Justin Bieber is taking a trip down memory lane to celebrate the release of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ new project, The Love Album: Off The Grid.
The “Confident” artist recalled a time before the fame when he tried to offer his talents to Diddy but was shut down.
“I remember going to my brother Diddy’s office to pitch him a song I wrote for him when I was like 14, sadly the song was trash haha,” Bieber said on his Instagram Story on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, “it would be a hard no from him,” as Bieber put it. However, the Canadian superstar is proof that a dream deferred is not always a dream denied.
“Fast forward to a few years ago Puff asked if I would freestyle something for his upcoming love album. Wild full circle moment, love you @diddy,” the 29-year-old concluded.
Diddy’s new album was released on Friday and features a long list of top-tier talent, including Bieber. The two collaborated on the song “Moments” — the Biebs included a screenshot of the ballad playing on his phone for the Instagram Story post.
The “Hello Good Morning” hitmaker’s last LP came in 2006 with Press Play.
For The Love Album, in addition to Bieber, Diddy recruited Fabolous, Jazmine Sullivan, 21 Savage, H.E.R., The Weeknd, Kehlani, Mary J. Blige and many more for the 23-track body of work.
Ahead of the album’s release, the Bad Boy founder received the Global Icon Award at the 2023 VMAs on Tuesday.
“This is what’s up. Love wins ya’ll. Love wins. This is so surreal, I appreciate ya’ll coming and giving me my flowers and celebrating me,” he said during his acceptance speech while proudly holding his Moon Person trophy. “Of course I have to thank God because that’s my secret weapon. This is a dream come true for me. I grew up watching MTV like, ‘Man, I wish one day I could be up there,’ and I started out as a paper boy. I didn’t know I was going to be here.”
And like Bieber, Diddy’s game plan also changed early on. The New York native spoke about how an injury to his leg crushed his dreams of making it as an NFL athlete.
“I got depressed. I would be in the clubs dancing in New York doing my Diddy bop. And then people would see me and they would cast me for videos,” he said. “You gotta keep dreaming. Sometimes we get hit with those hard things.”
“God made another choice, and I thank God for this choice that he made,” Diddy, 53, added. “For me to touch you with my music.”
In addition to Bieber sharing his gratitude for the “wild full circle moment” between himself and Diddy, he also teased more new music on his Instagram Story — this time with SZA.
On Friday, he posted the acoustic remix of her single “Snooze.”
Late last month, he appeared in the music video for the track as one of several love interests for the songstress.
[Source: People]