The worst part of being a popular artist is that it can strip you of your humanity. You become less of a person and more of a commodity. What can you do for me? What have you done for me lately? Where’s the new music? The experience can feel a little too transactional, especially when you’re just trying to live. Ultimately, the industry and the fans can grind you to dust and then call you crazy afterwards for not wanting to play the game anymore. Consequently, artists like Justin Bieber end up feeling used and abused.
This is especially the case for him, who came into celebrity as a child star who was viciously hated by kids and adults alike. Sure, Bieber was still loved by little girls and people who didn’t look at him with hate in their hearts. However, mix that visibility with a tough music industry, and his mental health deteriorated. Now, with the spirit of Christmas in his heart, the SWAG singer is reflecting on his experiences.
Justin Bieber Speaks Out About His Struggles in the Music Industry
Recently, he made a series of posts on Instagram, in which the pop star reflected on his time in the music industry. “I grew up in a system that rewarded my gift but didn’t always protect my soul,” Bieber writes. “There were moments that I felt used, rushed, shaped into something that I didn’t fully choose. That kind of pressure leaves wounds you don’t see on stage.”
Ultimately, Justin Bieber admits that, through his immersion into Christianity, he’s learning to heal. “I’ve carried anger. I’ve asked God why,” he says. “But Jesus keeps meeting me in the middle of the pain […] not excusing what hurt me, but teaching me how not to become bitter.”
Then, he continues in the name of healing, noting the immense amount of pain he went through to get here. The pain doesn’t dictate his life. It’s merely context for his story. “I’ve been through pain that shaped me before I had the words to name it. I was in a system that took more than it protected. But I’m not speaking as someone still broken,” Justin Bieber stresses. “I’m speaking as someone Jesus has already healed. What happened to me was real. But it doesn’t get the final word.
By the end of the post, Bieber says he doesn’t wish evil upon the music industry that caused him so much pain. Instead, he wishes to alter its complexion, to invite more humanity into the space.
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