Album Review: Swag II by Justin Bieber
After surprise-releasing Swag, a 21-track album in July that feels overstuffed and uneven, Justin Bieber returns almost two months later with a sequel, diluting the intimacy and muddying the flow.
Justin Bieber is back again. In the early hours of yesterday, the pop star lit up cities from London to Los Angeles with baby-pink electronic billboards plastered with the album’s title and artwork. Literally, it was a spectacle mirroring Swag’s surprise July rollout—back then, monochrome black-and-white signs teased the first Swag—yet this time the neon-pink glare signaled a new chapter. The contrast between the two releases’ aesthetics sets the tone before a note even plays: Swag II trades the debut installment’s muted intimacy for something bolder, flashier, and more pop in both presentation and sound. Bieber is effectively saying the quiet part out loud: he’s done brooding in the shadows; now he wants the spotlight.
If Swag (July 2025) felt bloated and incohesive—a 21-track grab-bag that our previous review rightly deemed “overstuffed and uneven—Swag II attempts to course-correct without losing ambition. In fact, Bieber doubles down with 23 tracks here, but sharpens the focus. Where Swag embraces Bieber’s R&B roots and a looser, darker vibe, Swag II pivots toward polished, radio-ready pop, with some R&B influences here and there. The core creative team remains similar (producers like Dijon, mk.gee, Carter Lang, and Bieber himself reprise their roles), yet the execution is more cohesive and tasteful. Melodies are bigger, hooks stickier, and the production glossier, suggesting that Bieber took the first installment’s criticisms to heart. Even though the product still runs for nearly two hours of music (due to adding the first volume for streaming purposes), Swag II feels more like an album than a playlist of stray ideas, unlike the previous one.
The opening trio of tracks sets Swag II’s mission statement both musically and thematically. “Speed Demon” kicks off with a propulsive beat and a chip on its shoulder. Over twitchy drums and a guitar line, Bieber addresses his doubters and his own frenetic drive: “They try to say I’m out of my mind, but now they’re singing every line. Got a lot of mountains to climb, had to leave some beggars behind,” he declares, turning critics into bystanders of his success. Follow-up “Better Man” slides into a smoother groove, pivoting the focus to Bieber’s personal life. Co-produced by genre-blending tastemakers like Dijon (returning once more), the track wraps modern R&B production (buttery bass, slick guitar licks) around a heartfelt narrative of romantic redemption. Bieber croons about how love has transformed him—“Pull me out when you come in, and you turn me to a better man,” he sings in a tender, syncopated melody—his vocals light and breezy. The song’s warm, sensual undertones and the playful Spider-Man reference in the chorus hint at the Justice-era intimacy, but with a brighter sheen.
By “Love Song,” Bieber is fully embracing pop convention, and doing it well. The track is a sugary, uptempo ode with an unabashedly big chorus: “I wanna write you a love song, baby, I wanna write you a good one, you can’t stop singing to me,” he belts, essentially becoming a meta mission statement. Co-producers Dijon and mk.gee give “Love Song” a subtly off-kilter touch (a quirky guitar lick here, a stuttering drum fill there) but keep the mood effervescent. Top-down convertible imagery and a breezy LA summer vibe make this song an earworm that practically glows in pastel colors. The opening trio establishes the album’s duality, where ambition and swagger on one hand, love and domestic bliss on the other. Bieber is speeding toward success, but his heart is parked at home—a balance he’ll toggle throughout Swag II.
The rest of the album builds on these motifs while exploring new sonic detours. Bieber’s recent fatherhood and marriage remain a central muse—on “Don’t Wanna,” a soulful collaboration with UK singer Bakar, he pleads, “I don’t want to mess this up, I don’t want you to leave”, even alluding to the rocky 2016 split with now-wife Hailey: “You said you lost your wings when we broke it off, but now I’m back at your door.” It’s a genuine lyrical moment that grounds the album’s glossy exterior in personal stakes. “I Think You’re Special,” featuring Nigerian star Tems, is another highlight: a velvety Pop/R&B fusion that lets Bieber flex a gentler vocal register against Tems’ soulful harmonies. The track’s swaying rhythm and sun-kissed warmth underscore Swag II’s pop-forward palette—vibrant and globally attuned, a departure from Swag’s often moody R&B jams. Even with its crowd of guest contributors, Swag II manages a more unified tone than the first installment. Much of that is due to tighter songwriting: verses get to the point, choruses aim straight for the arena rafters. Bieber’s vocals, meanwhile, are in fine form—agile in runs and falsettos when needed, though mostly sticking to a comfortable midrange that matches the album’s polished, untroubled vibe.
That vibe, however, is a double-edged sword. The pop sheen and abundance of midtempo grooves mean Swag II can blur together in its second half, where a few undercooked songs creep in. The album’s colorful sameness is occasionally punctured by attempts at edge that don’t fully land: “Poppin’ My Shit,” for instance, brings in Louisiana rapper Hurricane Chris for a bombastic throwback-rap romp that feels more indulgent than essential, with Bieber adopting a braggadocio that comes off as forced. Similarly, “Petting Zoo” (as silly as its title) finds Bieber in flirtatious mode over a cloying trap beat; it’s a rare moment of filler that Swag II could have easily trimmed. Going through 23 tracks (Lord, help us all), one can’t help but note that Swag II, like its predecessor, overindulges in quantity. The album’s longest stretch might test casual listeners’ patience, as a few weaker cuts dilute the impact of stronger ones. Bieber is hardly the first major artist to succumb to the streaming-era temptation of an overlong tracklist—still, a more ruthless curation could have elevated this project from a very good collection to a great album. As it stands, the setlist overload is both a flex and a flaw: it showcases Bieber’s range, but also his inability to self-edit.
Where Swag II truly succeeds is in moments when that range does translate to emotional resonance. The back portion offers glimmers of the introspection that defined 2021’s Justice. On “Open Up Your Heart,” a ballad graced by co-vocalist Eddie Benjamin, Bieber leans into a pleading melody that recalls the earnest vulnerability of Justice’s best cuts. Penultimate track “Everything Hallelujah” flirts with gospel-pop, layering Bieber’s voice into a pseudo-choir as he searches for hope amid anxiety; it’s followed by “Story of God,” a contemplative closer that nods to Bieber’s faith and newfound perspective as a husband and father. These tracks broaden the emotional spectrum beyond the album’s glossy love songs and flex anthems. Yet, one might argue that Swag II still doesn’t quite hit the emotional peaks of Justice. That record’s raw moments (the aching loneliness of a song like “Lonely” or the earnest pleading of “Anyone”) had a gravitas that Swag II only sporadically reaches. Bieber’s contentment in 2025—marriage, parenthood, and career stability—yields a generally sunnier, steadier listen, for better and worse. The drama is subtler, the angst largely resolved. While that’s healthy for the man, it slightly flattens the emotional range of the music. Swag II retains shades of vulnerability, but it’s wrapped in a comfort and confidence that sometimes mutes the pathos.
Considering Bieber’s four-year album hiatus before the Swag era, the one-two punch of Swag and Swag II, released within a span of two months, is a statement in itself. It signals an artist making up for lost time, or one with a surplus of ideas, and it situates Swag II as the capstone of a prolific comeback summer. In the larger arc of Bieber’s career, which now spans eight studio albums and innumerable chart-topping singles, Swag II is a victory lap and a recalibration. It doesn’t rewrite Bieber’s story so much as it adds a loud new chapter about perseverance and pop craftsmanship. The album’s very existence—23 songs dropped out of the blue, complete with worldwide billboards—reaffirms Bieber’s clout in the pop world. Few peers of his generation could have pulled off such a stunt and still garnered massive attention. In that sense, Swag II does help cement his place as a pop heavyweight, an audacious flex of star power and fanbase devotion. It’s a big, flawed, ultimately satisfying pop album that trims away some of the bloat of the first outing and polishes its strengths.
Above Average (★★★☆☆)
Favorite Track(s): “Speed Demon,” “I Think You’re Special,” “All the Way”