Justin Bieber Jokes About Industry ‘Bundle’ Scandals Amid ‘SWAG’ Sequel Hype

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Justin Bieber, now two SWAGS deep, tapped into his playful approach to social media in the run-up to his second album of the year.

In one Instagram update, Bieber tucked in a joke about a controversy that was the talk of the industry not too long ago. Namely, he nodded to the charts-minded approach of bundling an album release with other items, a practice that was the subject of Billboard rule changes back in 2020.

“This ain’t no bundle scandal,” Bieber wrote in the caption of a post featuring key pieces from his SKYLRK label. Notably, the pieces featured in the post are very much in line with the visual language of SWAG II’s minimalist cover art, which swaps out the all-black look of its predecessor for pink.

A person in a pink hoodie with a blurred face, against a colorful, abstract background.

Image via Justin Bieber on Instagram

In 2019, then-new projects from DJ Khaled and Tyler, The Creator were both at the center of industry chatter about bundling.

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Khaled, specifically, was the subject of a report claiming that he was “furious” about missing out on a No. 1 debut against Tyler. More recently, Billboard again changed its stance on bundling.

With SWAG’s release in July, Bieber bagged his 11th Top 10 entry on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album, his first since 2021’s Justice, opened at No. 2.

While it remains to be seen where Bieber will land with SWAG’s sequel, it’s safe to say he can expect another impressive charts week. This is Bieber we’re talking about, after all.

A bigger question is, when can we expect some movement from Bieber and company on the world tour front?

So far, Bieber hasn’t teased any dates. He was last on the road for the Justice World Tour in 2022, though that run was ultimately cut short.

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