| "Hold Tight" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Justin Bieber | ||||
| from the album Journals | ||||
| Released | October 21, 2013 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | The Audibles | |||
| Justin Bieber singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Hold Tight" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his second compilation album Journals (2013). It was released on 21 October 2013, as the third single from Bieber's series Music Mondays, following "Heartbreaker" and "All That Matters" (released on October 7 and 14, respectively).
On 17 October 2013, Bieber announced the release of "Hold Tight" via his Instagram account. In the posting, he revealed the artwork for the single and announced that it would be released on 21 October. [1] Of the song's concept, Bieber explained: "I am a hopeless romantic so when I love someone, I never want to let them go. This song is about the rush you get when you have that feeling. No matter how hard you try, you can’t let that person go. You just want to hold on as tight as you can. I tried to capture that with this one." [2] The songwriter of "Hold Tight", Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, revealed in an interview with Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times , that he had been skeptical about collaborating with Bieber for "Hold Tight".
Justin wanted 'Grip Tight,' a pulsing, dirty club track that I had prepared for my own solo project. I told Mr. Bieber: "You’re 18, and it’s a very sexual song. You can’t go from singing 'Beauty and a Beat’ to ‘Grip Tight’ ", but evidently nobody ever told him no. We just got closer and closer. Then a light bulb switched in my head, and I was like, wait a minute, I’m a songwriter — I can always write more songs.
Jason Boyd changed "Grip Tight" to "Hold Tight", and the song became their first collaboration. [3] [4]
"Hold Tight" is a mid-tempo R&B song. [5] Lyrically, Bieber describes the "addictive power" of a woman's lips. [6] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times noted that "Hold on Tight" could possibly be addressing his on-again/off-again relationship with Selena Gomez. [7] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard wrote that Bieber "sorrowfully delivers each syllable". [8]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| HitFix | C [9] |
The song was met with generally mixed reviews. On a more unfavorable review Melinda Newman of HitFix criticized the fact that it has "no change in tempo" and opinioned that Bieber’s delivery seems forced. She concluded that "if you’re a Bieber fan who dreams of getting your boy in a lip lock, this song will probably work for you". [9]
On 1 January 2014, Justin Bieber released a video for "Hold Tight" via his YouTube channel. The video features concert footage of Bieber performing "One Less Lonely Girl" to the live audience during his Believe Tour in Asia. When Bieber performs the song with the musical background, he invites one or two girls on stage to be the object of his affection or the "lonely girl" during the performance. He holds their hands and hugs them tight while they are both on stage.
Bieber performed the song on the acoustic guitar with Dan Kanter at the 2015 Wango Tango [10] and on the French television for Le Grand Journal (Canal+) . [11] Moreover, "Hold Tight" was also included on the set list for the Purpose World Tour. [12]
| Chart (2013) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [13] | 48 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [14] | 40 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [15] | 23 |
| Belgium Urban (Ultratop Flanders) [16] | 5 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [17] | 29 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [18] | 23 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten) [19] | 1 |
| France (SNEP) [20] | 46 |
| Germany (Official German Charts) [21] | 56 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) [22] | 14 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) [23] | 19 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [24] | 25 |
| UK Singles (OCC) [25] | 28 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 [26] | 29 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) [27] | Gold | 500,000 |
| ||
| Country | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States [28] | October 21, 2013 | Digital download | Island |
Daniel Joseph Kanter is a multi-instrumentalist, musical director, performance coach, and multi-platinum-selling songwriter/producer from Toronto, Ontario. He is the musical director and former lead guitarist for Justin Bieber. Kanter has written and produced numerous songs and albums – most notably co-writing and co-producing the song "Be Alright" on Bieber's album Believe, and co-producing Bieber's albums My Worlds Acoustic and Believe Acoustic. Kanter has also directed and performed with Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes, Drake, Bob Weir, Ariana Grande, Logic, Usher, Julia Michaels, Keith Urban, and Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish. He was a judge on the YTV singing competition TV show The Next Star and the CBC music competition TV show Searchlight. He is the host of the CBC show Guitars In Hand with Dan Kanter.
"As Long as You Love Me" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber from his third studio album, Believe (2012). The track features American rapper Big Sean. It was written by Eric H, and was produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Andre Lindal. It was first released on July 10, 2012, as a promotional single from the album, and one month later it was released as the album's second single.
"Beauty and a Beat" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber from his third studio album Believe (2012). It features rapper Nicki Minaj, who co-wrote it with Savan Kotecha, Max Martin and Zedd. It was also produced by the latter two with a heavy drum machine and "rushing" synthesizers. Lyrically, it speaks about Bieber wanting to take his love interest to a club, where they can "party like it's 3012". It is the only song from Believe that Bieber did not co-write. The song became the third official single from the album.
"Heartbreaker" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber from his second compilation album, Journals (2013). The song was produced by Bieber, Maejor Ali, T-Minus, and Chef Tone, who served as co-writers with Xavier Smith. Bieber penned the song in 2013 on his Believe Tour, writing it for people going through a heartbreak as he was at the time. After announcing the song on June 3, 2013, the singer shared a preview on July 19. It was released for digital download and streaming as the lead single for the album and the first in Bieber's Music Mondays series on October 7, 2013, through Island Records. An acoustic R&B ballad with elements of pop, it prominently features an emo melody and chords.
"All That Matters" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber from his second compilation album, Journals (2013). The song was produced by Bieber and Andre Harris, while co-produced by D.K. the Punishers, all of whom served as songwriters alongside Poo Bear. Bieber wrote it to show how someone you love can make you feel whole, conveying love as a strongly important feeling. After he teased the song on October 10, 2013, it was released as the second single of the album and Music Mondays on October 14, through Island Records. An R&B ballad and love song with elements of blues, its instrumentation includes acoustic guitar.
"Recovery" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his second compilation album, Journals (2013). The song was released on October 28, 2013, as a digital download. The song is the fourth in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first three being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters" and "Hold Tight". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013.
"Bad Day" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, which appears on his second compilation album Journals (2013). It was released on November 4, 2013, The song is the fifth in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first four being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters", "Hold Tight", and "Recovery". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013.
"All Bad" is a single by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released on November 11, 2013, The song is the sixth in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first five being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters", "Hold Tight", "Recovery" and "Bad Day". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013. The song has been subject to controversy due to interpretations of it being a diss track towards American singer Taylor Swift.
"PYD" is a single by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, featuring vocals from American singer R. Kelly. It was released on November 18, 2013. The song is the seventh in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first six being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters", "Hold Tight", "Recovery", "Bad Day", and "All Bad". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013.
"Roller Coaster" is a single by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. Released on November 25, 2013, the song is the eighth in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first seven being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters", "Hold Tight", "Recovery", "Bad Day", "All Bad" and "PYD". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013. The Swedish Jazz Fusion band, Dirty Loops, covered the song on their album Loopified
"Change Me" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber from his second compilation album Journals (2013) discussing his life after the world turned on him was released on December 2, 2013. The song is the ninth in Bieber's series Music Mondays, the first eight being "Heartbreaker", "All That Matters", "Hold Tight", "Recovery", "Bad Day", "All Bad", "PYD" and "Roller Coaster". Bieber released a new single every week for 10 weeks from October 7 to December 9, 2013.
"Confident" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, featuring vocals from American rapper Chance the Rapper. The song is taken from Bieber's second compilation Journals (2013). Written by Bieber in addition to Kenneth Coby, Maurice "Verse" Simmonds, Chancelor Bennett and produced by Soundz, "Confident" was released as a single on December 9, 2013, by Island Records, as the tenth and last song from a ten-week digital download campaign entitled Music Mondays, in which one new song was released every Monday night, held from October 7, 2013 to December 9, 2013.
Journals is the second compilation album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released through Island Records on December 23, 2013. The album features guest appearances from R. Kelly, Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne, Future, and Big Sean. Journals is a R&B album that sees Bieber mostly deal with themes of heartbreak and forgiveness in a romantic relationship. To achieve a more mature sound, production was handled by a variety of record producers, such as new producers Poo Bear, Maejor Ali, Andre Harris, D.K. the Punisher, Soundz, and the Audibles, as well as previous producers Chef Tone, T-Minus, Diplo, Darkchild and Sir Nolan. A ten-week digital download campaign entitled Music Mondays, in which one new song was released every Monday night, was held from October 7, 2013, to December 9, 2013. In addition to the songs released on Music Mondays, Journals is also composed of five other previously unreleased songs. The recording sessions took place while Bieber was on his Believe Tour (2012—2013), which generated one or two songs a day throughout the entire tour.
"Where Are Ü Now" is a song produced by American EDM artists Skrillex and Diplo under their collaborative effort Jack Ü, with vocals from Canadian singer Justin Bieber. 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 and Mad Decent, 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.
"What Do You Mean?" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album Purpose (2015). The song was released on August 28, 2015, as the album's lead single by Def Jam. The song was produced by MdL and co-produced by Bieber. It was featured in several year-end lists of best songs of 2015. Commercially, the song topped the charts in several countries, including Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. In Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, "What Do You Mean?" was Bieber's first number-one single. The song's music video features Bieber in bed with a young woman, Xenia Deli, and masked men kidnapping them, as well as an appearance from actor John Leguizamo. Since its release Bieber has mentioned that the song is about his relationship with Selena Gomez.
Purpose is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released through Def Jam Recordings and School Boy Records on November 13, 2015, as the follow-up to his 2012 album Believe. The album features guest appearances from Big Sean, Travis Scott, Halsey, Skrillex, Diplo, and Ariana Grande. The deluxe version was released simultaneously on the same day. It features an extra guest appearance from Nas. Production was handled by Bieber himself, Skrillex and Diplo from Jack Ü, BloodPop, Benny Blanco, the Audibles, Soundz, Mike Dean, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Andre Harris, among others.
Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, better known by his stage name Poo Bear, is an American songwriter, singer, and music producer. He is best known for being one of Justin Bieber's main collaborators, having co-written many of Bieber's hits, and for co-writing the song "Caught Up" from Usher's diamond-certified album Confessions (2004).
"2U" is a song by French DJ and record producer David Guetta, featuring vocals from Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The song has EDM elements. It was written by Justin Bieber, Poo Bear, Cesqeaux and its producer Guetta and Giorgio Tuinfort. It was released on 9 June 2017 by What a Music, as the lead single from Guetta's seventh studio album, 7 (2018).
"Hard 2 Face Reality" is a song recorded by American record producer Poo Bear, featuring vocals from Canadian singer Justin Bieber and American rapper Jay Electronica. The three artists wrote the song with Dan Kanter and Kenneth Coby, the former of which produced the song with Poo Bear. It was released on April 6, 2018, as the lead single from Poo Bear's debut studio album, Poo Bear Presents Bearthday Music.
"Don't Go" is a song by American record producer Skrillex, Canadian singer Justin Bieber, and American rapper and singer Don Toliver. It was released as a single through Atlantic Records and Owsla on August 20, 2021. Production was handled by Skrillex and Harv, while the vocals were handled by Bieber and Toliver. All four wrote the song alongside Poo Bear, Beam, Aldae, Carlton McDowell, Jr., Jordan Douglas, and Drew Gold.
... and there was some great singing on "All That Matters" and "Hold Tight," which he performed backed only by musical director and guitarist, Dan Kanter.
... 12. "Hold Tight"...
