Justin Bieber’s long-awaited return yields a No. 1 debut for his new album, SWAG, on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart (dated July 26). The surprise album, teased only hours before its arrival on July 11, opens with 163,000 equivalent album units earned in United States for the tracking week of July 11-17, according to Luminate.
Bieber also makes a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting 16 songs on the chart, let by “Daisies” at No. 2. Here’s a full breakdown:
- 02 – “Daisies”
- 17 – “Yukon”
- 18 – “Go Baby”
- 21 – “All I Can Take”
- 33 – “Way It Is,” with Gunna
- 35 – “Things You Do”
- 37 – “Walking Away”
- 49 – “Butterflies”
- 56 – “Devotion,” with Dijon
- 57 – “Sweet Spot,” with Sexyy Red
- 59 – “First Place”
- 70 – “Swag,” with Cash Cobain & Eddie Benjamin
- 79 – “Too Long”
- 83 – “Glory Voice Memo”
- 84 – “Dadz Love,” with Lil B
- 86 – “405”
The only Swag cuts to miss the Hot 100 are “Zuma House,” “Forgiveness” (by Marvin Winans) and the three skits with Druski: “Soulful,” “Therapy Session” and “Standing on Business” (non-music-focused tracks are generally ineligible to chart).
The 16 debuts up Bieber’s total to 121 career entries — the 10th-most of all time. He also helps Dijon, Eddie Benjamin and Lil B score their first career entries on the chart.
“Daisies” earns Bieber his 27th career Hot 100 top 10, and first new top 10 since “Ghost” in 2022. He ties Janet Jackson for the 10th-most top 10s in the chart’s nearly 67-year history. He also pushes his totals to 43 top 20 titles (tying the Beatles and Rihanna for the eighth-most) and 58 top 40 hits.
SWAG gives Bieber his second No. 1 on Top R&B Albums, which began in October 2012. It follows Changes, which reigned for three weeks in February-March 2020.
Of SWAG’s first-week total, streaming activity contributed 155,000 units, a figure equal to 198.8 million official on-demand audio and video streams of the album’s songs — Bieber’s biggest streaming week ever for an album. Just over 6,000 units are from traditional album sales, with the remaining balance (a little more than 1,000 units) deriving from track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
Elsewhere, SWAG enters at No. 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and the all-genre Billboard 200, ranking behind JACKBOYS and Travis Scott’s JACKBOYS 2 on both lists.
In addition to a No. 1 start on Top R&B Albums, Bieber also banks the No. 1 spot on the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart with SWAG cut “Yukon.” The track registered 15.3 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 digital sales downloads for its coronation.
“Yukon” gives Bieber his sixth No. 1 on the Hot R&B Songs chart, dating to its October 2012 launch. He first topped the list in a featured role alongside Quavo and Chance the Rapper on DJ Khaled’s “No Brainer,” a six-week champ in 2018, and followed with his own “Yummy” (four weeks, 2020), “Intentions,” featuring Quavo (two, 2020), “Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar and GIVĒON (10, 2021) and a supporting turn with Tems on Wizkid’s “Essence” (nine, 2021).
In all, SWAG sparks eight debuts on the Hot R&B Songs, pushing Bieber to 32 total entries on the nearly 13-year-old list. Here’s a review of his placements this week:
- 01 – “Yukon”
- 02 – “Go Baby”
- 04 – “Way It Is,” feat. Gunna
- 07 – “Devotion,” with Dijon
- 08 – “Sweet Spot,” with Sexyy Red
- 10 – “Swag,” with Cash Cobain & Eddie Benjamin
- 12 – “Too Long”
- 15 – “Zuma House”
Justin Bieber takes over both Billboard’s Top Streaming Albums and Streaming Songs charts (dated July 26) thanks to his surprise album SWAG.
The set debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums while the SWAG track “Daisies” bows at No. 1 on Top Streaming Songs.
On Top Streaming Albums, SWAG — which was released July 11 after little warning — starts with 155,000 streaming-equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending July 17, according to Luminate. That 155,000 unit sum equals 198.77 million on-demand official streams of SWAG’s tracks in its first week – marking Bieber’s single-largest streaming week ever for an album.
Bieber’s previous largest streaming week for an album was the opening frame of Justice, which logged 119,000 streaming-equivalent album units in its opening frame (week ending March 25, 2021), equaling 157.02 million on-demand official streams of its songs.
Further, on the 50-position Streaming Songs chart, “Daisies” delivers Bieber his seventh No. 1. He ties Kendrick Lamar for the third-most leaders on the list. Only Taylor Swift, with nine, and Drake, with 21, have more No. 1s on Streaming Songs.
A total of 11 SWAG tracks dot the Streaming Songs chart — all debuts. Here’s a recap:
- 01 – “Daisies”
- 07 – “Yukon”
- 08 – “Go Baby”
- 10 – “All I Can Take”
- 17 – “Way It Is” with Gunna
- 20 – “Things You Do”
- 22 – “Walking Away”
- 27 – “Butterflies”
- 40 – “Devotion” with Dijon
- 41 – “Sweet Spot” with Sexyy Red
- 46 – “First Place”