--- description: Justin Bieber turned to an iconic rapper for inspiration in the BBC Radio 1Live Lounge, performing a cover of Tupac's "Thugz Mansion." title: Justin Bieber Covers Acoustic Tupac's 'Thugz Mansion' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Justin Bieber Performs Acoustic Cover of Tupac's 'Thugz Mansion'  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 1, 2016 9:10 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 1, 2016 9:10 PM CUT In a 2015 interview with France’s [Clique TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x07vvSVm2Yo "undefined"), [Justin Bieber](http://time.com/4471921/justin-bieber-guinness-world-records-purpose/ "undefined") revealed that his top five rappers are [Tupac](http://time.com/4371390/tupac-biopic-all-eyez-on-me-teaser/ "undefined"), Mase, Nas, Biggie and Eminem. And during his Thursday appearance on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, he turned to one of those favorites for inspiration, breaking out an acoustic cover of Pac’s “Thugz Mansion.” Biebs performed the stripped-down version of the hip-hop classic with the help of a single guitar player, much to the surprise of the show’s host. “Something I thought I’d never say on national radio — Justin Bieber covering Tupac’s ‘Thugz Mansion’ in the Live Lounge,” she said. The session’s only hiccup occurred when the _Purpose_ artist sang “[Cold Water](http://time.com/4418948/justin-bieber-cold-water-ed-sheeran-diplo/ "undefined")” — his recent collaboration with Major Lazer — and seemed to forget a few of the song’s lyrics. “I don’t usually get nervous but tonight I was thrown off and I was. Sorry about that. Really wanted to be my best. Hope u all had fun,” he tweeted afterward. > [](https://twitter.com/justinbieber/status/771276961943433216) Watch him perform both songs below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4476704/justin-bieber-tupac-acoustic-cover-thugz-mansion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4476704/justin-bieber-tupac-acoustic-cover-thugz-mansion/"},"headline":"Justin Bieber Performs Acoustic Cover of Tupac's 'Thugz Mansion'","datePublished":"2016-09-01T21:10:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:09.147Z","description":"And forgets the words to 'Cold Water'","url":"https://time.com/4476704/justin-bieber-tupac-acoustic-cover-thugz-mansion/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","Justin Bieber","Tupac"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4476704/justin-bieber-tupac-acoustic-cover-thugz-mansion/","name":"Justin Bieber Performs Acoustic Cover of Tupac's 'Thugz Mansion'"}}]}] ```