Copyright Polygon
Livestreaming platform Twitch is no stranger to celebrities, but Justin Bieber might be its biggest draw yet. The pop star recently vowed to get on the platform on most days, which might sound like a stretch for someone so high profile. Almost a week later, the Canadian idol has dutifully kept his promise — and in doing so, has given fans an unvarnished look at his life. The first livestream was an impersonal affair, with Bieber mostly playing basketball with his buddies while on-cam. He's been drilling to perfect his shots lately, which was evident throughout the pickup game last week. Turns out, when you're rich and have as much free time as you like, you can get pretty good at anything you want. You can do whatever, really. Bieber told viewers as much, verbatim, during a portion of the stream when he got a DJ in the background working a beat while he freestyled into a microphone. If some people stopped watching after perusing that initial stream, though, I wouldn't blame them. Bieber is categorically breaking many of the unspoken rules that come with being a 'good' Twitch streamer. He's not interacting with the chat that much, the camera work borders on impersonal, and Bieber scarcely faces the lens. In some segments, he's so far away that you have to scan for his presence. At one point, Bieber livestreams watching himself perform — but he does so without any commentary, as most streamers would do. But ignoring the camera also makes the livestream feel natural, almost as if you're in the room with him. A recent stream consisted of him spending hours in the studio while producing a song. Here, too, Bieber is arguably existing in the least entertaining way possible. His viewers can mostly only see his side profile or back. The undertaking itself looks tedious, with Bieber repeatedly redoing sounds and melodies. By that same token, though, this is basically the closest any of us can get to being a fly in the wall when the magic is happening. The creative process isn't always a magical series of happy, consequent accidents. Sometimes a song can come together seemingly out of thin air, and sometimes artists spend literal years honing the sound in a single track. There's a surprising element here too, as many people might assume that your typical pop star isn't that involved with the nitty-gritty of the art they release. Really, what Bieber is doing during his livestream is the work of a producer. He does sing, but it's probably not what you're expecting, either. Where the media loves to depict songwriting as someone sitting down with a pen and pad, jotting down thoughts and crossing out misfires, Bieber instead employs the punch-in method. In this approach, the performer might come in with a line or two that intrigues them, sure. But overall, the lyrics aren't decided beforehand. The artist will instead listen to the beat and come up with stuff on the fly. Small snippets of a promising lyric are replicated endlessly with small variance in wording, all in the name of finding the best possible construction. Sometimes, it's not even words at all. It'll be mumbling or humming until you land on a melody that feels right, and then finding words that will fit the outline you've created. (If you've ever wondered why Ariana Grande seems to barely enunciate during her songs, this is the grand reveal.) Bieber recently released two albums back to back, so it's unclear if whatever he was concocting in front of viewers will turn into a fully-fledged production that gets released into the wild. Whatever the case, Bieber's undoubtedly having a moment in pop culture right now. After selling his old catalog, he can now say that he owns his new music. He's got hits. He's headlining Coachella. The things he says become memes, an outstanding feat when audiences feel more fragmented than ever. Alongside this mainstream resurgence, though, is gossip over the general state of Justin Bieber's life. There is a sense, reinforced by the tabloids and paparazzi, that something in Bieber's life is amiss. On Twitch, he's upholding and rejecting these narratives at once. I doubt that Bieber becoming a daily Twitch streamer was on anyone's 2025 bingo card, but his willingness to lay it all out there feels like it's a part of his come-up. So far, Bieber is collecting an average of 11,000 followers an hour. If he's actually consistent with his Twitch stream, he could potentially make millions while simply hanging out with his friends. But like anyone else who is alive, Bieber's got his down and vulnerable moments as well. In front of Twitch viewers, he recalled his sadness at being shooed out of the room when his child was born. During his most recent broadcast, Bieber sits down with his entourage to contemplate his life at large. Apparently, he experiences a ton of jealousy when he sees others being successful. And the comparisons are making him miserable. "Why is his life working out," Bieber muses, "and mine is in shambles?" Becoming a Twitch streamer is, at least, providing Bieber with some perspective. During another portion of a recent livestream, Bieber says that he's willing to be uncomfortable in front of the camera if it might mean forging a connection or bringing people together. "It's brave to do that," he says of livestreaming. "It takes a lot to put yourself out there and be criticized," he continued, "and be put down for just wanting to share things...all I want to do is facilitate a fun space for people to be creative, and be themselves. I want that to be the overarching theme of what's happening here."
