Are Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, & Cardi B Moving Up or Down in the Pop Pantheon?

·1 hr 8 min·6 clips

Justin Bieber's 'Swag' album marks a sophisticated transition into mature artistry, defying expectations with strong reviews and hit singles.

1. Pop Pantheon's Step Up/Step Down segment evaluates Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, and Cardi B, hosted by DJ Louis XIV and Russ. 2. DJ Louis XIV and Russ are the episode's hosts; Russ pulls commercial stats for each artist including chart positions, Metacritic scores, and Spotify stream counts. 3. The episode asks whether each artist's most recent era constitutes upward or downward movement in the official Pop Pantheon ranking. 4. Justin Bieber's July release Swag — his 11th studio album, first in four years — debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 163,000 album equivalent units and nearly 200 million streams in its biggest streaming week ever. 5. Lead single Daisies peaked at number two on the Hot 100, earned a 7.3 on Pitchfork and a Metacritic score of 67, and had spent 12 weeks in the top five before Taylor Swift took over the chart. 6. Louis argues Bieber deployed 'the Madonna method' — seeking out McGee and Carter Lang from 'pop adjacent spaces' and mainstreaming their sound — drawing parallels to Michael Jackson's adoption of New Jack Swing. 7. Swag 2, released eight weeks later, received a 48 Metacritic score and its singles Love Song and Speed Demon peaked at 88 and 66 on the Hot 100 respectively — a sharp contrast to Swag's performance. 8. Louis frames the combined Swag era as comparable to Taylor Swift's Folklore/Evermore pairing: the sequel gets absorbed into the first album's success narrative and the era overall is read as a strategic repositioning win. 9. Louis argues on principle against unedited 'data dump' releases, saying artists asking audiences to curate from sprawling output is 'transferring creative work to the listener' — a position he calls his soapbox. 10. Doja Cat's V, executive produced by Jack Antonoff, debuted at number four with 57,000 units — a significant dip from Scarlet's 72,000 — and single Jealous Type peaked at 28 despite Louis predicting it would be a 'top five smash out the gate.' 11. V earned a 77 Metacritic score — Doja's highest ever — and a 6.8 on Pitchfork, but Russ calls the commercial underperformance 'mystifying' given her demonstrated ability to produce hits even when not trying to (citing Paint the Town Red, her number one from Scarlet). 12. Russ proposes his 'mega depressing theory': pop chart success in 2025 requires either being Taylor Swift-scale or achieving an organic meme takeover, since the current Hot 100 is driven by cultural moments (demon hunter movie, Alex Warren TikTok, Tate McCrae personal narrative) rather than a unified sonic template. 13. Both hosts agree Jealous Type was strong enough to be a top-five hit under different cultural conditions and that the outcome reflects something broken about how songs become hits rather than a failure of the song itself. 14. Sabrina Carpenter's Man's Best Friend opened with 366,000 album equivalent units — just above Short and Sweet's 362,000 — with lead single Manchild debuting at number one and already certified platinum after 17 weeks on the Hot 100. 15. The album earned a 75 Metacritic score and a 7.9 on Pitchfork, both slightly below Short and Sweet's critical scores but within comparable range. 16. Louis argues the album 'clears the sophomore slump' and calls the pressure release 'liberating' for Sabrina, noting she is now free from the 'what is she going to do next' narrative that Chapel Roan still faces. 17. However, Louis concludes that Manchild is a lesser cultural event than Espresso or Please Please Please, and that second single Tears, after debuting in the top ten, had already slid to 25 at the five-week mark. 18. He compares the trajectory directly to Olivia Rodrigo's Guts — big debut, one standout hit (Vampire/Manchild), second single failing to hold top-ten momentum, and an overall absence of the ubiquitous cultural saturation of the breakthrough album. 19. Both hosts frame Man's Best Friend as successful by commercial metrics but less creatively exciting, with Louis saying he is 'less excited about Sabrina Carpenter than I was one year ago' while acknowledging the statistics are strong. 20. Listeners who follow pop chart analysis, music industry business strategy, and critical reception of major female pop acts will find the most value; those wanting deeper musical analysis or Cardi B coverage will need to consult the full episode.

As heard by us

A sharp, funny pop-status check on charts, memes, narratives, and who is rising or slipping.

Pop Pantheon uses Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, and Cardi B's recent moves as a way into a messier question: what counts as pop momentum when the charts do not seem to have a shared center.

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Why you'd press play

When pop stardom starts feeling like a moving target.

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