Justin Bieber just surprise-dropped his seventh studio album Swag overnight after a more than four-year hiatus from the music industry. JB announced the album through a series of billboards around the world, either with the track list, or the album cover, or his now infamous “it’s not clocking to you” paparazzi line – a line I can admit that I repeat pretty much every day at this point (and has gone on to be an interlude on the album). 

 

The move comes after months of public curiosity and concern due to a series of social media posts and public appearances that got the internet talking. Well, with the release of his new record he’s giving people something real to talk about. 

 

Justin Bieber has been in the limelight since he was a teen and many of us (myself included) grew up alongside him, so the news of new music for someone like him is always going to hit a little bit harder than the average artist. His 2010 PEOPLE cover stayed on display on the shelf in my bedroom when I was just a little confused teen gay …

Justin Bieber's PEOPLE 2010 cover

… and I’m not an anomaly, in terms of Bieber fans, I’m tame in comparison. “Bieber Fever”, for my generation, was a pop culture tsunami. Justin was there when we got our braces on, when we had our first kiss and when we graduated high school – so when he decides to drop music, we are all tuned in. Say what you want about JB, but he’s had a profound impact not just on popular music, but music as a whole since his debut back in 2009. Just look at some of the biggest artists around today – chances are most of them were heavily influenced by either his sound or general aesthetic.

 

Billie Eilish has expressed countless times just how much of a fan she is of his, even collaborating with him for her “Bad Guy” remix and BTS’s Jungkook even once posted this glorious clip of himself dancing to “Sorry”.  

From late Millennials to Gen Z to A, Justin Bieber represents what it means to be a “star” in the truest sense of the word, from public fascination to sheer natural talent. In a world where celebrities simply do not shine as bright as they once did, Bieber is one of the last male solo pop stars whose presence caused and continues to cause tons of noise, both positive and negative. 

 

Like other icons before him, this release is happening in the midst of what has been perceived as a dark or difficult time in his life. Britney Spears did it back in 2007 when she crafted her Blackout album, which today is considered one of the greater pop albums. In Justin’s case, it seems that his personal struggles have led him to making the R&B/Soul album that he’s been trying to make for the entirety of his career. He vulnerably addresses his issues and daily struggles on the album, letting listeners know that he’s just living the same human experience we all are – his experience just has an abnormally large microscope focused on it. He’s using music to heal, and get through the trials that life throws his way, and that might just be the healthiest thing for him to do.

 

The most common theme through the record however is his marriage to Hailey, which has been obsessively scrutinised, and it seems the world is uniquely invested in them not working out. Sure, his social media posts exposing things they fight about may not be helping his case, but if what’s been expressed on this album is any indication, the man loves his woman. There’s even a direct nod to Hailey in “Go Baby” where he brags about his “iconic” love and her “iPhone [case] with lip gloss in it” (the waist-body chain with the lip gloss must just not have come out at the time of recording – lol). Actually the entire damn song is about how proud he is of her – and off the heels of that Vogue cover comment, that should silence those who had so much to say about their relationship dynamics. They aren’t perfect but they also aren’t pretending to be. On “Walking Away” Bieber sings “I made you a promise. I told you I’d change. It’s just human nature, these growing pains”. I’m not married, but there’s a reason that it’s a choice every day – because marriage is f*king hard. Add in the opinions of millions of people, it could be so hard it’s drowning. But through all the fights and hardships the two are still together so the love is there. Justin and I are only a year apart and there’s still so much “growing” to do, so yeah you’re gonna screw up sometimes but that’s all a part of the process of choosing to commit yourself to someone, and as he sang, he’s made his promise and choice. 

This new project sees Biebs straying away from the traditional “hits” that he has become known for and instead sees him experimenting with Soul and R&B in a way he never has before. Sure, he stepped into his R&B bag with Journals in 2014, but now he’s a grown man, so his own soul has developed. The title of the album, Swag, is interesting because on one hand it’s a nod to the saying and state of mind that defined him in the early days of his career. On the other hand, if we’re keeping it all the way real, it’s pretty lame – but let’s go with the first option since that’s more poetic. It’s been 16 years since he burst onto the scene and since then he’s given us countless bops from “Baby” to “Love Yourself”. He’s gone the pop route and done the radio-friendly sound but now he no longer has anything to prove as an artist and can truly create the way he wants to and that’s evident in the music. 

 

For more casual fans of Justin however, the new album may not be the most digestible listen. For an artist who has made a name for himself as a modern day early Justin Timberlake-esque pop star, the album is lacking the essential bangers that would usually be serviced to radio… but maybe that’s the point of all of this. He’s done the music that the labels wanted him to do and stayed in the pop box, but now he’s not holding back – he’s living his best R&B fantasy and the interludes with Druski further cement this narrative. Tracks like “Walking Away” and “First Place” see Biebs using his signature velvety vocals on rhythmic beats that make for both the perfect soundtrack for sex or a wine/painting date night. Either way, the vibes are present, but if you were looking for the pop bops that he was serving in 2015 during the Purpose era, you either have to listen with an open mind or simply sit this one out.

While there are some peaks, as a cohesive body of work, the album reads as a creation stemming from a confused man who is just letting the pieces fall where they may. He may have a direction that he is heading towards in terms of being more in touch with his soulful side, but there’s definitely some watering of the plants that needs to get done. For every song on the album that hits, there’s one that doesn’t, but not in such a way that undermines the effort. If anything, Swag feels like the groundwork for what the future could look like for Justin and that’s less of the watered down commercial sounds we are used to from him and instead something deeper. There are already reports that another “proper pop album” is in the works for next year and given that his last two album cycles for Changes into Justice also followed a similar trajectory of experimental into “proper pop” it’s not too much of a stretch. Regardless of how you feel about R&Bieber though, this is the version of Justin that is both standing on business and here to stay.

 

Justin Bieber in Mallorca, July 7, 2025
Photo credits: Backgrid

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