Justin Bieber’s ‘SWAG’ Answers All Your Recent Questions About the Pop Star (And It’s a Great Listen Too)

If you wondered whether Justin Bieber would address any of the recent headlines around him on his surprise seventh album SWAG, the answer is a resounding yes.

On the R&B-flavored project — which dropped first thing Friday after being teased only hours earlier — Bieber doesn’t shy away from hot-button topics, including his marriage to Hailey Bieber, becoming a dad to Jack Blues, and whether he tries to avoid smoking to protect his pipes (SWAG‘s frequent guest Druski offers Bieber his Black & Milds, but he turns him down). On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about why the album’s surprise release made sense, what kind of sound he was going for on the project, and where it could end up on next week’s Billboard 200 albums chart.

Listen to the podcast below:

Also on the show, Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem holds tight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for an eighth straight week — so how unusual is it for an album to spend its first two months on the chart at No 1? Plus, a KPop Demon Hunters track slays its way into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while Drake makes a splashy debut with his new single “What Did I Miss?”

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

Katie Atkinson

Billboard