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Justin Bieber is used to hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts, as he has done so dozens of times throughout his career and across a variety of rankings. When he surprise-released his new album Swag on July 11, it appeared he was headed for another chart-topping full-length, and after a few days, it looked like lead single “Daisies” might also compete for a No. 1 start on the Hot 100.
Bieber came very close to making those predictions a reality, but in both instances, on Billboard's two most important and closely watched rankings, he missed the mark by just one space.
Swag was poised to launch at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 until Travis Scott revealed his group JackBoys had a new album ready to share. JackBoys 2 dropped several days after Bieber's R&B-leaning project, yet it easily outpaced the pop star's latest release. JackBoys 2 opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 232,000 equivalent units, while Swag launches with just under 163,000, according to Luminate.
This week marks the first time that Bieber has failed to debut a proper studio album at the top of the Billboard 200, as he's forced to settle for second place.
At the same time that Swag opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, promotional cut “Daisies” fails to earn Bieber another No. 1 smash in America. The track, which wasn't pushed ahead of the album's release, debuts in the runner-up spot on the Hot 100, Billboard's ranking of the most-consumed songs in the U.S.
“Daisies” is the highest-ranking debut from Swag and the only top 10 hit from the project, and this week, it lands behind “Ordinary” by Alex Warren. As it arrives, Bieber scores his twenty-seventh top 10 hit. Eight of those tunes have reached No. 1, while only a few -- such as “Boyfriend,” “Cold Water” with Major Lazer and MØ, and “I Don't Care” with Ed Sheeran -- have stalled just one rung shy of the summit.
A No. 2 debut for either a song or an album would be impressive for most artists. Launching in that position on both tallies at the same time is certainly notable -- but for Bieber, it's a slight letdown.
It's been years since the Canadian pop singer released a new album, and anticipation was quite high for whatever was coming next. He simply happened to pick a week when Scott and his bandmates were also planning a surprise drop, which is unfortunate for him. Had the release date shifted ever so slightly, it's likely the Grammy winner would have conquered the Billboard 200, and possibly also the Hot 100.