The career of Justin Bieber, one of the wildest pop phenomena of the last two decades, seemed to be on hold. Four years without music, a worldwide tour abruptly cut short in 2022 due to a neurological disorder that led to facial paralysis, and an increasingly growing background noise about his mental health issues and addictions were the baggage accompanying the Canadian artist. However, suddenly an unexpected album has changed everything.
Last Thursday, Justin Bieber announced his latest work, Swag, on his social media with photos of billboards in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Reykjavik. A few hours later, his seventh studio album was already available on all digital platforms. Without further promotion, the 21 tracks were ready for consumption. His fan community has voraciously consumed it in the last few days. On its first day on Spotify, the album's streams surpassed 74 million, making it the second most played on its debut - after PlayBoi Carti's Music - in a year where artists like Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, and Morgan Wallen have released music.
On that first day, all 21 songs from Swag were within Spotify's Top 50 - with seven remaining in the Top 5, including Daisies - and the Canadian artist broke his own record for most streams in a single day on the platform. On Friday, Justin Bieber accumulated 98.5 million streams across all his music. It was the highest number of streams in 24 hours he had ever achieved. In fact, this figure is approximately 20% higher than his previous peak, propelling him to the eighth spot among the most listened-to artists on the streaming service, surpassing Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, with nearly 87 million monthly listeners.
Furthermore, Swag's numbers continue to grow at a steady pace. The pop star's new album had already surpassed 121 million streams by yesterday afternoon, and according to predictions from the United States, it could reach around 175 million in its first week. This would almost certainly place him at the top of the Billboard 200 chart and dethrone I'm The Problem by Morgan Wallen, which has been the most listened to in the United States for seven weeks.
On Apple Music, the phenomenon is similar. The top four spots on the Global Top 100 are occupied by his songs Daisies, All I Can Take, Go Baby, and Way it is. Additionally, among the top 20, there are five more songs by the Canadian artist: Yukon, Things You Do, Walking Away, Sweet Spot, and Butterflies.
This professional boost comes amidst rumors of a relapse in addictions and mental health issues, exacerbated by recent images of a haggard-looking Bieber. Last May, a TMZ documentary also warned that the Canadian artist was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2022, leading him to sell his entire music catalog to Hipgnosis Songs in December of that year. Justin Bieber handed over the rights to 290 songs to the British company, now owned by the investment fund Blackstone, for a value of 200 million euros, suffocated by the financial situation resulting from the cancellation of his Justice tour in 2022 due to health issues.
According to reports in the U.S. press, this was one of the points of contention that led to the split in 2023 with his longtime manager, Scooter Braun. Last Saturday, Rolling Stone magazine, citing sources close to the artist, reported that Bieber had wanted to break ties with the person who had managed his career from the beginning for a long time, and Swag is the first album where he has complete creative freedom. The publication People, on the other hand, reported on Friday that the artist had agreed to pay Braun $31 million to settle the debts, including late fees, he still owed to AEG Presents for his canceled tour.