Everybody these days is obviously too cool to appreciate the music of Justin Bieber unironically, but what if he were sent back in time to dominate pop music in the ’80s? That seems to be the question that a YouTube user named TRONICBOX is answering by remixing some popular tunes and forcing them through a big-haired, Day-Glo-colored filter. The end results are surprisingly listenable, assuming you can tolerate the unholy combination of Bieber lyrics, ’80s-style production techniques, and a lo-fi flourish that makes it sound like they’re an artifact from an alternate reality where people had to put up with The Biebs a few decades ahead of time.
You can hear “What Do You Mean It’s 1985” below, along with Bieber’s original “What Do You Mean.”
TRONICBOX also has a 1985 spin on Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time” and some gameplay videos from Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X, which you can see over on YouTube. (For an extra treat, listen to the 1985 remixes while watching the Flight Simulator videos and see if they line up or something.)