(MTV) When Justin Bieber needed a four-on-the-floor dream team to add some EDM flair to his June album release, Believe, he looked no further than pop gurus Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and Lady Gaga's pal, dance music wunderkind Zedd.
The result is "Beauty and a Beat," a restless, pounding pop tune tailor-made for a night out on the town, complete with some lyrical sass from fierce MC Nicki Minaj. But, if you think that gifting the single to Bieber was an automatic "yes" for 23-year-old Zedd, you'd be wrong.
"It was very professional. We didn't start from scratch because I had a track done, which is now 'Beauty and a Beat.' I made the song and I didn't know who to give it to," the DJ/producer told MTV News at AVALON Hollywood during the L.A. stop of the Poseidon Tour with Porter Robinson about how the track landed on Bieber's lap.
"And Bieber was actually the first, or his people hit us up. They heard the song and they were like, 'Please, let's try it out.' And I wasn't convinced at first, to be completely honest," he further explained. "But then it started with the fact that he was early in the studio, which just never happens — like never happens. And then he was just extremely fast. He nailed the song in an hour and sounded amazing. And then it was no question for me. I don't need to try someone else out if I know this is right."
The song is currently burning up radio and the video, which was co-directed by Jon Chu, is also busting records. After getting released last Friday, Vevo has confirmed that the singer's new video managed to get 10.6 million views in its first 24 hours, surpassing the record held by One Direction's "Live While We're Young" clip.
And by Wednesday (October 17), that number had nearly tripled. As of press time, the video had more than 27 million streams. The video premiered last week as the last step in his elaborate virtual prank on his fans. Days before the video premiered, he claimed that he had a computer stolen containing personal footage during a tour stop last week. Turns out, there was no robbery, and the "footage" eventually made it online in the form of that music video.
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