CULTURE

Are Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid Officially Beliebers?

The two supermodels will blow you away with their dramatic reading of Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”


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Getty Images for MTV

At this point, Justin Bieber’s “Baby” is vintage; a classic. Featuring lines with Ludacris and co-written by Christina Milian, “Baby” was the product of a then-15-year-old Bieber, still no less able to lament his heartbreaks and lady troubles despite his tender age. At the time, it was Bieber’s highest-charting track, and most of us can still sing along to its incessant chorus of “Baby, baby, baby, oh,” if not the rest of the lyrics. Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner can also now be counted among that number who can still get down to “Baby,” six years on, as they prove in this dramatic interpretation of the Bieber hit.

“You guys, this is scary!” Hadid cries to her audience as W editor-at-large Lynn Hirschberg giggles in the background. Supermodel Hadid and her best friend Jenner most recently starred on the cover of W’s 10th anniversary art issue in a project by Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin entitled “placebo pets” and its accompanying video; Jenner, too, forayed into performance art, channeling the likes of Marina Abramovic and Yves Klein. In short, the two models are no strangers to a world stage or to a watching camera, but it turns out, karaoke is a whole different matter. But stage fright or not, she and Jenner are game; they launch into their own interpretations of “Baby.” For Hadid, it’s a hearty belt, while for Jenner, it’s a more muted, deadpan delivery. Together, they put a whole new spin on the Bieber classic, finishing out their dramatic reading totally triumphant. Though pop star Bieber clearly has his pick of co-writers — he’s graduated past Ludacris, Usher, and Milian to a whole host of artists across a wide swath of genres — we think he’s found two new featured artists in his corner.

So does this make Hadid and Jenner Beliebers? Who’s to say?