Justin Bieber reminds booing crowd that Chevrolet has deemed him a serious artist

By Sean O'Neal | May 20, 2013 | 5:02pm

Aux Features Music

After months in which the press struggled to find something interesting in Justin Bieber wearing a gas mask, abandoning his monkey to German prison, and inducting the ghost of Anne Frank into his fan club, last night’s Billboard Music Awards finally spawned a far more compelling Justin Bieber story—that of the artist being rewarded for his craft. Bieber was on hand to receive the Milestone Award, an inaugural trophy sponsored by Chevrolet that celebrates “the ingenuity of this year’s hitmakers” and the fact that “ingenuity” is a word Chevrolet is really into right now. At long last, here was the recognition that Bieber’s music is every bit as exciting as the Chevy Impala, his career as unshakeable as the American auto industry. But despite its more than a century of producing reliable cars, not everyone had faith in Chevrolet’s ability to pick today’s most innovative musical artists. Indeed, many in the audience started booing.

“I’m 19 years old. I think I’m doing a pretty good job,” Bieber said, reminding the crowd and himself of the incredibly early age at which he’d already achieved a Chevrolet trophy, something most artists go their whole careers without. “And basically, from my heart, I really just want to say, it should really be about the music, it should be about the craft—the craft that I'm making. This is not a gimmick,” Bieber continued, pointing emphatically to the "heart" region of his leather V-neck T-shirt, while the light sparkled off of his oversized aviators and giant gold necklace, and his dropped-crotch pants rippled and expanded in the breeze—a leather battle flag, flying for the cause of art.