. There's a cherry scent in there. In each bottle of Girlfriend, there's a little bit of my sweat, it's a secret ingredient," he joked.
In closing, Bieber thanked his devoted fans, but also offered up a message to those who aren't yet fans or haven't given him a chance.
"I was very involved in the process [of making this album] — I played instruments, produced, wrote — so I want people to know it's not all hype," he said. "I want people to know I've been working hard on my music. Focus on the music. Don't think I'm just this product pushed out there. I work hard, and music is really important to me. I see a lot of hate online, which is inevitable, but at the end of the day, I'm just trying to prove them wrong by making good music."
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