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Livestreaming has quickly become an essential part of being an artist today. More rappers and singers are either teaming up with well-known streamers or hosting their own multi-hour sessions on personal channels. This past week, Justin Bieber joined in by launching his official Twitch channel and streaming several days in a row.

Between lighter moments of him shooting hoops or chatting with his circle of friends, the streams became most interesting when Bieber stepped into the studio. Whether he was alone in the vocal booth or sitting behind the mixing desk with his crew, he used those times to tease smooth, R&B-inspired songs—tracks that could easily belong on a potential third installment of Swag, if they ever get released.

The most fascinating moments came from the unfiltered footage of Bieber working through ideas, producing himself, and perfecting a lyric or melody. On the fourth day of streaming, he was seen testing out what could become a new hit, improvising melodies and playing around with different tones and lines until something clicked.

The behind-the-scenes studio moments offered a rare look into Bieber’s creative process, especially for someone once viewed as a pop star with little control over his music. In these streams, he appeared open and confident, freely exploring ideas in real time—even with thousands of fans silently tuning in.

Still, Bieber admitted the experience made him anxious. During one session with a few collaborators, he spoke candidly about what it feels like to create publicly.

“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 said.

He recalled reading a comment after coming home from playing basketball one night, when he was completely drained. “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.”

In other parts of the stream, Bieber appeared more at ease, playing golf or practicing the drums—experimenting with the format as he figured out how he might continue sharing his world with fans in the future.