"Where Are Ü Now" is a song produced by American EDM duo

Jack Ü Jack Ü was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of electronic music producers Skrillex and Diplo, formed in 2013. They released their first official single, "Take Ü There", featuring vocals from Kiesza, on October 4, 2014. They re ...

, composed of DJs and producers

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

and

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

, with Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. The song was released as the second single from the duo's debut studio album, '' Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü'' (2015), on their respective labels

Owsla Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...

and

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. In the early 2010s, it popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music create ...

, and is also included on Bieber's fourth studio album '' Purpose'' (2015). It was released simultaneously with the album on February 27, 2015, later sent to mainstream radio on April 21, 2015. Initially, the track started as a piano ballad demo written by Bieber titled "The Most"; however, Bieber decided to send the track to the duo, who transformed the track into

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

, but maintained its original lyrics. The song main's instrumentation consists of sharp dancehall stabs and an Eastern melody. Lyrically, "Where Are Ü Now" talks about caring and praying for an ex who didn't return the favor, and longing for someone who could comfort him in his time of need. The song was featured on several year-end list of best songs of 2015, being at the top of two publications. It also won a

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

. Commercially, the song peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving both Skrillex and Diplo their first top 10 single on the chart, also giving Bieber his sixth. Internationally, the song has peaked within the top-ten of the charts in eight countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Background and recording

While writing with

Poo Bear Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, known professionally as Poo Bear, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his songwriting work for Canadian singer Justin Bieber, having been credited on each of his albums since hi ...

for his upcoming album at the time, Justin Bieber heard a demo of an instrumental piano ballad Boyd did with Karl Rubin and enjoyed it, calling it "special". Later, he and Boyd, "bounced words and melodies back and forth over an instrumental track; when they had the lyrics, Bieber sang take after take so Poo Bear could edit together the best reading of every line and every syllable." The song was recorded as a piano ballad and it took an hour and a half to be recorded. According to Bieber, he didn't want it to be raw, he wanted it to be perfect." Later, in September 2014, during

Fashion Week A fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event where fashion designers, brands, or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media which influences upcoming fashion trends for the current and appro ...

and at an Alexander Wang event, Skrillex and Diplo contacted Bieber's manager

Scooter Braun Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun ( ; born June 18, 1981) is an American businessman, investor, and record executive. Since 2023 he has served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hybe America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertain ...

claiming that they were looking for vocal tracks for the debut album by their dance duo

and asked him if Bieber had new material. Braun responded positively, claiming that he had an amazing vocal from Bieber with only piano and sent it to Diplo, without Bieber's consent. They decided to collaborate with Bieber as it would be unexpected. As ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' writer

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.Indian

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

." "Where Are Ü Now" was released as the duo's second single from their debut album '' Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü'' (2015) on February 27, 2015, and was later released as a bonus track on Bieber's fourth studio album, '' Purpose'' (2015). The original version, titled "The Most", was also released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of ''Purpose''.

Composition

"Where Are Ü Now" was written by Sonny "Skrillex" Moore and Thomas Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Karl Rubin Brutus, and Jordan Ware, and produced by Skrillex and Diplo. The song was composed in

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

with a moderately fast tempo of 140

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

and a

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of . Bieber's vocal range spans from the low note of E₃ to the high note of B₄. Its instrumentation consists in "fluterring synths", skipping tropical house beats and acres of space, as well as sharp

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

stabs and an Eastern melody. It features a prominent sound effect that Skrillex has termed "The Dolphin": a chunk of Justin Bieber's vocals that has been worked over and processed into oblivion, turning into a high-pitched squealing sound during the drop. ''

'' released a video showing how the song was assembled using

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for compos ...

. As Pareles explained, "The song opens hushed and hovering, with a stereo panning whoosh, four somber piano chords and Bieber's electronically stuttered voice, leading into a mournful verse about a friend or lover he helped, who has now abandoned him. Eventually a dance beat kicks in and a mysterious, flutelike squiggle —

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

Skrillex calls it the 'dolphin' — announces itself again and again as the vocals all but disappear,

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

just the occasional refrain, 'Where are you now that I need you?.'" He continued: "Halfway through, the track pauses, then offers another hymnlike verse; the dance beat returns, a little pushier with electronic handclaps, and the refrain and 'dolphin' carry the song to the end, with a final, echoing 'I need you the most.'" Lyrically, "Where Are Ü Now" talks about caring and praying for an ex who didn't return the favor, with Bieber yearning for compassion amidst a sea of loneliness. He sings: "When you broke down I didn't leave you/ … I was on my knees when nobody else was praying, oh Lord." In another part, he complains: "I gave you the key when the door wasn't open, just admit it ..See, I gave you faith, turned your doubt into hoping, can't deny it, Now I'm all alone and my joys turned to moping." Some critics, such as ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' Khal, pointed out that it "finds him writing what could be a note to anyone—or, ahem,

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

—who might have left him during his turbulent 2014, longing for someone who could comfort him in his time of need." For Sam Corey of ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', during the song "Bieber has been posing quite a few existential questions about his love life," noting that lyrically the song "is a serpentine trip through the emotions of despair,

codependence In psychology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced Interpersonal relationship, relationships where one person Enabling, enables another person's self-destructive behavior, such as addiction, poor mental health, Maturity ...

and anxious-ambivalence," as he recalls for his long lost love with Gomez. He also observed that the song "serves as a dark portrait of a man struggling to find himself outside of the confines of a woman's love." For Emily Yoshida of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'', "'Where Are Ü Now' is about the priceless value of the personal relationship that is forged between a fan and a pop star."

Critical reception

"Where Are Ü Now" received critical acclaim. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Jason Lipshutz included "Where Are Ü Now" in its "Top 10 Songs of 2015 (So Far)" list, stating that " is is the Justin Bieber we've been waiting for: emotive, vulnerable and smart enough to join forces with two of electronic music's most reliable maestros. The combination of Justin Bieber's moving falsetto and Skrillex and Diplo's tangled knot of beats makes 'Where Are U Now' a deserved (and much-needed) triumph." Ryan Dombal of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' wrote the track is "unexpected in all the best ways. It tones down everything you know about Skrillex while retaining his knack for dynamics. Diplo puts his own 10-ton-glowstick tendencies aside as the song combines sharp

stabs and a gloriously sad Eastern melody in a way that recalls golden-age

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

. And Justin Bieber sings with something akin to actual human emotion." Markus Papadatos of Digital Journal called it " superb", noting that the song "marks one of Justin Bieber's best vocal performances to date: it is soothing, controlled, delicate and most importantly, extremely radio friendly." Khal of ''

'' noted that "the beauty is that instead of Bieber being the main dish, he's more the icing on the cake, setting a somber tone that leads into the hypnotic, emotive track."

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''. Michael Cragg in his review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' opined that "Bieber does his best sadface

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

impression on the lovely, if underwritten rack Opening with a lilting, pretty melody on the first verse, it fizzles out by the chorus with its repeated line 'where are you now that I need you' layered over an oddly tweaked, slightly grating synth line that sounds like the mewing of a robotic cat." In her ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' review, Leah Greenblatt explained that the song is "stripped down for maximum aerodynamics, the vocals mentholated and sweetened with a brushstroke of bass here, a snake-charmer synth line there. For Bianca Gracie of Idolator, the song "solidified a genre-bending sound that was bubbling underground" and "ultimately became the best single of his career thus far." Sam C. Mac of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' observed that the song "effectively reinvented Bieber's sound," while Andrew Unterberger of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' called it "Bieber's cred-establishing and career-redefining." Dan Weiss of the same publication wrote that it "comes outfitted with an addictive bent rainforest flute thing that wouldn't sound out of place on, say, M.I.A.'s '' Kala''." Scott Wilson of ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' called it "the jewel in the crown," describing it as "a combination of slick, modern Disneyfied R&B and a synth riff that sounds like a PC Music take on

Booka Shade Booka Shade is a German house duo. It is made up of Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, described as veterans of the Frankfurt electronic music scene. They have released 10 studio albums, including '' Memento'' (2004), ''Movements'' (2006), '' ...

's 'In White Rooms'." He also referred to it as "Bieber's most memorable, and human, vocal performance to date."

Accolades

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

"Where Are Ü Now" was a commercial success, reaching the top-ten in the singer's native Canada, the U.S., and several other territories. In the United States, "Where Are Ü Now" debuted at number 97, and during its seventh week the song entered the top-forty at number 40. Five weeks later, the song jumped to number twenty, becoming Bieber's 15th top-twenty hit and his first since " Heartbreaker" (2013). It was also Skrillex and Diplo's first as lead artists. The song peaked six weeks later, reaching number eight – Bieber's first top-ten hit since " Beauty and a Beat" (2012). Later, after his performance at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, the song rebounded to number ten, becoming the first time Bieber had concurrent top 10s for the first time, since his song " What Do You Mean?" was at number-one. The song topped the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, becoming the first leader on the list for all the three artists. In the United Kingdom, the song managed to peak at number three, becoming Bieber's highest-charting single since 2012's "

Boyfriend A boyfriend is a man who is a friend or acquaintance to the speaker, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is platonically, romantically or sexually involved. A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suito ...

", Skrillex's first top-ten single out of his previous seven entries, and Diplo's first appearance as a solo artist. The song also peaked at number three in Australia and New Zealand, becoming the highest charting entries for Skrillex, Diplo and Bieber in the former. Eventually, it was certified two-times platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA) and three-time platinum by the Recorded Music NZ; it was also the ninth highest-selling single of 2015 in the latter. The song also reached the top-ten in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden.

Music video

From May 29 to May 31, 2015, there was an event held at the Jack Ü headquarters for fans to customize the photo-shoots for the "Where Are Ü Now" music video with crayons and colored pastels. Two teasers for the video were released on June 26, 2015, with Samsung+ debuting the video on June 27, 2015, and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

on June 29, 2015. According to the duo in a post on YouTube, "We are being overwhelmed, in a good way, by the success of 'Where Are Ü Now' with Justin Bieber, so with the video we wanted to just take it back to the beginning of the record and essentially create an ode to our fans. Doing what we do, it's entirely all about the fans. We walk a fine line by being 'famous' and in the public eye but we are only here because of you, the fans. Justin wrote this record during a tough time in his life and it comes to us that sometimes, as artists, we are also just objects and we have to take that as much as we have to use that to create. We all do this for you, respect that you put us here and it's Ü that made the video." As described by Brittany Spanos of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', "The video opens on an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

filled with photos of Bieber's silhouette before shifting to the singer offering an emotional delivery of the track in a dark room. Bieber eventually becomes covered in animated paint, drawings and caricatures. Back in the gallery, Jack Ü fans are providing the illustrations that are appearing over or surrounding Bieber's body as he sings and dances to the track." As noted by Emilee Lindner of

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

, "The video portrays his internal pain with soft lighting and close-shots, but also displays him as an 'object,' like Jack Ü said, switching to a time-lapse speed while people use him as a canvas for however they want to paint him as." The music video received four nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the Best Visual Effects category. As of May 25, 2024, the music video has more than 1.27 billion views and 6.2 million likes on YouTube.

Live performances

Bieber performed the song with Skrillex and Diplo for the first time at the 2015

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music Music festival, festival that takes place in March in Miami, Florida. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, but bes ...

. Bieber performed the song again during one of

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

's shows on The Honeymoon Tour. He later performed the song at the 2015 Wango Tango, at a

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

music event in Hong Kong, at Hard Fest 2015 and during a medley with " What Do You Mean?" at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. On February 15, 2016, Bieber, Skrillex and Diplo performed a "rock-oriented" version of the song at the 58th Grammy Awards. After performing an acoustic rendition of " Love Yourself", Bieber went to the main stage, with Skrillex "shredding on guitar and Diplo playing keyboard and pounding away on big band drums, flanked by a live drummer and onstage orchestrals." Moreover, "Where Are Ü Now" was also included on the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the

Purpose World Tour The Purpose World Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, in support of his fourth studio album ''Purpose (Justin Bieber album), Purpose'' (2015). The tour started on March 9, 2016, in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, and ...

. During the performance, "Bieber's crew of dancers tumbled onstage in all-white attire as women suspended in midair did acrobatics against a chrome-y, industrial video backdrop."

Samples

"Where Are Ü Now" was sampled in

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...

's single "16".

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Where Are U Now 2015 songs 2015 singles Jack Ü songs Justin Bieber songs Song recordings produced by Skrillex Song recordings produced by Diplo Songs written by Skrillex Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Justin Bieber Songs written by Poo Bear Atlantic Records singles Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording Torch songs Songs about loneliness Owsla singles Futurepop songs Tropical house songs