Swag (Justin Bieber album)

In January 2024, Justin Bieber posted a series of photos of himself performing alongside other musicians in a recording studio on his Instagram account.^[13] During the first half of 2025, he shared several pictures of himself recording new music and playing instruments on Instagram, along with some cryptic captions that possibly hinted at new music to be released soon.^[14] Bieber announced that April that recording the album had finished during his vacation to Iceland, and subsequently shared photos from a recording studio through Instagram stories.^[1][15] Ahead of the album's release, Bieber hosted studio sessions at his home in Los Angeles earlier that year with Carter Lang, Eddie Benjamin, and DJ Tay James.^[16] On July 10, 2025, billboards that had the word "swag" written appeared in various locations around the world, including Reykjavík, Iceland; Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and Cambridge, Ontario, the former of which Bieber visited while recording songs for the album. The twenty-song tracklist was revealed on a billboard in Times Square in Manhattan, New York, which did not include the song "Standing on Business", a collaboration with American comedian and actor Druski, at the time.^[6]

The album's lead single, "Daisies", was sent to Italian radio airplay stations four days later and debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.^[17] Its second single, "Yukon", was sent to US rhythmic radio on July 22 and debuted at number 17 on the Hot 100, with its official music video being released on August 5.^[18] "First Place" was released as the album's third and final single along with its official music video on August 13, 2025.^[19]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Swag ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.4/10[20]
Metacritic	67/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Clash	7/10[3]
Consequence	C+[23]
The Daily Telegraph	[24]
Evening Standard	[25]
The Guardian	[26]
The Independent	[27]
Rolling Stone	[28]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[4]

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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Swag received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 from 15 critic scores.^[21] Brady Brickner-Wood of The New Yorker has praised the album saying, "Bieber has never sounded this wild, this expansive, this connected to something true."^[29] AllMusic commented that "With rare exception, Swag is about doe-eyed seduction, loyalty, humility, and faith. Moreover, "Swag" itself hardly shows Bieber embracing the term as he did in the early 2010s".^[22] Clash described the record as one that "broadly sits on 90s-adjacent synth pop – sometimes fixed in its approach, sometimes vaporised. It’s always colourful, and – for all its breadth – it’s always entertaining."^[3] In contrast, The Independent offered a negative assessment, stating that "outside of his hardcore devotees, Bieber remains more of a curiosity than a consistent, coherent creative force – Swag won’t do much to change the conversation."^[27] The Evening Standard wrote that "There is not a new sound or a new approach, this is pretty much Bieber as usual, only more so: 21 tracks of lightly personal R&B balladry that will please his fans but won’t convert anyone else".^[25]

In the United States, Swag debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 163,000 album-equivalent units, consisting of 198.77 million on-demand streams, his biggest career streaming week, and 6,000 pure sales in its first week. The album became Bieber's 11th top-ten entry on the chart, but also became his first studio album to miss the top spot. Its lead single, "Daisies", simultaneously debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.^[30][31] The album entered at number one in Canada, while also reaching the top spot in Austria, Belgium's Ultratop Flanders chart, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Notes

• "Yukon" contains an interpolation of "Untitled", written by Marshall Mathers, Kejuan Muchita, Michael Crawford, John Medora and David White, and performed by Eminem.^[32]
• "Sweet Spot" contains interpolations of:^[33]
  • "Can You Stand the Rain", written by James Harris III and Terry Lewis, and performed by New Edition.
  • "Theme from The Magnificent Seven", written by Elmer Bernstein.

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[34]