From his apology tour to his tearful performance at the 2015 MTV Video Music AwardsJustin Bieber's intent on shifting the public's opinion on him. And despite a slight gaffe involving a bratty outburst and a hot mic, everything seems to be going according to plan.

In a recent interview with the French site Clique, Bieber sat down and talked about his public image and why his behavior warranted such a public outcry, when other artists have done far more outrageous things. His response was insightful, indicating he'd actually taken some time to reflect on public perception: "I think they put more responsibility for me because of my image and what I was representing [when I first started out]. When you tell people you’re going to represent 'believe' and 'hope,' and you go off not doing that, they get mixed messages."

He continued, saying, "If I would’ve came out from the get-go just, like, smoking weed, that would have been my image, but it wasn’t. So people just got confused. Now my image is like — I just want people to see me as a normal dude. I come in here with my hoodie because I’m comfortable and just chilling and not trying too hard. I just want to have a good time and show people that I’m normal.”

And just like normal people, Bieber admits that sometimes he feels pangs of loneliness: "People would never guess that [celebrities] would feel lonely...but a lot of it is really surface-y there’s no depth...People weren’t what they needed to be. Now I’m surrounded by really cool people who are really for me and who I can connect with and I’m probably in the best place I’ve been in my life."

But the benefits to fame can sometimes outweigh the cons, like Bieber’s recent collaboration with Kanye West. Although he’s currently unsure of whether the song they worked on together will make it onto his upcoming album, he still managed to take something away from their time spent together.

Bieber said, "Kanye’s a talker. You get him in a room and he starts talking and ranting, I just sit and I listen. He’s been through a lot of stuff and he’s not just talking to talk, he has something to say from his heart. I just sit and listen because he’s really smart."

And while Kanye may be running for the US Presidency come 2020, Bieber says if he had the chance to run the country, his first focus would be on gun violence. He said, "I’d probably just fix some of the gun laws. In Canada we don’t really have any guns and there’s no gun violence. That really solves it. They think it's for protection and stuff but it always ends up in some bozo's hand."

You can check out the full interview in the video above.

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