回复：Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars

No. 8 — Justin Bieber
The veteran superstar reasserted himself at the center of popular music in 2021, with two summer-owning hit singles.
这位经验丰富的超级巨星在2021年凭借两首夏季热门单曲重新成为流行音乐的中心。

For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2021 for the rest of this week. At No. 8, we remember the year in Justin Bieber — who shook off a somewhat shakier 2020 and re-confirmed his status as one of pop’s most reliable hitmakers.
为了今年我们正在进行的年度最佳流行歌星项目的更新，公告牌将在本周剩余时间倒计时我们挑选的2021年前10名流行歌星。在第8位，我们还记得贾斯汀·比伯的一年——他摆脱了更不稳定的2020年，并再次确认了他作为流行音乐最可靠的热门人物之一的地位。

n mid-March, already four singles deep off his then-soon-to-come sixth studio album Justice, Justin Bieber was throwing up alley-oops on the Hot 100 — though often without his audience of dedicated Beliebers slamming them down for No. 1 debuts, as they would in past eras. The singles Bieber selected for Justice by that point were all obvious hits: Religious jam and lead single “Holy”featuring Chance the Rapper earned its peak at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in November of 2020, the Benny Blanco-assisted ballad follow-up “Lonely”found its footing at No. 12 in early 2021, and JB’s third and fourth singles, the triumphant stadium pop anthems “Anyone” and “Hold On,” peaked at No. 6 and No. 20, respectively.
3月中旬，贾斯汀·比伯（Justin Bieber）已经四首单曲远离了他当时即将发行的第六张录音室专辑《正义》，他在热门100强中抛出了胡同——尽管通常没有敬业的信徒观众像过去一样，为第1名首次亮相而猛烈抨击他们。当时被选为正义的单曲Bieber都是显而易见的热门单曲：宗教果酱和主打单曲《神圣》，由说唱歌手Chance the Rapper主演，早在2020年11月，在公告牌热门100强中排名第3位，本尼·布兰科协助的民谣后续单曲《孤独》在2021年初排名第12位，JB的第三和第四首单曲，胜利的体育场流行歌曲《Anyone》和《Hold On》，分别达到第6和第20位。

But these chart performances weren’t exactly what we were used to from a man who was just five years removed from three back-to-back-to-back Hot 100 No. 1 singles in his seemingly effortlessly successful Purpose era, which then earned him the title of Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star for 2016. JB’s footing was still a little off from the critical iffy-ness of 2020’s Changes, which won some fans with its R&B flair, but fell short of Purpose numbers and failed to produce a Hot 100-topper. And in 2021, he needed an organic hit; one that arrived as naturally as the covers he’d uploaded to YouTube as a pre-teen.
但这些排行榜表演并不完全像我们习惯的那样，他从他似乎毫不费力的成功目的时代连续三首热门100首单曲只走了五年，这为他赢得了2016年公告牌最伟大的流行歌星的称号。JB的基础仍然与2020年Changs的批评性不确定度略有不同，该变化以其R&B天赋赢得了一些粉丝，但没有达到目的数字，未能产生100强的热门榜首。2021年，他需要有机点击；一个和他十几岁时上传到YouTube的封面一样自然的热门歌曲。

In came “Peaches,” a track Bieber partly debuted on an Instagram Live jam session months before, and one that he’d officially tease through a March 17 NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert. Bieber’s stripped-down keyboard mess-around came just days before the album was released, and the frenzy it created on social media helped launch the song atop the Hot 100 from the jump, with two R&B singer-songwriter mainstays in Giveon and (fellow Canadian) Daniel Caesar both earning their first chart-toppers. And just like that, JB had his seventh No. 1 hit on the chart, making his Justice yet another win in a career full of commercial bounce-backs.
几个月前，Bieber在Instagram Live即兴表演中部分亮相的曲目“Peaches”，并在3月17日的NPR小书桌（家庭）音乐会上正式取笑了这首歌。比伯的剥离键盘混乱发生在专辑发行前几天，它在社交媒体上制造的疯狂帮助这首歌从跳跃中登上了热门100强，Giveon的两名R&B歌手兼作曲家中流砥柱和（加拿大同事）Daniel Caesar都获得了他们的第一张排行榜冠军。就这样，JB在排行榜上排名第七，使他的正义在充满商业反弹的职业生涯中再次获胜。

Dismissing every other track on the album as padding for “Peaches,” however, would be writing off one of the better pop albums of the last 12 months. Outside of the backlash the Biebs got for the MLK interludes on Justice, Bieber’s sixth record saw him in peak all-around form, toying with synths on “Die For You” and “Deserve You,” tapping into Simon-and-Garfunkel mode for dreamy acoustic love song “Off My Face,” and crafting an up-tempo emotional plea on eventual October single “Ghost.” With proven hitmakers Andrew Watt and Louis Bell, and go-to band leader Harv making a more permanent stay in Bieber’s circles, as past collaborators Skrillex and Benny Blanco (and Poo Bear in extended album versions) returned, Justice was able to secure a top spot on the Billboard 200 during its first week, debuting with 154,000 equivalent album units moved.
然而，将专辑中的所有其他曲目斥之为“桃子”的填充物，将是过去12个月中最好的流行专辑之一。除了Biebs因MLK关于正义的插曲而受到强烈反对外，Bieber的第六张唱片让他以巅峰全方位的形式出现，在《为你而死》和《值得你》中玩弄合成器，利用Simon-and-Garfunkel模式创作梦幻般的原声情歌《Off My Face》，并在最终的10月单曲《Ghost》中精心策划了快的情感恳求。随着成熟的热门歌手Andrew Watt和Louis Bell以及首选乐队领队Harv在Bieber的圈子里更永久地停留，随着过去的合作者Skrillex和Benny Blanco（以及扩展专辑版本的Poo Bear）的回归，Justice在第一周获得了公告牌200的榜首位，首次移动了154,000个同等专辑单元。

Bieber would continue to add to the set throughout the year, first with March’s Triple Chucks Deluxe version — which arrived the same week as his surprise-release religious-themed Freedom EP — and then October’s The Complete Edition. And as “Peaches” began to run out of song-of-the-summer steam, Bieber took the season right back with a vengeance on his addictive Kid LAROI teamup “Stay,” which once again topped the Hot 100 and earned him his eighth career stay on the throne. As someone who experienced (and survived) teen-pop stardom, the Biebs even stepped in for a bit of a mentorship role, as LAROI linked with (and quickly unlinked with) Scooter Braun Projects. This was the furthest thing from a transfer of power among young pop trailblazers, though – if anything, “Stay” helped JB reassert his dominance throughout 2021.
比伯全年将继续增加布景，首先是三月的三重Chucks豪华版——与他惊喜发行的宗教主题自由EP同一周推出——然后是10月的完整版。随着“桃子”开始耗尽夏日之歌的蒸汽，比伯立即带着对他上瘾的孩子LAROI团队“留下来”的报复，这个赛季再次登上了热门100强，并为他赢得了他职业生涯中的第八次登基。作为一个经历过（并幸存下来）青少年流行歌星的人，Biebs甚至担任了一些导师的角色，因为LAROI与Scooter Braun项目有联系（并很快与之脱钩）。然而，这是与年轻流行开拓者之间权力移交最远的事情——如果有的话，“留下来”帮助JB在整个2021年重新确立了他的主导地位。

To keep the his guest-star momentum going in August, JB then joined Wizkid and Tems on the remix of their already global smash “Essence,” further monopolizing the airwaves during his winningest summer in years. His inclusion helped the song rise to a new Hot 100 peak of No. 9 and was reminiscent of Bieber’s 2016 and 2017 feature frolick, when everything he touched — from DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One” to Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s record-breaking “Despacito” — didn’t just turn to gold, but to multi-platinum.
为了在8月份保持客串明星的势头，JB随后与Wizkid和Tems一起重新混合了他们已经是全球的轰动一时的“精华”，在他多年来最获胜的夏天进一步垄断了广播。他的加入帮助这首歌升至第9位的新热门100强峰，让人想起了Bieber2016年和2017年的特写frolick，当时他接触到的一切——从DJ Khaled的《我是那个人》到Luis Fonsi和洋基爸爸破纪录的《Despacito》——不仅变成了金牌，还变成了多白金。

Bieber was also appropriately rewarded for his victories over these last 12 months. He capped an opening performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September, alongside partner-in-crime LAROI, with an artist of the year win at the ceremonies. And while a career-record eight Grammy nominations in November — including in three of the Big Four categories (album, song and record of the year) — was no doubt validating for Bieber, he was likely most excited about the one in the best R&B performance category, a nod which was only a dream a year before. For the first time in his career, JB is being recognized in all of his elements, and whether or not a Recording Academy sweep is on the horizon, Bieber’s year is ending far more triumphantly than it began.
比伯在过去12个月的胜利中也得到了适当的回报。他在9月份的MTV视频音乐奖上与犯罪搭档LAROI一起结束了开幕表演，一位年度艺术家在仪式上获胜。虽然11月创下的八项格莱美提名——包括四大类别中的三个（专辑、歌曲和年度唱片）——无疑对比伯有效，但他可能对最佳R&B表演类别的提名最兴奋，这一点头只是一年前的梦想。JB在他的职业生涯中首次在他的所有元素中都得到了认可，无论录音学院的横扫是否即将到来，Bieber的一年的结束都远比开始时更加胜利。

There have been numerous moments in the pop and R&B star’s career where he’s faced adversity and returned stronger than before. His career arc has been built on his ability to weather the storm, navigate changing audience interests, and get back in everyone’s good graces time and time again. The latest journey from Changes to Justice never required an image-altering haircut or apology tour to the general public tis time. It needed something that perhaps nobody has pulled off as often as Justin Bieber in the past decade: a pop smash that absolutely nobody can deny. He gave us two in 2022. And he sure as hell has a lot more left in him.
这位流行音乐和R&B明星的职业生涯中有很多时刻，他面临着逆境，并比以前更强大。他的职业生涯弧线建立在他经受住风暴、驾驭不断变化的观众兴趣以及一次又一次地恢复每个人的良好恩典的能力之上。从《变化到正义》的最新旅程从来不需要改变形象的发型或向公众道歉。它需要一些在过去十年中可能没有人像贾斯汀·比伯那样经常完成的事情：一场绝对没有人能否认的流行音乐。他在2022年给了我们两个。他肯定还剩下很多东西。

No. 7 — Drake
After a mildly disappointing 2020 for Drake, 2021 saw The Boy back in commercially historic form, still as bulletproof as ever。
在德雷克的2020年略有失望后，2021年《男孩》以商业历史的形式回归，仍然和以往一样防弹。

For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2021 for the rest of this week. At No. 7, we remember the year in Drake — who once again captured the music world’s attention, and rewrote chart history in the process.
为了今年我们正在进行的年度最佳流行歌星项目的更新，公告牌将在本周剩余时间倒计时我们挑选的2021年前10名流行歌星。在第7位，我们缅怀德雷克的一年——德雷克再次吸引了音乐界的注意力，并在此过程中重写了图表历史。

On a random afternoon in late October 2020, Instagram user @champagnepapi posted a cryptic video to his account with a following of close to 100 million. In the clip, slow-motion shots highlight Drake, the most dominant rapper of the 2010s, recreating the covers of his previous full-length projects — this time with a heart shaved into his crisp lineup — as ethereal synths build out the mysterious tease. Its caption reads “CERTIFIED LOVER BOY.” The video ends with the words “JANUARY 2021” plastered across the screen in a stark yellow font.
在2020年10月下旬的一个随机下午，Instagram用户@champagnepapi在他的帐户上发布了一段神秘的视频，粉丝数接近1亿人。在剪辑中，慢动作镜头突出了2010年代最具统治力的说唱歌手德雷克，重现了他之前完整项目的封面——这次是将一颗心剃进他清脆的阵容——空灵合成器构建了神秘的戏弄。其标题为“认证情人男孩”。视频以“2021年1月”字样以赤黄色字体贴在屏幕上结束。

But January 2021 comes, and the previously promised record is nowhere in sight. A knee injury has apparently halted the Toronto superstar’s plans to drop CLB on its original release date. “Start writing the best bounce back story NOW,” he remarked shortly after the injury occurred.
但2021年1月到了，之前承诺的记录遥遥无期。膝盖受伤显然阻止了这位多伦多巨星在原上映日期放弃CLB的计划。“现在就开始写最好的反弹故事，”受伤后不久，他说。

And what a bounce back this year ended up being for the artist born Aubrey Graham. A lacking-only-by-his-standards 2020 – where “Toosie Slide” off his Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape still debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and loose single “Laugh Now, Cry Later” peaked at No. 2 and hung around well into the new year — a debilitating knee injury and a delayed album release all posed daunting challenges, even for an artist whose every move has the potential to define the cultural zeitgeist at any given moment.
对于这位出生于奥布里·格雷厄姆的艺术家来说，今年的反弹真是一场。2020年缺乏仅按他标准运行的标准——他的黑暗巷演示磁带混音带上的“Toosie幻灯片”仍然在公告牌热门100上首次亮相，松散的单曲“现在笑，稍后哭泣”达到第2位，并一直徘徊到新的一年——虚弱的膝盖受伤和专辑发行延迟都构成了严峻的挑战，即使对一个每一步都有可能在任何特定时刻定义文化时代精神的艺术家来说也是如此。