It’s 2025, and the buzziest underground rap stars are rocking #BEENTRILL snapbacks while unironically penning Tumblr love stories. A Playboi Carti song built around a sample of Rich Kidz’s “Bend Over” spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. And, on Thursday afternoon, Justin Bieber announced that his 7th studio album, succinctly titled SWAG, would be released at midnight. Is it safe to declare it a kushandlyrikz summer?
Bieber seems to have been preparing for one, spending the past few months hitting the studio with Lil B, sparking up to classic Clams Casino beats, and hopping on Instagram Live to preview raw, improvisational snippets over minimalist beats that wouldn’t be out of place on a MySpace-era Soulja Boy mixtape. Though recording sessions for SWAG reportedly concluded in April, it’s not unlikely that its sudden release was influenced by the cultural ubiquity of his awkward and appropriative, yet admittedly iconic catchphrase, “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business,” levied at paparazzi in mid-June. Best to unlock the swag while the iron’s hot.
Despite its title, however, SWAG is free of any sounds even vaguely reminiscent of the ringtone era. Instead, he’s enlisted producers Eddie Benjamin and Carter Lang to provide much of the record’s ’80s-inspired, reverb-laden backing, tapping Mk.gee and Dijon to lend some experimental edge. Compared to Bieber’s previous outings, there’s a distinct emphasis on organic textures and acoustic guitar, aiming for raw intimacy and stadium, or maybe megachurch-sized hooks at the same time. Here are five takeaways from the album.
Sophisti-pop SWAG
SWAG’s production is often cavernous, though not quite in the polished, neon-lit vein of a Weeknd album. Instead, there’s a focus on dusty timbres, blown-out drums, and live instrumentation, all echoing into infinity. Mk.gee’s fingerprints are felt throughout, even when he’s not explicitly credited as a track’s producer, with technically intricate guitar lines weaving through the mix. “First Place” pairs compressed, distorted drum programming with synth leads that would sound at home in an abandoned shopping mall food court, while “Daisies” leans fully into guitar-heavy blue-eyed soul. “Go Baby” occasionally resembles contemporary Bon Iver records with its watery keys and dreamy vocal stacks, which isn’t a huge surprise given their shared collaborator in Dijon.
Cinematic Collabs
Even SWAG’s marquee collaborations with rappers are subject to the moody, spacious sound palette, to strange and inventive effect. On “Way It Is,” Gunna waxes romantic about designer shopping sprees over Vangelis-esque pads, and there’s a definite charm to hearing Sexyy Red’s freaked-out verse echo into an expanse of cinematic synth work. A late-album team-up with Cash Cobain borders on chillwave with its clattering snare rolls and washed-out arpeggios. And is Eddie Benjamin doing a baby-voiced Carti impression on that same track?