Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy (Remix)” (Feat. Justin Bieber)
Billie Eilish’s game-changing dark-pop blockbuster WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? is the second most statistically popular album of the year behind Ariana Grande’s thank u, next. (Should’ve gone with lowercase, I guess.) Its biggest hit is opening song “Bad Guy,” a minimal banger that accents trap and house music with shades of Lorde and Fiona Apple. “Bad Guy” has spent several weeks parked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 behind the seemingly unstoppable “Old Town Road,” a song that just spent its 14th week at #1. But Eilish is gunning for Lil Nas X’s crown with help from a fellow who has some experience nudging other people’s hits to #1: Justin Bieber.
Yes, the Biebs himself lends his voice to a new remix of “Bad Guy” that dropped today. Eilish is clearly excited about it; the cover art is a photo of her several years ago wearing a sparkly dress in front of a bunch of Bieber posters in her bedroom. The photo is a lot more satisfying than the remix itself. Bieber’s angelic R&B maneuvers sound entirely out of place in this context. He basically ruins a great song. Still, public curiosity alone might yield enough streams to propel “Bad Guy” to #1.
You can make your own contribution to that movement by listening below.