''Changes' was and is an R&B album.'
Justin Bieber is grateful for his latest GRAMMY nominations -- but thinks he's being honored in the wrong category.
The pop star received four new GRAMMY nods on Tuesday: Best Pop Solo Performance for "Yummy," Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Intentions," Best Pop Vocal Album for Changes and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his "10,000 Hours" collab with Dan+ Shay.
It's the pop categories that Bieber took issue with, sharing a statement on his Instagram page that conveys his opinion that Changes was an R&B album and should have been recognized as such.
"I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry. I am very meticulous and intentional about my music," the singer wrote. "With that being said, I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album."
"I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound. For this not to be put in that category feels weird considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B Album!"
"To be clear I absolutely love pop music it just wasn't what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honored to be nominated either way," he added.
"Please don’t mistake this as me being ungrateful, these are just my thoughts take em or leave em," Bieber captioned his statement. "Thank you to the people who fought for me to even have any noms."
Bieber released Changes back in February -- his fifth studio album and his first full-length release since 2015's Purpose.
"I feel like this is different than the previous albums just because of where I'm at in my life," Bieber said of the new album, in a teaser video posted to YouTube. "We all have different stories; I'm just excited to share mine... It's the music that I've loved the most of anything I've done."
The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT and broadcast live on CBS.
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