Music

Indie artist sneaks his own album inside every Justin Bieber album in L.A. stores

by Tyler Munro

While not a household name, electronic artist Paz reportedly did his best Banksy impersonation this April Fools Day, replacing approximately 5000 copies of Justin Bieber’s Believe with one of his own releases.

Like when the infamous British artist Banksy replaced copies of Paris Hilton’s with a satirical parody he’d whipped up, Paz managed to infiltrate big box stores in Los Angeles, replacing Bieber’s Believe with copies of his From The Bottom Of My Heart To The Top Of Your Lungs mixtape, which features collaborations and remixes with Bassnectar, Gramatik and more.

Impressively, the stunt meant finding a way to have the CD properly scan in stores, an obstacle Paz clearly overcame as his Facebook page exploded over the last few days. On Facebook, Paz treated the stunt like a game, challenging his fans to find and replace Believe across the greater Los Angeles area.

On the outside, the album looks like Bieber fans would expect, but the booklet’s inner jacket has been replaced with photoshopped 40s and Nyan Cats while the disc itself features a Doge in a taco, plus cats and pizza. It is, in essence, The Internet.

The big question here is therefore not why do it, because as the Reddit frontpage and coverage across the globe will tell you, the answer is exposure. No, what we want to know is whether the music is any good. Here’s the mix’s first single. Decide for yourself:

“The world won’t really miss a Justin Bieber record,” said Paz, justifying why he chose the Canadian sensation for his little stunt.

As for those fans who thought they were getting Believe only to end up with some dude’s mixtape, Best Buy says they’re on top of it.

“Although [Paz] is clearly not a Belieber, we know that many of our customers are, and we are taking care of those who didn’t get what they intended to purchase,” said spokeswoman Carly Morris. Target and Wal-Mart, meanwhile, told the Daily News they’re also on top of it.

“We know that every great artist wants to get on the shelf at Wal-Mart, but there’s a right way to do it,” said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah McKinney. “All of our L.A. stores are making an extra effort to ensure this faux Bieber CD is removed.”