Prince dissed Justin Bieber in lost interview before his death

If Justin Bieber thought Prince wouldn’t be able to answer back now that he’s dead, the Canadian pop star has another think coming. The American music superstar, who died at the age of 57 in April, basically questioned Bieber’s talent in a newly released interview.

When Prince died on April 21, the music and entertainment world mourned. His fans were devastated, and even casual music listeners knew how big of a hole Prince had left with his passing.

Bieber didn’t appear to share the world’s sentiment, though. When songwriter Andrew Watt posted a tribute to his idol, calling Prince “the last of the greatest living performers” on his Instagram account, Bieber was quick to correct him.

“Well not the last greatest living performer,” the 22-year-old pop crooner replied, prompting non-Beliebers to condemn him for being insensitive.

His comment has since been deleted. It’s unclear if Bieber was touting his own talents or if he just thought there were other worthy musicians still living or if he just didn’t think Prince was that great. It was claimed that the post was false and that it didn’t come from Bieber himself.

Whether the insensitive reply was truly written by Bieber or not, the young controversial singer would be surprised to know that Prince didn’t think much of him as a singer as well.

In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, which was released only this week, Prince revealed he wasn’t happy with how the music industry is picking its new artists these days. He said that the industry is focused on getting people with personality first, not giving music the priority as it should. Bieber’s name noticeably popped up when he mentioned an example.

“You’re trying to find the personality first, make sure you’ve got that locked in,” he said in the interview. “And it’s better if they got scandal on ‘em or a reality show or sex tape. And they have it down to an art. They’re getting street cred for Justin Bieber now!”

Prince isn’t here to clarify his remark now, but, as readers translated his comment, it’s understood that the “Purple Rain” hitmaker wasn’t fond of how Bieber got in the music world at all.

He also lamented on his place in the music industry. He said he is competing with his older music, which is both a “blessing and a curse.”

“And I don’t know anybody who has to do that,” he said. “They always play Beyonce’s latest track. But I go on Oprah and they want me to play what they remember.”

Multi-Grammy Award winner Prince Rogers Nelson was found dead in his home in Minnesota, US.