Justin Bieber’s attempt to confront paparazzi has gone viral—but not for the reason he probably hoped.
While leaving Soho House in Malibu on Friday, June 12, Bieber tried to assert himself using AAVE slang, telling a photographer, “I’m a dad, I’m a husband. You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?”
The awkward phrasing quickly turned into meme material, with social media lighting up over the pop star’s misuse of the slang.
“Black folks really have other groups of people sounding crazy trying to keep up,” journalist Nicolas-Tyrell Scott commented.
The phrase “standing on business” has been around for decades but saw a major boost in popularity thanks to Drake’s 2023 track “Daylight,” with comedian Druski frequently using it afterward. Meanwhile, “clocking”—which means “noticing” or “recognizing”—is also commonly used within transgender and nonbinary communities to refer to identifying someone as trans.
Justin Bieber’s clashes with paparazzi have been happening more often this year, with the singer repeatedly setting firm “boundaries” and warning photographers that he’s “not to be fucked with.” He’s also dismissed public concern over his mental health, telling fans to focus on their own lives instead.
