Justin Bieber, Diplo and Skrillex's hit single "Where Are Ü Now" has been one of the songs of the summer. Originally a marriage between two very different parties, the collaboration bridged together the worlds of pop, EDM and a hint of hip-hop perfectly for the biggest tracks on Skrillex and Diplo's recent Jack Ü album. The three artists sat down with the New York Times to break down exactly how they made the song, step by step, playing various pieces of the song.
In the past, the three artists have shared the same story over and over again in broad strokes about how the song came to be. Skrillex and Diplo met Justin at a club during New York Fashion week and pitched the idea for a song. Then Justin sent over the vocals and piano for "Where Are Ü Now" and the two producers did their thing to make it what it is today.
However this goes deeper, as they share the original version that Bieber and his co-writer Poo Bear sent over. After hearing it, you can hear the sincerity in the Canadian singer's voice and why they went with it. Diplo described it as an "earworm."
Bieber spoke about where the inspiration came from. "Now that I am 21 and going through some hardships, you can hear that in my voice."
Skrillex shares some of the other versions that they made, which some of them are cool and others it is good that they were not the final one.
Everyone has wanted to know how the "flute" sound was made. It is actually Bieber's voice pitched, distorted and processed a lot, giving it a little extra humanity.
The track has helped Bieber crossover into a more adult fan base that he has been unable to touch in the past. One moment that helped him realize that was possible was when the Canadian performed with Kaskade in Las Vegas and saw the adult crowd jumping with him as he sang the track live.
Skrillex ends the video on a deeper note about electronic music and society.
"I think it's so cool that we still live in an era that people think that people have no talent if they make computer music. It just shows how young it still is and how relevant it is going to be for a long time. It's so rebellious in a lot of ways."
