Justin Bieber delivered a message to critics and haters Wednesday: Either love me, or leave me alone. He didn't actually use Jay Z's lyrics, but he did echo the rapper's sentiment from 2003's The Black Album when he told Los Angeles's Power 106 that the hard copy of Complete My Journals would be his last collection before retiring from music.
The host asked the pop star what his plans were now that his "Music Mondays" series has ended, and Bieber gave a surprising response.
"The new album... I'm actually retiring," he said. "I'm retiring man. I'm just gonna take some time. I think I'm probably going to quit music."
Although everything mentioned above is completely true, we feel the responsibility to inform readers that most sources have interpreted this statement as being in jest. It should be noted that Bieber mentioned "the new album" before switching directions suddenly, plus he later mentioned "growing as an artist" and allowing his "music to mature" later in the interview. We don't want any mass Belieber suicide on our hands.
If the performer did in fact claim retirement from music, he would be setting a high standard even compared to Jay Z. The rapper released eight albums before beginning an unusually short hiatus, whereas Bieber has only released five (including one Christmas LP). Jay was also 34 when he claimed retirement (still awfully early to call it quits), whereas Bieber is 19.
Complete My Journals will drop as a complete album on December 23, although true Beliebers have already had the chance to download every track during the run of the "Music Mondays" series.
