Justin Bieber‘s former manager Scooter Braun has publicly shared his thoughts on the singer’s latest album Swag just in the future after its release.
Braun, whom Bieber unfollowed on social media in January together with various other former friends and associates, decided so as to add his thoughts on Swag to the combo, by writing on his Instagram Story on Saturday, “Been having a ravishing begin to the weekend and been getting quite a lot of texts about how I feel about Justin’s latest album.. so I’ll just leave this here.. That is unquestionably, essentially the most authentically Justin Bieber album to this point. It’s beautiful, raw, and truly him. And that matters.”
He continued, “I’ve had the privilege of witnessing his growth for nearly twenty years. Along every journey, there comes a time when an artist fully steps into their very own — and that’s what he’s done here. He’s poured his soul into this project, and you may feel it in each run.”
Braun also noted that “daises” is his favorite track on the record, and that Bieber’s tone is the “best on the planet.”
On Friday, Bieber dropped the 21-track Swag, his seventh studio album and first in 4 years since 2021’s Justice. The project, a mix of genres and topics, delves into every little thing from the singer’s relationship together with his wife, Haley Bieber, and the paparazzi to mental health issues and colloquially “Standing on Business,” as one song is titled, over pop, R&B, soul, hip-hop and gospel melodies. The rollout also not shying away from the artist’s latest meme-able act, with one billboard on Sunset Blvd reading “It’s Not Clocking to You” in reference to the words Bieber recited during his viral standoff with photogs outside Malibu’s Soho House last month.
Generally well-received, Swag has been praised by listeners as “mature” and “authentic,” with one fan account calling the album his “declaration of independence.”
Braun discovered the now 31-year-old Canadian singer via YouTube in 2008 when Bieber was just 13 years old, and shortly launched him into pop superstardom. After 15 years of working together, the pair’s relationship began to sour following the financial fallout from Bieber’s failed Justice world tour in 2022. Earlier this month, it was announced that Braun, who built his management business working with additional acts comparable to Ariana Grande, J Balvin and Demi Lovato, is transitioning out of his role as CEO of HYBE America to an advisory position by which he’ll join the Board of the Directors of the South Korean entertainment conglomerate HYBE, serving as a director and a senior adviser to chairman Bang Si-Hyuk.