Maps of Music

Changes (2020)

Where the lyrics of Changes take you, and where it was really made.

Changes debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, yet its first-week sales were far below those of Purpose, the album it followed.

Place unknown

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Changes is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber
Released 14 February 2020, Valentine's Day, through Def Jam Recordings and RBMG
Follows Bieber's previous album, Purpose (2015)
Guest appearances from Quavo, Post Malone, Clever, Lil Dicky, Travis Scott, Kehlani, and Summer Walker
Pop and R&B album that contains elements of trap music
Poo Bear handled production on every track
Other producers include Sasha Sirota, Tainy, Josh Gudwin, the Audibles, Kid Culture, Harv, Pierre, Laxcity, Boi-1da, Vinylz, CVRE, Jahaan Sweet, Philip Beaudreau, Tom Strahle, the Messengers, Sons of Sonix, and Joshua Williams

Bieber appeared at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, joining Ariana Grande on stage for his 2015 single 'Sorry' and announcing that a new album was coming soon
On 27 October 2019 he said the album would arrive before Christmas if his Instagram post reached 20 million likes; the post did not reach that number, was later deleted, and the release was postponed
Justin Bieber: Seasons, a 10-episode docu-series, premiered on 27 January 2020 and was described as an in-depth look at his musical creation process
On 8 February 2020 Bieber gave his first Saturday Night Live performance in seven years
The album was originally going to be supported by the Changes Tour, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Bieber later embarked on the Justice World Tour to promote Changes and its successor, Justice (2021)

The album title and cover were revealed on 28 January 2020, along with the promotional single 'Get Me' featuring Kehlani
Design and packaging credited to Jessica Severn and Chris Shelley; photography by Joe Termini

Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, born in London, Ontario and raised in Stratford.
He was discovered by Scooter Braun after Braun found his 2007 YouTube covers, and signed to RBMG, a joint venture of Braun and Usher, later with Island Records.
His debut EP My World (2009) and debut album My World 2.0 (2010) topped the US Billboard 200 at the time, making him the youngest solo male to do so in 47 years.
Believe (2012) marked a shift from teen pop to dance-pop and R&B; by age 18 he had five US number-one albums.
Purpose (2015) produced three US Billboard Hot 100 number-ones: Love Yourself, Sorry and What Do You Mean?.
Later albums Changes (2020), Justice (2021), Swag (2025) and Swag II (2025) continued his chart success.
He is estimated to have sold over 150 million records and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

He has won 2 Grammy Awards, 8 Juno Awards, 2 Brit Awards and 26 Billboard Music Awards.

Metacritic: average score of 57 from sixteen reviews, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'
Rolling Stone listed the album among the worst albums of 2020, calling it pure filler apart from 'Intentions'
AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave an overall positive review, particularly praising Bieber's vocal skills
Variety's Jeremy Helligar praised Bieber's voice and the production as flawless, but found the album lacking room for exploring demons or expressing joy
Los Angeles Times' Mikael Wood described it as a low-key set of gentle electro-R&B jams
Pitchfork's Jayson Greene gave it 4.5 out of 10
Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos gave two stars, calling it a one-note toast to marital happiness
NME's Hannah Mylrea gave two stars, writing that the album is a disappointing comeback
The Independent's Roisin O'Connor gave two stars
Insider's Courteney Larocca and Callie Ahlgrim praised the vocals but dismissed the lyrics, calling the album ultimately a snooze fest
Vice's Emma Garland said the songs often fall flat, with no tension and no build
Clash's Nick Roseblade said the album is not exciting or dynamic and suffers from a lack of variation

Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 231,000 album-equivalent units, including 126,000 pure album sales in its first week
First-week on-demand US streams of the tracks: 135 million
Bieber's seventh US number-one album; became the youngest soloist to reach seven at age 25, previously Elvis Presley at 26
Second week: number four, 66,000 units; third week: number six, 62,000 units
Purpose sold 649,000 units in its first week, far more than Changes
Debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart, Bieber's second UK number one
IFPI ranked it the 8th best-selling album of 2020 globally
Certified platinum by the RIAA
Nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards; 'Yummy' nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance
Billboard named it one of the 50 best albums of 2020 (so far) in June 2020

The album was originally planned to be supported by the Changes Tour, which was first set to begin on 14 May 2020 in Seattle before being postponed
Bieber released a series of dance videos for each track, titled 'Changes: The Movement'
Bieber's first Saturday Night Live performance in seven years on 8 February 2020 introduced by host RuPaul, performing 'Yummy' and 'Intentions' with Quavo appearing for his verse
The 2019 Coachella appearance with Ariana Grande came shortly before Bieber announced the album, which was then delayed after the Instagram like target was not met