Livestreaming is becoming an increasingly mandatory part of being an artist. More and more rappers and singers have found themselves either collaborating with already established streamers or hosting their own multi-hour showcases on personal channels. This past week, Justin Bieber joined the fray, launching his verified Twitch channel and embarking on multiple days in a row of streams.
In between more innocuous footage of him playing basketball or chatting with his large crew of friends, the most interesting and intimate parts of the streams were when Bieber entered the studio. Either solo in a vocal booth or sitting on a couch behind the boards with his entourage, Bieber used those moments to preview new R&B-tinged tracks, songs that sound fit for a third installment of Swag (if they ever make it out into the real world.)
The most compelling moments were the fly-on-the-wall footage of Bieber producing himself and working out a vocal take or a lyric. On the fourth day of streams, he could be seen working through a melody of a potential new hit. He freestyles on the microphone trying to find the right vibe and experiments with his delivery and some potential lyrics.
The recording footage is a rare window into Bieber’s artistry, especially as a former child pop star who many assumed lacked agency in his own music and career decisions. Here, Bieber seems both free and and at his most creative, exploring without inhibitions even if thousands of people are quietly watching him.
However, he’s also honest about how nervous it all makes him. In one of the streams, he’s joined by a few collaborators and he opens up about putting the creative process online for everyone to see.
“Going on Twitch is vulnerable as hell because people who just feel shitty about themselves project and then they write mean-ass things. It’s already hard enough to put yourself out there and then you gotta read all this,” he says.
He shares that he read a comment recently after coming home from playing basketball, when he was exhausted. “They were like ‘Justin is not as exuberant. He will never be his exuberant self ever again. He’s lost his charisma.’ I was like, ‘What? I just played basketball last night, I’m just tired.’ And we’re talking about emotional things … And I start getting in my head, like ‘Ma, did I lose my charisma? My exuberance?’ I have a zest for life … It just sucks that you can have a million people say the nicest thing and then the one comment gets in there.”
Elsewhere in the video, Bieber seems relaxed playing golf or practicing the drums, seemingly testing out the format he’ll keep sharing moving forward.
