In a move that has surprised both fans and industry veterans alike, Justin Bieber has dropped the anticipated follow-up to his album Swag, appropriately titled Swag II. Word that Justin had another album up his sleeve had been circulating since the release of Swag back in July and that the album would be a brighter, more “pop” album – we just weren’t aware when it would come, and we certainly weren’t expecting it so soon. 

 

The album was announced yesterday and was set to come out at midnight, but only popped up on streaming around 4am EST. As you can imagine, the crash-outs ensued as Spotify went down in the process and JB himself even coming online to let fans know it was out of his hands. 

Tech issues aside, the album is out and it’s good, like really good. With the unexpected release of his eighth full-length studio album, it’s clear that if Justin Bieber has taught us anything in the last year, it’s to expect the unexpected and to never count him out. 

 

Justin has been all over the headlines in recent years for all the wrong reasons, whether it’s people having an opinion on him as a husband, the constant speculation about his marriage to Hailey, or him being generally “troubled”. Seems like he’s been channeling at least some of his feelings about this into his craft. You don’t just bang out two full-length studio albums within a couple of months without putting in some serious work. He acknowledged these accusations during the interludes on his first installment in the Swag album series, but now he’s doubling down. The songs on the album themselves are both thematically and melodically strong with tracks like “I DO” and “EYE CANDY” showing his vocals sounding healthy and rich. Say what you want about him, but it seems that he was in on the gag all along. 

 

The premiere of his new album, as Lainey pointed out yesterday, also coincides with Hailey’s launch of Rhode in Sephora stores across North America. This move didn’t happen by accident, Hailey’s deal had to have been in the works for months, but Justin, on the other hand, had a lot more leeway as he posted yesterday afternoon that he was still putting the finishing touches on the record, making it clear that releasing the album on this day at this time was very much an intentional choice. Ever since that IG post where he basically came clean about not believing in Hailey, he’s been going into overdrive with the public displays of love and support for her – rightfully so. The two of them having their big launches at the same time seems like an effort on their parts to create a new narrative in the media: the power couple. A reversal of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, if you will, with the male as the pop star while the female is the high powered business mogul. I KNOW, I KNOW, it’s huge stretch to compare those two, and I’m not saying that it’s the same level, but let’s keep it real here – Hailey’s deal is no small feat, and Justin is one of the world’s most well-known popstars. The two of them sharing this big moment together is basically a publicist’s dream.

 

Similar to the first Swag album, this record is filled with love songs about Hailey and the family they’ve grown together. “MOTHER IN YOU” is Justin talking to his son about how he sees his mother’s spirit, with lyrics like “A sober reflection in you when you looked right through me like you really knew me. So much of her coming through”. The song captures the sweet moments one shares with their children and the reflections that come with being a parent. Other tracks like “LOVE SONG” (which Spotify is marketing as the single) are more straightforward about his love for Hailey and wanting to express that love through song, while the spoken word closing track “STORY OF GOD” has him examining his faith and referring to Hailey as the Eve to his Adam and “the woman I love”. Careful with the analogies Justin, next thing you know we’ll be reading a whole think-piece on how Hailey is eating the forbidden fruit and what that represents, lol. Regardless, the facts are that not only is Justin making it very clear that he is in love with Hailey, but he’s also showing that he was so inspired by this love that he wrote two whole damn albums about it. 

 

While Swag addressed the drama on his multiple spoken word interludes accompanied by songs that have a darker more-alternative R&B approach, Swag II is all about good vibes. There are even a few upbeat pop-influenced gems on there like “DON’T WANNA” and “POPPIN’ MY S***” that forget about the drama and are all about him feeling himself and escaping through music. When it comes to the actual music, this is what I wanted from Bieber all along. When I wrote about the first Swag album, I mentioned how while there were definitely some highlights on the record, to me the record sounded unfinished and poorly produced. On the sequel, the beats are mixed to perfection, the songs are still very much R&B but have a brighter, more commercial twist,  making them far more enjoyable to listen to, and his vocals sound crystal clear. On first listen, it’s the pop ballad “I DO” that has truly caught my attention. It’s the best he has sounded in years, you can hear his confidence in his vocal delivery when he belts out lines like “Nobody gets to touch you, I do. You’ll always be the one that I choose”. 

 

The fans may have been on edge when the album didn’t drop exactly at midnight, but it only took one listen for Beliebers everywhere to know that their boy was back and in great form. Swag II is a strong album, but the main takeaway from this entire drop is that things may not always be as they seem. Justin has merged both Swag albums into one “two disc” album on streaming services for a grand total 44 songs. That’s two hours and eleven minutes of swag for your listening pleasure. Whether or not a tour is in the future remains to be seen – if you had asked me a few months ago if I felt he was up to completing a large tour I would’ve said absolutely not. But as I pointed out earlier in this piece, Biebs is telling us to never count him out. 

 

Justin Bieber out in LA, September 4, 2025
Photo credits: @HeadToToeCelebs/ Backgrid

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