Honestly, if you grew up anywhere near a radio in 2010, you can’t hear the words "eenie meenie" without your brain reflexively screaming "SHAWTY IS A..." It’s a biological response at this point.
When Sean Kingston and a 16-year-old Justin Bieber dropped "Eenie Meenie," it wasn’t trying to be high art. It was a dance-pop-reggae-fusion experiment designed in a lab to be the catchiest thing on the planet. And it worked. Maybe too well.
The song basically defines that weird, neon-colored transition era of pop music. You had Bieber, who was fresh off the "Baby" phenomenon and still rocking the signature sweep-across-the-forehead hair, teaming up with Kingston, who was already the king of the "reggae-lite" summer anthem. It was a match made in teen-pop heaven, even if the lyrics made absolutely zero sense if you thought about them for more than three seconds.
What Really Happened With the Sean Kingston Justin Bieber Eenie Meenie Collab
The story of how these two ended up on a track together is actually pretty chill. Kingston wasn't just some random feature; he and Bieber were genuinely hanging out. According to Kingston in interviews around the time of the shoot, he’d met Bieber a couple of years before the "Bieber Fever" pandemic really hit. They vibed. Kingston saw the kid had "soul."
The track was originally intended for Kingston's third studio album, Back 2 Life. If you look at the credits, it’s a powerhouse of 2010s hit-making. Benny Blanco was on production duty. You’ve also got names like the Jackie Boyz and the Battey brothers in the writing room. In total, seven people are credited with writing a song about a girl who can’t decide between two guys at a pool party.
Interestingly, the song ended up on Bieber’s My World 2.0 instead of being the lead single for Kingston's project as originally planned. There’s still some internet mystery about why it was pulled from Kingston's main tracklist later on, but in 2010, it didn't matter. It peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a Top 10 hit in the UK and New Zealand. It was everywhere.
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The Pool Party Music Video (And the Logic Flaws)
The music video is a masterpiece of 2010-era cheesiness. Directed by Ray Kay, it’s set at a swanky Hollywood Hills pool party.
The plot? A girl is playing both Kingston and Bieber. She flirts with Sean on the deck, then sneaks inside to flirt with Justin. Then back to the deck. It’s a bold strategy. Kingston later told MTV News that they picked the lead actress specifically because she had to look "old enough" for a 20-year-old Sean but "young enough" for a 16-year-old Justin.
- Location: A condo that looks like a frat house but costs $10 million.
- The Vibe: Bikinis, midriff-baring tops, and way too much orange tint in the color grading.
- The Cameo: Bieber’s childhood friend Christian Beadles pops up in the background.
There’s a hilarious moment at the end where the girl gets caught because, obviously, you can't date two international pop stars at the same party without them bumping into each other. But instead of being mad, Sean and Justin just sort of shrug it off and keep dancing. Realistically? That girl would have been the most famous person on TMZ the next morning.
Is the Song Actually... Good?
Critics at the time were... let's say "less than kind."
If you look back at reviews from sites like the Horrible Music Wiki or even the legendary "Todd in the Shadows" YouTube deep dives, the song is a punching bag. The main complaint? The lyrics.
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"She's indecisive, she can't decide."
Yeah, Sean. We got that from the first part of the sentence.
Then there’s the "Eenie meenie miney mo lover" line, which is repeated roughly 16 times. It’s nursery rhyme pop at its most blatant. The bridge features a rap section where they talk about catching a "bad chick by her toe." If you think about the original nursery rhyme, the implications are a bit weird, but in the context of a 2010 pop song, it was just filler for the dance floor.
Despite the "syrupy" production and the heavy use of Auto-Tune, the song has an undeniable staying power. It has over 840 million views on YouTube as of 2026. People aren't watching that because they think the lyrics are Shakespearean. They're watching it for the pure, unadulterated nostalgia of a time when the biggest problem in pop music was a girl who couldn't choose between a Jamaican-American singer and a Canadian teenager.
Why We Are Still Talking About It in 2026
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. On TikTok and Reels, "Eenie Meenie" has had multiple "resurrections." People use it for "outfit transition" videos or just to mock the ridiculousness of the lyrics.
But there’s a deeper reason it sticks. It represents the peak of Beluga Heights, JR Rotem’s label that dominated the late 2000s with that specific, bright, sample-heavy sound. It’s the same DNA as "Fire Burning" or "Beautiful Girls." It’s "vacation music." Even if you’re stuck in traffic in freezing weather, that opening synth line makes you feel like you’re at a pool party in 2010.
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Also, it’s one of the last "innocent" Bieber tracks. Before the "Bizzle" era, before the tattoos covered his whole body, and before the heavy EDM-pop of Purpose, there was just a kid singing about "paradise" and "rolling the dice."
The Legacy of the Collab
Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber remained friends for years after the track. While Kingston’s career faced some serious hurdles—including a near-fatal jet ski accident in 2011 and more recent legal troubles involving his mother and fraud allegations—his musical chemistry with Bieber remains a highlight of that era.
Bieber, of course, went on to become one of the biggest artists in human history. But for many fans, "Eenie Meenie" is the definitive "B-side" to the "Baby" era. It’s the song that proved Bieber could play well with others and that Kingston could turn a literal nursery rhyme into a global platinum hit.
What you should do next:
If you want to relive the 2010 glory days, go watch the official music video on YouTube and look for the Christian Beadles cameo—it's a total time capsule. You can also find the "making of" footage online, which shows just how much of the "chemistry" between Sean and Justin was just two kids having a blast on a set in Hollywood. If you're a producer, try stripping the vocals; the Benny Blanco beat is actually a masterclass in layered synth-pop construction.