Surprise Album Drop
Popular singer Justin Bieber caused a sensation among his fans last Friday when he dropped his new album, Swag unexpectedly. This unannounced release happened without any publicity or any hint, thus surprising the audience in the best possible way. Moreover, the album has in it the best and most versatile talents in the music industry, including Gunna, Dijon, Lil B, Sexyy Red, Cash Cobain, Eddie Benjamin, and gospel legend Marvin Winans. Also, well known comedian and influencer Druski sent his performance on the album in a few skits, which can be found throughout the track list.
Concurrently, barely a few hours after the release of the album, Bieber took to Instagram to disclose the liveliness of the moment by posting a joyful video of a fellow artist Sexyy Red. A recording of two musicians dancing playfully within a recording studio, obviously in their element during the process of music creation, was exhibited. Furthermore, he shared a caption with the video where he detailed his feelings about the moment, and cleared the air about their relationship.
The post was bombarded with negative comments from many followers who very much disagreed with his action. One user even talked about Bieber’s private life, saying, “You’re married, you’re a father. It’s not clocking to me,” indicating they felt his behavior was inappropriate given his marital status. Furthermore, another comment expressed sympathy for his wife, adding: “At this point, I feel bad for Hailey [Bieber],” reflecting a sentiment shared by numerous others who questioned the nature of his interaction with Sexyy Red.
Defending Their Friendship
As the online criticism continued to build, Sexyy Red stepped in personally to shut down the rumors and defend their working relationship. She firmly addressed the comments on the same post, stating, “I see two friends of the opposite sexx having fun making music about their significant others, I don’t see anything wrong. ITS SEXYY.” She further strengthened her positive opinion about Bieber with a comment written in a friendly manner, “Love ya Bizzle!!”. She used the moniker Bizzle to signify that her relationship with Bieber was sincere and not of a romantic nature, purely from their music collaboration.
Importantly, this studio interaction and subsequent online discussion follows Sexyy Red’s featured appearance on Bieber’s new album. Specifically, she provides vocals on the track titled “Sweet Spot” from the freshly released Swag project, confirming that their time together was professionally focused on creating music for the surprise album drop.
New Creative Freedom
At the same time, this record release is very important as it is the first major project of Bieber’s after the discussion of his highly publicized and lucrative conflict with his former manager, Scooter Braun, which is already in the past. This agreement was sealed at the beginning of the current month and that signified the existing partnership was over. According to a trusted source speaking exclusively to Rolling Stone, this newfound independence has directly resulted in significantly greater creative control for Bieber during the making of Swag.
Being completely free in every creative means is quite unexpected for him as an artist, who is very traditional,” the source explained. They continued, “Not having to worry about a hit single or the right album allows him make the best music he has ever done,” that is, they pointed out that the elimination of business pressure had a good influence on the creative process.
Furthermore, the source disclosed a very important fact of Bieber’s financial status, stating the terms of the return of Braun’s after their deal was closed. Specifically, they confirmed that the deal ensures Bieber now retains complete ownership of his master recordings. This ownership begins immediately with the Swag album, meaning he holds 100 percent of the rights to these recordings. Consequently, this represents a major shift in control over his own musical catalog moving forward.
