A water park in San Dimas, a suburb of Los Angeles, becomes an accidental film set. Justin Bieber, the Canadian pop singer, is filming himself with a GoPro Hero 2, while an international synchronized swimming group called Aqualillies moves through the water behind him. On October 24, 2012, the single 'Beauty and a Beat' officially arrives, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj.
Songwriters and production credits
The song is the third official single from Bieber's album Believe, and it carries one strange distinction: it is the only track on the album that Bieber did not help write. The credited songwriters are Max Martin, Anton Zaslavski, known as Zedd, Savan Kotecha, and Onika Maraj, which is Nicki Minaj's real name. Martin and Zedd also produce the track, pushing Bieber into EDM and electropop territory.
Bieber's own idea for the song was simple: he wanted a woman rapper on it, and he considered Minaj the best choice. Her verse gives the track its sharpest pop-culture hook. Minaj mentions Bieber's then-girlfriend Selena Gomez with a line about a 'Selener', a wink that fans immediately caught.
Lyrics, tempo and critical reception
The lyrics set the scene: Bieber wants to take his love interest to a club to party like it is 3012. The music backs that up with a tempo of 128 beats per minute, a key of A minor, and a chord sequence of F, Dm7, Am, and Gsus. Critics were split: some praised Bieber for reaching a new audience, while others dismissed the lyrics and Minaj's rap.
Before the video existed, the song made a modest first impression. After the album Believe came out, 'Beauty and a Beat' debuted at number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to digital downloads. That was not a disaster, but it was not a hit. The song needed something visual to change its story.
The stolen-footage video premise
The video arrived on Bieber's YouTube channel on October 12, 2012, and it was built on a strange premise: three hours of Bieber's personal footage had supposedly been stolen and leaked by an anonymous blogger. Bieber came up with the plot himself and co-directed with Jon M. Chu. Most of the footage was shot by Bieber with a GoPro Hero 2, with some parts filmed on an Olympus Tough TG-1.
The clip turns the water park into a chaotic, first-person party. Aqualillies perform in the pool, and the stolen-footage idea gives the whole thing a rough, intimate energy. After the premiere, the song shot back into the Hot 100 and climbed to number 5. By June 2026, the video had passed 1.3 billion views on YouTube.
The song's chart life showed how much the visual mattered. In Canada, the single reached number 4 on the Canadian Hot 100, and it entered the top 10 in more than 40 countries. 'Beauty and a Beat' also hit number 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart and number 2 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart. What started as a digital-download afterthought became a global dance-pop event.
The live history of the song kept it alive long after 2012. Bieber performed it at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that year and later at Wango Tango in 2015. In 2026, he placed 'Beauty and a Beat' in his early-hits set at Coachella, and the performance sent streams of the track climbing sharply around the world. The stolen-footage video had done its work: a pop star's experiment with a dance producer and a female rapper had become a permanent part of his live show.