It’s Back?! Justin Bieber & Nicki Minaj’s Hit ‘Beauty and a Beat’ Suddenly Climbs Spotify Again — But Why?

In the fast-changing world of music streaming, viral comebacks aren’t exactly rare — but some are far more puzzling than others. This week, one song has surged back into the spotlight, making fans nostalgic, confused, and wildly curious. We’re talking about Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj’s EDM-infused pop hit, “Beauty and a Beat,” which has suddenly skyrocketed on Spotify’s Global Chart, landing at #183 with over 1.1 million streams in a single day. But this isn’t 2012 — it’s 2025. So what exactly is going on?

A Sudden Surge from the Past

Originally released as part of Justin Bieber’s “Believe” album in 2012, “Beauty and a Beat” stood out for its high-energy production, synthesized drops, and the now-iconic guest verse from Nicki Minaj. While it was a hit at the time — peaking within the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — it’s never been considered among Bieber’s most enduring hits. So why, more than a decade later, has it exploded back into the cultural zeitgeist?

According to Spotify’s trend data, the song has been experiencing a sharp increase in daily streams, particularly among users aged 18–24 — a generation that was either in elementary school or barely into their teens when the track first dropped. This generational gap is part of the phenomenon, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

A Perfect Storm of TikTok, Memes, and Nostalgia

Like many surprise chart resurrections in the streaming era, the root of the resurgence seems to lie with TikTok — where the unexpected often becomes reality. Over the last two weeks, a new trend has emerged on the platform featuring users setting dramatic, slow-motion transformations and comedic skits to the beat drop of “Beauty and a Beat.” What began as a tongue-in-cheek way to relive early-2010s “club” energy has now turned into a full-blown nostalgic revival.

Some of the most viral TikToks using the track have racked up tens of millions of views, with comments filled with variations of “I forgot how hard this went,” and “This was THE song back in the day.” The audio is now officially trending under multiple hashtags, including #BeautyAndABeat and #BieberMinajBack.

Beyond that, meme pages on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) have jumped on the train, circulating edited clips of Bieber’s 2012 live performances and Minaj’s legendary verse, which, in hindsight, was one of the first times she seamlessly blended pop and rap in a mainstream crossover hit.

Nicki Minaj’s Resurgence Helps Fuel the Flame

While Justin Bieber has kept a relatively low profile in 2025, Nicki Minaj has been enjoying a renaissance of her own. Her recent performances at major festivals like Coachella and the release of her extended “Pink Friday 2” deluxe edition have kept her name on everyone’s lips. When fans started revisiting her older features, “Beauty and a Beat” stood out not just for its catchy production, but for her playful, self-referential verse that captured the energy of a pop-rap hybrid era.

Minaj’s fans, known as the Barbz, were quick to mobilize. Online fan campaigns have been pushing the song back into curated playlists and encouraging coordinated streaming efforts. One particularly viral X thread pointed out how Nicki’s verse in the song might’ve been “ahead of its time” in blending humor, charisma, and bravado in a dance-pop format. That discourse reignited interest not just in “Beauty and a Beat,” but in Nicki’s 2010s catalog as a whole.

Reclaiming the 2010s Pop Era

Cultural critics have long argued that we’re entering a phase of 2010s nostalgia, much in the way the 2000s had its throwback moment in the early 2020s. Now that Gen Z is growing up, the early-Instagram, neon-colored, EDM-influenced pop landscape of the early 2010s has become a source of emotional comfort. And “Beauty and a Beat,” with its glitzy beat, glammed-up aesthetics, and rebellious flair, fits the aesthetic perfectly.

Streaming platforms have noticed this shift. Spotify and Apple Music have begun curating editorial playlists that focus on “2010s Pop Revival” and “Throwback Dance Hits,” and of course, Bieber and Minaj’s hit features prominently.

The return of “Beauty and a Beat” is not an isolated event. Tracks like Kesha’s “Die Young,” Pitbull’s “Feel This Moment,” and David Guetta’s collaborations are also seeing minor revivals, though none have hit the numbers of Bieber and Minaj’s unexpected rebound.

Is the Music Video Playing a Role Too?

Let’s not forget the music video — a DIY-style, GoPro-shot sequence that was presented as being filmed by Bieber himself at a wild pool party. When it first premiered, the video was lauded for being unconventional and surprisingly personal for a major pop star. It now sits at over 1.2 billion views on YouTube and has started gaining traction again in reaction videos and commentary content on YouTube and TikTok.

YouTubers have even begun creating “Retrospective Breakdowns” of the video, analyzing its impact, aesthetics, and how it anticipated the modern influencer era. Its raw, handheld style arguably foreshadowed the vlog-like content that now dominates social media, making it ripe for rediscovery in 2025.

Streaming Algorithms Join the Party

It’s impossible to discuss a song’s sudden return without acknowledging the role of algorithms. As more users added “Beauty and a Beat” to their playlists and TikToks, Spotify’s algorithm began recommending it on “Discover Weekly,” “Throwback Thursday,” and “Your Time Capsule” playlists. The compounding effect of user behavior and automated promotion created a feedback loop — the more people streamed it, the more it was shown to others.

The story here is one of cultural momentum fueled by equal parts nostalgia, algorithmic promotion, and social media. This dynamic gives songs a second life, a digital aftershock that allows music to transcend its original era.

What Does This Mean for Justin Bieber?

Though Bieber hasn’t commented on the song’s return directly, fans are speculating online that the spike in streams might encourage him to revisit his 2010s catalog, or even consider a remix or anniversary edition of the “Believe” album. He’s been notoriously selective about public appearances lately, but insiders suggest that his team is “well aware” of the song’s comeback and “monitoring the numbers closely.”

In fact, on a recent livestream, longtime Bieber collaborator Poo Bear briefly acknowledged the trend, smiling and saying, “I see y’all bringing back ‘Beauty and a Beat.’ That was a moment — glad you guys still love it.”

Could a reunion performance with Nicki Minaj be on the horizon? Fans certainly hope so.

A Testament to Timeless Pop?

If nothing else, the return of “Beauty and a Beat” reminds us of the cyclical nature of pop culture. What was once seen as overproduced or kitschy can, over time, become beloved — even iconic. Songs that were meant to dominate summer playlists for a few months can become the soundtrack of an era.

There’s also something heartening about watching a song organically rise through shared memories, internet trends, and a collective urge to re-experience joy. At a time when much of the music industry is tightly controlled and data-driven, “Beauty and a Beat” shows that authentic fan enthusiasm still matters.

So while no one could’ve predicted its sudden ascent in 2025, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. In the end, a good pop song — especially one with a monster beat drop, a catchy chorus, and two of the most iconic names in 21st-century music — can always find its way back to the top.

Final Thoughts: More Than Just a Trend

Yes, the return of “Beauty and a Beat” is viral. It’s being memed, danced to, and edited into hundreds of thousands of videos. But beneath the surface lies something more meaningful: a hunger for shared joy, a reconnection with simpler times, and a reminder that music doesn’t expire — it evolves.

In a world that’s more fragmented than ever, maybe what we all needed was a blast of light from the past. And this time, it came wrapped in a synth-pop package delivered by Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj.