Justin Bieber - Intentions) ft. Quavo

What this video is

Released February 7, 2020, 'Intentions' arrived one week before Bieber's album Changes and marked a pivotal moment in his post-hiatus image rehabilitation — fusing romantic pop-R&B with overt social advocacy. The video's documentary-style depiction of Alexandria House residents connected celebrity culture to the homelessness and foster care crises in Los Angeles, turning a mainstream pop single into a fundraising…

Why it matters

A landmark example of the philanthropy-pop hybrid video format that emerged in the late 2010s, 'Intentions' demonstrates how mainstream pop music videos evolved from pure promotional vehicles into multi-platform advocacy campaigns. The video's documentary realism within a pop-R&B context, paired…

The director

Michael D. Ratner is CEO and Founder of OBB Media, a vertically integrated content studio he founded in 2016. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MFA in film directing from NYU Tisch. His directing work has earned a…