Justin Bieber - Never Say Never ft. Jaden

What this video is

Released on May 27, 2010, as the theme song for the Hollywood remake of The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith, 'Never Say Never' exemplifies the peak of the YouTube-to-mainstream pipeline that launched Justin Bieber's career. The song and video function simultaneously as pop single, cross-promotional film marketing, and cultural document of early social-media celebrity. The video's candid, low-budget studio aesthetic…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of early 2010s teen pop's entanglement with Hollywood franchise marketing. The track blends pop, R&B, and hip-hop and demonstrates the commercial power of cross-media synergy between the music industry and studio film, while also documenting the jerkin' dance trend and the…

The director

Honey is the professional directing alias of Nicholas Brooks, active in music video direction in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The video was produced through Partizan, a prominent international production company. Brooks is credited on IMDB and IMVDb under…