In the late hours of June 12th, 2025, pop star Justin Bieber walked out of Soho House Malibu, hounded by paparazzi and visibly agitated.

Speaking to the paparazzi, Bieber attempted to assert some boundaries, but instead delivered a garbled phrase that quickly entered the meme lexicon: "It's not clocking to you that I'm standing on business, is it?"

Bieber saying, "It's not clocking," might've sounded confident, but anyone familiar with AAVE and Ballroom (an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture) slang would know that to "clock" something typically means to notice or call it out.

Perhaps Bieber meant to say "clicking," but the internet had already descended on him for the perceived slang blunder as the video went viral.

Here's a recap of "It's Not Clocking To You That I'm Standing On Business."

Why Did Justin Bieber Say "It's Not Clocking To You That I'm Standing On Business?"

The line in question came during a tense interaction in mid-June 2025 outside Soho House Malibu between Justin Bieber and paparazzi, as reported by Page Six

On June 12th, Bieber confronted a group of paparazzi, expressing frustration that his answers to their questions were being twisted for clicks. In the middle of the rant, he delivered this now-infamous string of words, "You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?"

Its not clocking to you that im standing on business…when the tea finna gag chile the house down boots…. https://t.co/62PGf69eaW

— dollfactory 𐚁 (@sisisimss) June 14, 2025

The first major viral callout came from X user @sisisimss, who mocked Bieber's phrasing in a June 14th tweet that read, "Its not clocking to you that I'm standing on business…when the tea finna gag chile the house down boots…." The post racked up over 160,000 likes in two days and set the internet buzzing with theories about what Bieber meant to say.

What Memes Did People Post About Justin Bieber Saying, "It's Not Clocking To You"?

By June 14th, 2025, other users had caught on to the bizarre poetry of Bieber's phrasing. X user @nobmakis simply quoted the clip with no added commentary, gathering over 270,000 likes in 48 hours, confirming that at least some people had, in fact, "clocked" it.

its not clocking to you that im standing on business https://t.co/kMvkc86p7l

— 𖠌 (@nobmakis) June 14, 2025

On June 15th, hyper-pop musician and X user @slayyyter shared a screenshot of the Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) mid-revelation, captioned, "when it clocks to you that he's standing on business." The tweet read like a modern reinterpretation of Carrie's recurring problems with Mr. Big's stubbornness, and gathered over 20,000 likes in a day.

Later on June 15th, X user @iamntyrell cut to the chase, "Black folks really have other groups of people sounding crazy trying to keep up." The post gathered over 48,000 likes in a day, drawing attention to the broader issue, namely, people trying and failing to use AAVE and queer slang because of their disconnect from the culture it comes from.

“It’s not clocking to you that im standing on business.”Black folks really have other groups of people sounding crazy trying to keep up https://t.co/RBeR2MaB0v

— Nicolas-Tyrell Scott (@iamntyrell) June 15, 2025

Finally, TikTok got involved. Creator @zeinaboucoulibaly lip synced to the Bieber quote on June 15th, adding, "I feel bad for Justin but this sent me." The TikTok gathered 120,000 views and 20,000 likes in just one day, and officially solidified "it's not clocking to you" as a new staple in the canon of celebrity linguistic disasters.

@zeinaboucoulibaly Helppp (I hope he’s okay tho 😭🥰❤️) #justinbieber #clockingtoyou #nickiqueenofrap ♬ original sound – cherryclips

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For the full history of It's Not Clocking To You That I'm Standing On Business, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.