Is it finally clocking to you? Justin Bieber is back.
The 31-year-old singer surprise-released a new album, “Swag,” Friday after teasing fans the previous morning with a series of billboards and social media posts. Bieber’s first album since 2021’s “Justice,” the new music prompted an online frenzy and revived a devoted community of Beliebers.
From his marriage to his paparazzi encounters, Bieber has faced incredible scrutiny over the last few months, which he addresses head-on in “Swag.” After listening to all 21 tracks, here are our biggest takeaways.
R&Bieber is back
Bieber has incorporated R&B elements in his music since early in his career and embraced the genre fully on the 2013 compilation album “Journals.” But even after coining R&Bieber in 2019, he’s struggled to be taken seriously.
When 2020’s “Changes” received a Grammy nomination for pop vocal album, Bieber expressed his confusion at not being nominated in the R&B category.
“To the Grammys I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry. I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said I set out to make an R&B album. ‘Changes’ was and is an R&B album,” he wrote on Instagram. “It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound.”
Read more: On ‘Changes,’ Justin Bieber finds salvation through hot married sex and chilled-out R&B
“To be clear I absolutely love Pop music,” he added. “It just wasn’t what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honored to be nominated either way.”
On “Swag,” Bieber shows off his R&B chops. From opening track “All I Can Take” and the seemingly SZA-inspired “Yukon” to “Daisies” (which reportedly features Mk.gee on the guitar), he takes a more intimate approach than on previous albums. But still, longtime fans will hear hints of “Journals” and “Changes” throughout the project.
In one of the album’s unconventional moments, comedian Druski comments on Bieber’s more “soulful,” R&B-infused sound.
“I said this album kinda sound, you got some soul on this album too, bro,” he says on the interlude track “Soulful.” “Your skin white but your soul Black, Justin. I promise you, man.”
He’s not ‘Walking Away’ from his marriage
Since Justin and Hailey Bieber wed in 2018, their marriage has been under a microscope. Divorce rumors circulated within months of them tying the knot, and it didn’t help that many fans were still rooting for the singer to get back with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez.
Bieber’s love for his wife is evident throughout his catalog — from 2020’s “All Around Me” to 2021’s “Hailey.” But in case anyone is still skeptical (they are), Bieber sets the record straight on “Swag.”
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On album standout “Walking Away,” Bieber gets candid about his relationship troubles but also reaffirms that he’s committed to his marriage. “You were my diamond / Gave you a ring / I made you a promise / I told you I’d change / It’s just human nature / These growing pains / And baby, I ain’t walking away,” he sings.
Elsewhere on the album, he cheers on his wife. On “Go Baby” (which lyrically echoes 2021’s “There She Go”), he sings, “That’s my baby, she’s iconic, iPhone case, lip gloss on it” — a reference to the Rhode founder’s famous lip gloss-holder phone case.
Recently, Hailey sold her skin-care company, which she launched in 2022, to e.l.f Beauty for $1 billion. There she goes indeed.
Justin Bieber addresses scrutiny over his marriage to Hailey Bieber throughout his new album, “Swag.” (Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The pregnancy announcement song
The Biebers’ pregnancy announcement in May 2024 was accompanied by an unknown instrumental track. Now, fans have identified it as “Devotion” featuring Dijon.
On the heartwarming track, Bieber sings, “When your lips and fingernails are all mine / I promise to take my time givin’ you devotion.”
The singer also celebrates being a father to Jack Blues Bieber, born Aug. 23, 2024, on “Dadz Love.” As rapper Lil B declares we need “less hatin'” and “more love,” Bieber repeats the track title (which sounds like “that’s love”) over and over.
There’s no cure for Bieber fever
Soon after the singer announced the surprise album, fans flocked to social media to express their excitement.
“New album – bieber fever hitting like it’s 2010,” TikTok user @jennyboba posted to the will.i.am collab “#thatPOWER.”
“Justin Bieber is back… I used to pray for times like this,” singer d4vd posted on X.
Read more: How Justin Bieber’s new song, ‘Intentions,’ helps women in L.A.
Others reactivated their old X fan accounts and created group chats to celebrate the release. “We’re creating a SWAG group chat to keep up with all the updates! Like or reply so I can add you,” @statsonbieber announced in a post that’s since received almost 6,000 likes and more than 600 comments.
Bieber fever may have been latent for years, but it’s making the rounds once again.
Bieber’s ‘Standing on Business’
Bieber’s had his fair share of viral paparazzi moments over the past year. Most notable was his encounter with photographers while leaving Malibu’s SoHo House, when he declared, “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business.”
The singer’s misuse of African American Vernacular English has turned into an internet meme, but Bieber’s in on the joke. He’s shared several fan edits of the encounter on his Instagram, including one that riffs off the hilarious “I’m a mommy” moment on “Love Island USA.” And on “Swag,” Bieber includes an interlude aptly titled “Standing on Business.”
“I like that you pronounce business. Usually, when I say, ‘Standin’ on business,’ I say, ‘Standin’ on bih’ ’ness,’ ” Druski says after the now-famous audio plays. “I think that’s why he ain’t leave right there. You were pronunciatin’ every word — you can’t pronunciate every word when you doin’ that.”
Bieber samples another paparazzi moment on “Butterflies”: “You just want money. Money, money, money, money, money, money, money. Get out of here, bro. Money, that’s all you want, you don’t care about human beings. All you want is money.”
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The song then transitions into an honest reflection on money and fame: “When the money comes and the money goes / Only thing that’s left, uh, is the love we hold,” he sings.
To be clear, Bieber’s contentious exchanges with the paparazzi are nothing new. “[What] do your parents think about what you do?” he asked one in 2012. “You tell them, ‘Yeah, I stalk people for a living’?”
But recently, these encounters — coupled with his sometimes outlandish social media activity — have led to increased scrutiny and speculation about Bieber’s mental health. Many have even drawn comparisons to Britney Spears.
“People are always askin’ if I’m OK, and that starts to really weigh on me,” Bieber tells Druski on the track “Therapy Session.” “It starts to make me feel like I’m the one with issues and everyone else is perfect.”
Following her husband’s surprise album announcement, Hailey reposted the tracklist on her Instagram story with the caption, “Is it finally clocking to you f— losers?”
Perhaps it finally is.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
