“It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?” says an exasperated Justin Bieber towards the end of his seventh album ‘Swag’. A repurposing of a viral video, in which the singer confronted paparazzi outside his house on Father’s Day, it’s one of this record’s multiple nods to the pressures of growing up in the spotlight, and having his every move – and misstep – documented since first becoming famous at 13.
The surprise album comes at a time of heightened tabloid speculation about Bieber’s well-being. His social media posts and photodumps are regularly dissected and splashed across the press, with tabloids scouring them for evidence of illegal drug use or signs of crisis in his marriage to Hailey Bieber. Recently, his team labelled the discourse as “exhausting and pitiful”.
Though the trappings of fame do appear in his first release since 2021’s dance-influenced ‘Justice’, it largely focuses on finding sanctuary elsewhere: namely, the church and the bedroom. Alongside nods to his Christian faith, including Marvin Winans closing out the record with the gospel track ‘Lord, I Lift Your Name on High’, ‘Swag’ often explores the spiritual dimension to sexuality and intimate connection. This theme veers from sultry devotionals to cartoonish images: “Spider-Man on your ass,” he sings on ‘405’.
Half-baked lyrics persist throughout what is otherwise a gorgeously-produced album, “That’s my baby, she’s iconic,” he sings on ‘Go Baby’, before romantically plugging his wife’s line of Rhode phone accessories, “iPhone case, with a lipgloss on it”.
‘Sweet Spot’, meanwhile, takes things to new levels of lewd. Though Sexxy Red approaches proceedings with outsized, jarring quantities of filth (“Put that dick in my ass/Make my heart stop” she raps), Bieber’s one-liners shoot for sexy but land on ‘maybe you should see a pharmacist about that friction burn’. “I like it sticky in the sheets, I’ll make your sheets hot,” he drawls.
As with ‘Justice’, ‘Swag’ features a diverse selection of collaborators and guests, including US indie musician Mk.gee, alt R&B star Dijon, Canadian R&B artist Daniel Caesar, and the so-called godfather of Internet Rap, Lil B. The most prominent of all is American comedian and influencer Druski, who regularly pops up to offer Bieber his gratingly earnest counsel, and a constant supply of Black & Mild cigars that go broadly untouched.
“Your skin white, but your soul black, Justin,” he announces on ‘Soulful’. Bieber – who sheepishly mutters “thank you” in response – has always been very open about the vast influence Black culture has had on his artistic identity, but this particular statement simplifies and flattens out all of that nuance.
Lil B, though, is perhaps the biggest influence of all on ‘Swag’, with hints of his slippy, line-blurring approach to genre and understated delivery everywhere. It shifts the rolling drum pattern of ‘Dadz Love’ (which appears to be based on old footage of a two-year-old Bieber showing off his percussion skills) to cavernous, echoing acoustic guitar, and the rich, Kashif-influenced R&B production of the album’s promising opener ‘All I Can Take’ ‘Swag’ Throughout, it rarely settles on one sound, flitting between influences and ideas in a loose, diaristic manner.
As a whole, though, ‘Swag’ often feels poorly edited, its 21 tracks accumulating into a directionless slog. The production may have its moments, but the lyrics rarely deliver the depth to match. While snippets of Bieber standing up for himself and “standing on business” hint at definitive clapbacks to come, ‘Swag’ ultimately offers up another flurry of question marks in response.
