When the news dropped on Friday that R&B prince Justin Bieber was releasing his seventh studio album at midnight, I was immediately whipped into an absolute frenzy.
The album hit over 74 million first-day streams on the global Spotify chart, and this was by far some of the best marketing and promo I’d seen for an album.
The billboards alone were enough to get the world talking.
I’ve never seen the Internet react in such a chaotic way for an album release. Which makes you think, were all his latest appearances in the media these last few months just coincidentally perfect, or ironically annoying?
Bieber isn’t a newbie when it comes to great marketing drops. Can I remind you about the fake “stolen footage” fiasco when ‘Beauty and the Beat’ dropped featuring Nicki Minaj?
The stolen laptop PR stunt had everyone in a chokehold back in 2012. Bieber sent the rumour spinning when he tweeted that some "personal footage" was stolen from him and his tour manager while performing a concert in Tacoma, Washington.
"Good job with the password protected @justinbieber. weak" the anonymous tweeter posted, later adding, "@justinbieber I got your stupid dms. I dont think so. gonna show the world. TOMORROW
To everyone's surprise, the following day the music video for ‘Beauty and the Beat’ dropped via Justin’s YouTube. The entire premise of the music video was to show the 'stolen footage' from private meetings and unreleased BTS. Genius.
The new album tracklist features artists like Gunna, SexyRedd, Dijon, Druski, Cash Cobain, and Eddie Benjamin, with a cute wee easter egg in the song ‘Dadz Love'.
The song features a beat which was first drummed out on a table by a three-year-old Bieber and posted to his YouTube channel (back then it was called KidRauhl).
Songs like ‘Too Long’, ‘Way It Is’, ‘Devotion’, and ‘Go Baby’ bring the R&B flare back to a once very pop-owned space by Bieber. But don't worry, with songs like ‘Daisies’, ‘Walking Away’,‘Butterflies’ and ‘Yukon’, Justin brings his pop filter back to recreate the same feelings we had on the albums 'Purpose' and 'Believe'.
The album embodies so much of Michael Jackson, who we know is one of Justin’s musical icons, especially on the track 'All I Can Take'.
In my opinion, this album was for Justin himself. This is the music he loves and thrives off.
Not only is his voice unmatched in this space, to me, he has one of the best rnb vocals in the game and it's so unique that he holds a lot of weight in the game, especially now with this album.
He brings a certain calming and whisper-tonality to the R&B space that we’ve been lacking lately.
This album comes after the latest settlement in court with former manager Scooter Braun. Bieber and Braun, 44, worked together for more than 15 years before ending their business relationship back in 2023.
Justin Bieber feels “fully free” creatively after parting ways with former manager Scooter Braun, a move he'd wanted to make "for so long," a source told Rolling Stone
Scooter complimented the album, calling it “beautiful” and "raw" via an Instagram story.
Fans on social media were quick to react to the new release, calling with "smooth" and declaring: "JUSTIN BIEBER COOKED GUYS."
One comment read: “Justin going 21/21 on this album, and there’s more to come, and I can’t even imagine what he’s going to continue to surprise everyone with. SWAG is so raw and beautiful in every way possible, and I’m blown away by his vocals, the production, EVERYTHING!! JB is still him."
Another fan said simply: “This isn't just music, it's a masterclass in vocals, rhythm, and legacy."
Considering Justin’s four-year hiatus from the music scene, this album proves everything that is continuously instilled in Justin, which is direction and emotion.
As an avid Bieber fan, from his pop to his acoustic albums, R&B Justin is by far my favourite version of him, and that’s in huge part because of the way he knows how to use his voice, specifically for this genre.
Justin writes from a place of where he’s at in his life, and the fact that he’s infused that emotion with a genre of music in which he thrives and shines in only makes the vision and the art that much better.
The raw-sounding effects and crisp vocal capture ensure his fans that he knows what he’s doing… he’s STANDING ON BUSINESS!
