"Wandered to LA" is a song by American rapper and singer

Juice WRLD Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He emerged as a leading figure in the emo rap ...

and Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. It was released on December 3, 2021, under

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

and Grade A Productions as the second single from Juice's fourth studio album ''

Fighting Demons ''Fighting Demons'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was posthumously released by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on December 10, 2021. The album features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Polo G, Trip ...

'', which was released posthumously. Juice and Bieber wrote the song with American record producers

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, ...

and

Harv Bernard Harvey (born August 17, 1985), known professionally as Harv, is an American record producer, musician and songwriter from Kansas City, Kansas and based in Los Angeles. He has produced for music industry artists such as Justin Bieber, Sk ...

and Israeli songwriter and producer

Omer Fedi Omer Fedi (; born 25 March 2000) is an Israeli record producer, songwriter and musician from Tel Aviv. He has co-written or produced songs such as " Mood" by 24kGoldn, " Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" by Lil Nas X, " Unholy" by Sam Smith, and ...

; Juice had first previewed the song in September 2018, before Bieber was added to it.

Composition and lyrics

"Wandered to LA" is a "glossy

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

" song that is set in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

with a tempo of 135 beats per minute. Writing for '' GQ'', Grant Rindner felt that the song was "true to the artist Juice was becoming"; in the chorus and his verse, Juice details his love for consuming drugs, while Bieber details his effort to make a relationship work in his verse.

Release and promotion

On December 2, 2021, what would have been Juice's 23rd birthday, his team announced the single's imminent release along with Bieber being added as the co-lead artist. A trailer video was also released on the same day, which details Juice and Bieber separately talking about their respective previous drug addictions and advising their fans to speak out about loneliness.

Critical reception

Writing for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', A.D. Amorosi praised Bieber's verse on "Wandered to LA" and said that it was one of his favorites on ''Fighting Demons'', stating "the gently jiving and soulful track is there to support Juice's jazziest-ever vocal line, with Bieber offering up a similarly slippery sing-song-iness," adding that "as a guest shot, Bieber and Juice sound as if they're playing off one another – the very point of what a dynamic feature should sound like, whether or not its host is living or deceased." Kyann-Sian Williams of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' opined that over the "breezy guitar strums" of the song, the two artists "detail their relationships", acknowledged Juice rapping about "dark themes" in his verse ("Maybe it's because the lies, they fill her up / You see the ghost on her front porch"), but did not agree with Bieber's contribution to the song as the "lines and melodies" in his verse, "although sweet, don't fit in so well with such gothic tone of the song" (“Reminiscing about the days you broke my heart / Thankful that we worked it out – we come so far").

Charts

Release history

References

{{Justin Bieber songs 2021 singles 2021 songs Juice Wrld songs Justin Bieber songs Song recordings produced by Harv Song recordings produced by Louis Bell Songs released posthumously Songs written by Harv Songs written by Juice Wrld Songs written by Justin Bieber Songs written by Louis Bell Songs written by Omer Fedi