Long before Jaden Smith had gold-foiled teeth and Justin Bieber married Hailey Baldwin, the two artists with a unique sense of style were two-star kids in a studio singing Never Say Never. It’s been an eventful decade since the release of Jaden Smith’s The Karate Kid. And the flick got a special track from the then-reigning king of pop, Justin Bieber. The Canadian singer with his iconic side-swept hairstyle, which went on to become a generation definer, shot to popularity after Scooter Braun discovered him.

Bieber’s most popular song is the one featuring Ludacris, Baby. Don’t let the most disliked video on YouTube fool you because everyone and their moms from America to the grasslands in Scotland were vibing to this tune. And while Baby and almost his entire debut album were mostly about love and heartbreak, he really switched things up with Never Say Never.

Never Say Never is the secret to Justin Bieber and Will Smith’s success

An eleven-year-old Jaden Smith with his child-like innocence still had more to brag about than most of us do even now. Apart from the fact that he was the Fresh Prince’s son, Jaden Smith was also starring in The Karate Kid alongside the world-famous Jackie Chan. If that wasn’t already a flex then being in the studio with Justin definitely was.

“But he ain’t on a J.B song with me” raps an eleven-year-old Jaden Smith with his black leather jacket and swag on. Furthermore, the music video which now has more than seven million likes is a combination of clips that include both Smith and Bieber having fun in the studio and a few clips from The Karate Kid.

The lyrics of Never Say Never resonate deeply with the theme of the thrilling karate flick becoming a reason for the song still being iconic a decade later. For his multi-million dollar Purpose tour in 2021, Justin Bieber surprised his fans by inviting Jaden Smith on stage for a Never Say Never performance.

The two of them performed scenes from the song at Madison Square Garden. A decade and two Grammys later seeing Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith perform together was truly surreal. The song also remained at number eight on Billboard Hot 100 for many weeks and in 2011 it was Bieber’s second song to make it to the top ten.