Justin Bieber And Billie Eilish Address The Links Between Race And Genre

within the past week, as international demonstrations in support of Black lives and against racial injustice and violence have grown to unprecedented numbers, Justin Bieber has used his Instagram page to share his own support. He's posted that "all lives never matter up until Black lives matter" plus a guide to being an anti-racist ally, also and how to honor Breonna Taylor on what would have been her 27th birthday on June 5.


On Sunday (June 7), though, Bieber talked out about his own relationship to Black culture, namely how he's "benefitted" from it, and why he's aiming to better use his platform right now. "I am inspired by [B]lack culture," he wrote. "I have benefitted off of [B]lack culture. My fashion, how I sing, dance, perform, and my style have all been influenced by [B]lack culture."


Bieber continued: "I am devoted to using my platform from this day forward to learn, to speak up about racial injustice and systemic oppression, and to calculate ways to be a segment of much needed change."


The pop/R&B singer's note hit social media just a number of days immediately after his one-time collaborator (and massive Bieber fan) Billie Eilish talked out about the ties between race and music genre in a new profile for British GQ. "Don't judge an artist off the way someone looks or the way someone dresses," she mentioned, agreeing with comments Tyler, the Creator made backstage at the 2020 Grammys — an event just prior to this story's interview date. "Wasn't Lizzo in The perfect R&B category that night [at the Grammys]? I mean, she's more pop than I am."


"Look, if I wasn't white I would probably be in 'rap,'" Eilish continued, referencing the fluidity of her sound, crafted alongside her brother, Finneas, which draws heavily from the rattling low end of contemporary hip-hop. "Why? They just judge from what you look like and what they know. I think that is weird. The world wants to put you into a box; I've had it my whole career. Just because I am a white teenage female I am pop. Where am I pop? What segment of my music sounds like pop?"


Eilish also addressed her own race as it related to her history-making Grammy wins. "Then there's the other side of this whole thing: People shitting on me because I am white. 'Oh, she's white, that's why she won,'" she mentioned. "You know what? I agree with the sentiment; I get why people mention that."


Eilish has also shared her support for Black Lives Matter on her Instagram page, including through the a long note she posted last week where she called out the "All Lives Matter" crowd: "You are privileged whether you like it or not. Society gives you privilege just for being white."


Read Bieber's note in full above, and visualize Eilish's full interview with British GQ right here.