They teased the video on Twitter yesterday, and now it's here: Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj's collaboration, "Beauty and a Beat," has some visuals.
In a cheeky move, the video begins with text that recounts an "October 2012" theft -- a reference to (supposedly) real-life laptop-swiping that has led to rumors announcing the existence of nude photos of the young popstar. Much of the video sees Bieber holding a camera aimed at himself, so they really ran with the theme here.
Bieber's publicist said the laptop was actually stolen, despite Bieber's tweets from Friday morning:
The track, another wrinkle in pop music's appropriation of EDM-inflected breakdowns and basslines, is off Bieber's latest disc, "Believe." There's a dance break where Bieber works through some light choreography, and Minaj raps over what anyone who knows nothing about dubstep will call a "dubstep breakdown."
Though the video is filmed at a waterpark, there is a brief scene depicting scantily clad women dancing on stripper poles. That's not particularly notable, except that this is a Justin Bieber video, so it appears the folks behind the Biebs are ready to start edging him toward a more mature audience. (Similarly, it makes sense that Minaj is allowed to say "bitches" in her verse.)
Watch the video above.
