Justin Bieber's recent campaign to rehabilitate his image, and maybe go back to being considered some kind of actual pop star instead of a global joke, has had its ups and downs. Sure, his car karaoke with James Corden was endearing but it reeked of calculated attempts to reform himself, what Hannibal Buress described during Bieber's Comedy Central roast as an "extremely transparent attempt to be more likeable in the public eye." Like Buress, we hope it doesn't work.
Now, in the latest attempt to be what the kids are calling "cool," Bieber has covered Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You," one of the creepiest recorded pop songs not named "Blurred Lines." The performance has all of the hallmarks of Bieber 2 (or is it 3?) point 0, including a decided lack of horrifying hair, a shirt, and not being arrested. And it isn't musically terrible, indicating yet again that Bieber's stardom happened for a reason (in addition to his hair).
But that doesn't mean that it should win anyone over -- the song itself is still pretty horrifying, and Bieber seems to think it's a good idea to hump the floor during the performance. Perhaps worst of all, he's wearing a fedora, the widely-recognized uniform of horrible men who believe themselves to be entitled to sex for no reason other than their not being horrible predators (at least, not explicitly). By this point, there is no good excuse for wearing such a hat -- not only has the MRA signifier been around long enough to ward off any good person thinking of donning one, the only man who currently pulls them off is Matt Bomer. Justin Bieber may have found an identity even worse than raging id teen star: a crooning "Nice Guy."