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Post Malone & Moxie Raia To Open For Justin Bieber’s ‘Purpose Tour’ In North America

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 22:29 PST, Mar 7, 2016

Post Malone and Moxie Raia have been announced as Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour openers on its North American leg, which kicks off in Seattle, Washington, on March 9.

The Prince of Pop’s highly anticipated tour will play two dates at the Key Arena in Seattle before moving on to 64 dates across the United States and Canada. More details below.

If there were any lingering doubts about Justin Bieber’s transition to an adult audience with his wildly successful and acclaimed latest album Purpose, his decision to bring out deeply credible but not widely known artists Malone and Raie as opening acts on his tour should silence such chatter.

Rapper-singer Malone made his name with his breakout 2014 hit “White Iverson,” which began its online run on SoundCloud before picking up momentum and record company interest, finishing at No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. It’s now approaching double platinum status. In January, Post tweeted that his full-length debut album will drop in March.

Malone guested on Kanye West’s new album The Life Of Pablo and should now significantly broaden his audience with the massive exposure he gets from opening on the North American leg of the Biebs’ Purpose Tour. Post and Justin hung out at the CaliBash Urban Music Festival in Los Angeles two months ago.

“Got something special coming @postmalone,” the Canadian singer teased in his caption to an Instagram snap of the pals, which appeared to have taken at the event. Naturally, it sparked collaboration speculation.

Bieber and Malone were seen celebrating Justin’s recent 22nd birthday at his Bel Air party. The rapper was also part of the superstar’s boys-only trip to a wilderness location days after the L.A. bash.

In another Instagrammed moment, Bieber and Malone are seen larking about with a supersized fork and knife.

“Go bestfriend that’s my bestfriend,” the singer captioned the photo.

Newcomer singer-songwriter Moxie Raie first surfaced in 2014 with her counter-culture debut single “Buffalo Bill.” More recently, she released “On My Mind” with Pusha T. In addition to features with Steve Aoki, Jimi Tents, Moxie is set to drop her 931 mixtape on March 23.

Last night, Raia took to Twitter and Instagram to share her Bieber opening act news. Alongside a screenshot pic of Purpose tour dates with her name as support she wrote, “And then this happened.”

Raia’s gorgeous voice and R&B material and Malone’s hip-hop set are rich textural adds to Bieber’s tour, which is great for audiences who have bought (or will be buying) tickets.

As per Pigeons and Planes, Raia will be the opening act on the first night in Seattle on March 9. She will also be the only supporting act at four other dates when the Purpose Tour hits Canada. See those dates here.

Malone won’t be opening at the Biebs’ first show, as he’s currently supporting on Fetty Wap’s Welcome To The Zoo tour. Post’s first opener for Bieber arrives on March 13 in Portland, Oregon. From there, the singer’s 64-date tour will include Toronto, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, and Chicago before wrapping with up a two-night run at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on July 19.

Justin and his new Purpose Tour band and dancers are now in Seattle ahead of opening night after finishing up technical rehearsal in Eugene, Oregon. Dan Kanter, longtime guitarist and Bieber’s former musical director, and production manager James “Srappy” Stassen revealed they won’t be on the tour in statements posted on Twitter earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Bieber has just set a new record as the fastest male solo artist to reach one billion views on VEVO with his “Sorry” dance video. In so doing, he has broken the previous record set by PSY with “Gangnam Style.”

The “Sorry” dance video tallied over one billion views in 137 days by the morning of March 7, breaking the 158-day record previously held by Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” “Sorry” is the second single from Bieber’s Purpose album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart after its official November 13 release.

The tropical house banger was co-produced by Blood and Skrillex, who also co-wrote the track along with Bieber, Justin Tranter, and Julia Michaels. It topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for three non-consecutive weeks earlier this year. More on the records set and broken by Purpose and its singles can be found here.

Adele remains the overall fastest artist to reach one billion views. “Hello” hit that number in January in just 87 days.

If you’re an established Justin Bieber fan or a new fan of the singer, tell us how you feel about Post Malone and Moxie Raia as Purpose World Tour openers in comments below. To see all the Purpose Tour dates so far, click here.

[Images via Kevin Mazur / Getty Images]

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