Scooter Braun Calls ‘Swag’ the “Most Authentically Justin Bieber Album to Date”

Justin Bieber‘s former manager Scooter Braun has publicly shared his thoughts on the singer’s new album Swag just one day after its release.

Braun, whom Bieber unfollowed on social media in January along with a number of other former friends and associates, decided to add his thoughts on Swag to the mix, by writing on his Instagram Story on Saturday, “Been having a beautiful start to the weekend and been getting a lot of texts about how I feel about Justin’s new album.. so I will just leave this here.. This is without a doubt, the most authentically Justin Bieber album to date. It’s beautiful, raw, and truly him. And that matters.”

He continued, “I’ve had the privilege of witnessing his growth for almost two decades. Along every journey, there comes a time when an artist fully steps into their own — and that’s what he’s done here. He’s poured his soul into this project, and you can feel it in every single run.”

Braun also noted that “daises” is his favorite track on the record, and that Bieber’s tone is the “best in the world.”

On Friday, Bieber dropped the 21-track Swag, his seventh studio album and first in four years since 2021’s Justice. The project, a blend of genres and subject matters, delves into everything from the singer’s relationship 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 soon 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 such as Ariana Grande, J Balvin and Demi Lovato, is transitioning out of his role as CEO of HYBE America to an advisory position in which he will 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.