Justin Bieber continues to come for blood. The phoenixing superstar cemented the beginning of his new, adult era with the premiere of the thoroughly sexy, cinematic full music video for his new single “What Do You Mean?” right after bringing the house down with an unexpectedly emotional performance at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.
Directed by Brad Furman ( The Lincoln Lawyer , Runner Runner ), the mini-movie finds the Biebs — and his much talked-about, hot new hairstyle — in his steamiest leading man role yet. The mini-film comes hot on the heels of the “What Do You Mean?” single breaking a record when it hit #1 on iTunes charts in 52 countries in less than two hours when it was released on Friday (August 28), before going on to a (so far) peak of top spots in 86 countries by the next day.
Online chatter reveals the five-minute short film has gone down a storm with Justin Bieber fans, many of whom have memed the heck out of it, amid trying to break Vevo’s record for most views of a music video in 24 hours.
Whether that record gets broken remains to be seen, but it certainly shouldn’t be a chore for Beliebers to watch their idol rock his Calvin Kleins and get shirtless and more with video love interest , model Xenia Deli, and pull off a bit of moody acting with John Leguizamo .
Team Bieber shared the “What Do You Mean?” video link on the singer’s now 67 million-followed Twitter page, when the clip went live.
The action opens with Bieber and Leguizamo standing in nuclear rain making what seems to be a shady deal, involving the exchange of cash and the hoodie-wearing singer saying he doesn’t want “the girl” to “get hurt.”
Thankfully, things become distinctly more pleasant, as the scene switches to the Biebs and Xenia getting it on at her place.
Justin and Xenia are seen rolling around in bed, while they played out the communication struggles that the singer laments in “What Do You Mean?” There’s lots of hair-touching, ab-licking, kissing, and — yes, the Internet appears to be basically here for it.
The plot get très crazy when masked men burst in on the bedroom lovemaking and kidnap the Biebs and Deli, who are then taken to a grotty warehouse which they escape from in a totally believable way.
Quick as a flash, the couple come together with their “Men from Mars, Women are from Venus” issues all forgotten in the fun, skate park rave scene at the end.
Justin Bieber doing the ‘Nae nae’ is hot af https://t.co/jlaNQ8Kkx5
— Alaina Payawal (@alainapayawal) August 31, 2015
The Biebs even does the nae-nae. Like. A. Boss.
In short: the video is a great looking romp with lots of beauty shots, barmy action, and shirtlessness.
It’s a complete change of pace from Bieber’s emotional, iconic , and Billboard -decreed best performance of the night at the VMAs , which you can read about here .
If you feel up to it after replaying the “What Do You Mean?” music video, let us know your thoughts in comments below. And get ready for a lot more Justin Bieber ahead of the release of his fourth studio album , which is expected in November.
[Images Def Jam / Universal Music Group]