Claim: Justin Bieber's fourth album topped the Billboard charts.

Purpose is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Justin Bieber . It was released on November 13 , 2015 by Def Jam Recordings and School Boy Records . It serves as the follow-up to Bieber 's third studio album Believe -LRB- 2012 -RRB- , and it was developed after the release of his collection Journals -LRB- 2013 -RRB- , which saw him in a more R&B direction . The album was created over a period of two years , in which Bieber struggled to find a musical direction for recording , scrapping each of these tracks many times . The album features guest vocals from Travis Scott , Big Sean & Halsey , and production help from Skrillex & Diplo . With the help of his personal friend and frequent collaborator Jason Boyd , Bieber started writing and recording with the idea of making an inspirational album that could encourage people through uplifting messages during a period of all his media scrutiny and his involvement in various misdemeanours ; as well as his relationship with his former girlfriend Selena Gomez .   While working with producer Skrillex , who has also been working along with his then-partner Diplo into their project Jack Ü , releasing their top 10 single `` Where Are Ü Now '' -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , featuring Bieber 's vocals , Bieber found the record 's sonic direction and worked with Skrillex on a handful of the album 's songs . Purpose was described as a mix of dance-pop and EDM music as well as including influences of tropical house in some tracks and live instruments such as acoustic guitars in some others , while lyrically addressing subjects such as apologies and faith . The album received generally favorable reviews from most critics , who praised its sound and deemed it his best album to date . Other critics , however , criticized its lyrical content , felt that the album focused excessively on his requests for apologies , and found him tiring .   The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 , selling 522,000 copies in its first week of release , giving Bieber the largest first-week sales of his career and his sixth number-one album in the United States . Elsewhere , it reached the top of the charts in other eleven countries . Four singles have been released from the album so far : `` What Do You Mean ? '' , `` Sorry '' , `` Love Yourself '' and `` Company '' . The first three singles reached number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart , where the singer broke chart records , and in other countries . To promote the album , Bieber gave several televised interviews and performances , as well as releasing `` dance videos '' for all of the album 's tracks in a project called `` Purpose : The Movement '' . He also embarked on his Purpose World Tour in 2016 . According to the IFPI , Purpose was the fourth best-selling album of 2015 with worldwide sales of 3.1 million copies .   Purpose was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 59th Grammy Awards , while `` Love Yourself '' was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance . The previous year he won Best Dance Recording with Diplo and Skrillex for `` Where Are Ü Now '' .