Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 03/07/2011 at 2:30 PM News

The Popdust Files: drake, justin bieber, selena gomez

Justin Bieber made headlines over the weekend with his simple tweets of the phrase “I miss you” to various friends and well-wishers—including, most notably, honey Selena Gomez—but he was getting far more per-character mileage out of a tweet-spree of his favorite Drake lyrics. Bieber touched on Drizzy standards like “Successful,” “Over,” and “Shut It Down” before opening the discussion to his fanbase.

Yet one gets the feeling that The Biebs was consciously avoiding some of Drake’s more reflective lyrics—ones that would have perhaps hit a little too close for the Ontarian heartthrob. For instance:

• “When I hear ‘em talkin’, I just don’t know what to make of it / Hate is so familiar to me, I’m slowly embracing it.” (“Fireworks“) Dedicated to Miley Cyrus and her SNL costars. Bieber could take the jabs at his hair, mannerisms and swagger-coach-employment to heart, but he’d probably live longer if he simply accepted it in the spirit of gamesmanship. Wasn’t the first time, won’t be the last.
• “Yeah girl it’s on / You know what it is when I finally make it home / I just hope you miss me a little when I’m gone.” (“Miss Me“) A natural follow-up to Bieber’s initial tweet to Miss Gomez, merely asking for a tiny bit of reciprocation. For what it’s worth, Gomez did respond, though her message of missing “all of y’all” lacks something of the personal touch Bieber was likely hoping for.
• “I wish I wasn’t famous / I wish I was still in school.” (“Cece’s Interlude“) #lolrite #cmonson
• “Damn, I swear sports and music are so synonymous / Cause we wanna be them and they wanna be us.” (“Thank Me Now“) Bieber certainly proved the former with his (somewhat ill-gotten) MVP performance at the recent NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, while all others involved in All-Star Weekend seemed to prove the latter by their constant fawning over him, and their repeated, embarrassing references to “Bieber Fever.” (To be fair, though, Bieber may be closer to being able to pull off the switch than many.)
• “I mean paparazzi on me, trying not to get called out / They always seem to catch me with the women that I brought out.” (“Unforgettable“) You didn’t really think you were going to make it this entire article without seeing that picture of Bieber flipping off the paparazzo, did you?
• “I swear I got this shit that makes these bitches go insane.” (“Over“) Well…yeah.