Review of Justin Bieber's 'SWAG'

Hello, my fellow Beliebers.

I got out of my hiatus just in time -- because our man Justin Bieber just dropped his 7th album, titled "SWAG."

I must say: considering how long its been since his last album, and in general, all that has happened these last few years with surrounding news or scandals about Bieber: I thought this album was either going to be the greatest thing ever or... just horrible. After my first listen, I have so many thoughts. My first one being, "boy... what the hell is this?" 

Have you ever seen anime characters with those 3-to-4 question marks above their head that convey the confusion they're in? Yeah, that’s your girl right now.

I’m thinking this was going to be that "Boyfriend" Justin, but more grown. It was clocking to me that he was standing on business, but this album made me so lost as to what kind of business he's referring to.

While I loved the acoustics, was anyone expecting the whole album to be essentially an acoustic loverboy album with Sexyy Red mentioning anal? What kind of black and mild did Druski give him? I was not convinced of him "sounding black" or having any type of "black soul" on this album.

While I do have that opinion, I will say "DEVOTION" is the exception, as that was the only truly soulful  song on this album. Dijon gave the track the seasoning it needed, and the lyrics were very intentional and  expressive of what devotion should feel & look like. At the same time, it was slow, simple and sweet. I will hold back on saying a dijon mustard joke -- but I’m warning you all now, I won't hold back next time.  

Musical artist Dijon Prioleau, who was once a child industry star just like Bieber, is featured on the 12th track of 'SWAG' titled 'DEVOTION.'

Are you still reading? Great. Because we are circling back on what I mentioned earlier about Sexyy Red. Her feature made my jaw drop. I am well aware of how unfiltered and sexual Sexyy Red's lyrics can be, but it was something about this feature on "SWEET SPOT" that I couldn't believe. I think the shock value comes from the fact that we had no transition from love yearning & acoustic blues to having sex in the drop top.

Justin Bieber & Sexyy Red.

Maybe sometimes, life is like that. Do we need that in music, though?

Well, we do have Future mentioning any prescription drug he can name in 90% of his songs... so we gotta let this rock too, right? 

Not only did Justin Bieber confuse me with the 'SWAG' title, but the somber "human nature" music just wasn't what I was expecting. Because of that, I don’t think I’m as welcoming to the music or comforted by it. Nonetheless, I could definitely see the appeal for what it is and what feelings it’s supposed to invoke.

If you’re in love & petting a baby cow on a farm somewhere after microdosing, this might be it for you. This is the Michael Jackson music that white nuclear family in 2005 was hoping to hear. This is that "let me bring you tomatoes from my garden for the 18th time because these butterflies won’t go away" type of music. It’s clear how much being with his wife Hailey and having a baby affected him and how he portrayed his experience of  love in this album. You can see that influence in songs like "GO BABY" and "WAY IT IS" featuring Gunna. 

Overall, our man Justin Bieber might’ve cleared the "I hate my wife" allegations with this sweet album, but honestly -- solely on the title being misleading, having Druski on this three times and a lot of the songs sounding very similar instrumentally, I wonder how much of the message of the album will be heard and be actually impactful or long lasting. Even the song "SWAG" with Cash Cobain sounded just like the other songs and Cash Cobain turns any song he makes or features on into sexy drill more times than not.

Nonetheless, we love to see Justin just make some music again and I’m looking forward to see how well the album does. 

Justin Bieber in April 2025. PHOTO CREDIT: DUTCH/BAUER GRIFFIN / CC IMAGES

Rating: 7/10