Donald Glover: “I don’t really care about [Bieber’s documentary, “Never Say
Never”] either way, but did anyone see the trailer for the movie? I didn’t see the
movie, but I did see the trailer. The trailer was awesome, [laughs] the trailer is his
mom photo, like, filming him, like, just filming him, and like, he’s a baby, like he’s
like, in diapers and stuff, he’s got a potbelly and shit and she’s like ‘do something for
the camera, honey!’ And he’s like, [high-pitched voice] ‘Mommy, look!’ And he goes
over to, like, a chair and he’s just, like bum bum baka baka boom bap bum bum baka
baka boom bap [acting out drumming] and he’s really good! He’s really good for
anyone, not just a baby, like for anyone. And, the next thing they show is a slide that
says ‘they said it would never happen.’ [pauses] Who the fuck is they? Who the fuck
saw a baby playing the drums and was like, ‘aw, yeah, that’ll never work out. Yeah,
the good-looking talented white kids, people hate those. Never works out. Justin
Timberlake, all the presidents except for one, never works out. Never. Works. Out.’”
83
Glover shares a similar sentiment to Drake. Glover compliments Bieber’s talent; he gives Bieber credit
for his drum skills. However, the joke’s premise is that white artists are more likely to succeed in terms of
chart success, popularity, units sold, and even critical acclaim because of their whiteness. In fact, when
white musicians perform black styles of music, they often succeed more than black musicians. Moreover,
black music that has been made palatable to a white audience by white artists often succeeds more than
black musicians playing styles with black origins.
In the final sequence of the video, the day-long party wraps up and Bieber lands back where he
was at the start of the video: asleep with women sprawled out on his bed, his floor trashed. The frame of
the video closes, but not before showing a photograph on the wall of a younger Bieber slouching in a
throne-like chair with a puppy at his feet. When Bieber wakes up, he realizes that his adventures were all
part of a dream. He shakes off his confusion regarding the events of the day prior and begins to walk his
dog with his wife, emphasizing their status as a normal, white suburban couple. In the last seconds of the
video, Bieber’s phone rings to a music box-like version of his teenybopper hit “Baby.” When he looks at
his phone, he sees that Drake is calling. In an instant, Bieber wonders if his adventures were, perhaps, not
part of a dream and in fact, real events that occurred. However, per Drake’s signifying, the video’s ending
indicates that Bieber’s living in Drake’s shoes was indeed a mere fantasy, dreamt while asleep. Bieber’s
83
Donald Glover, “Donald Glover - Justin Bieber - 5/5/2011 - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA,” Paste Magazine,
July 7, 2014, video, 1:49, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2EP6R0QoqA.