Every artist has their medium. For Justin Bieber, it’s music; for his wife, Hailey Bieber, it’s Instagram Story. And both sides of the couple would like the world to know that they are still very much together. Swag, Justin’s surprise, mediocre new album, is filled with lyrics about his complicated relationship with his wife, but they all skew toward “I still love you.” On the album’s second track, “Daisies,” Justin sings that he’s “Throwin’ petals like, ‘Do you love me or not?’ / Head is spinnin’, and it don’t know when to stop / You said, ‘Forever,’ babe, did you mean it or not?” Tough review for a marriage! But then, just two songs later, on “Go Baby,” he sings, “That’s my baby, she’s iconic, iPhone case, lip gloss on it / And, oh my days, she keeps ’em talkin’, it’s comedy, just block it.” Those lyrics could only be about Hailey, whose company Rhode Beauty sells a popular iPhone case with a slot to keep your lip gloss.
There’s been speculation that the two have been growing apart for months, after they unfollowed each other for a while on Instagram, which Hailey attributed to a “glitch,” writing on TikTok that she “didn’t unfollow him. Hope this helps!” Then, Justin celebrated Hailey’s May 20 Vogue cover by writing on Instagram, “I told hails that she would never be on the cover of vogue. Yikes I know, so mean. For some reason because I felt disrespected I thought I gotta get even … So baby u already know but forgive me for saying u wouldn’t get a vogue cover cuz clearly i was sadly mistaken.” That rudeness did not go unnoticed, and on Swag, Justin is still airing out their arguments.
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Their relationship is portrayed at its worst on “Walking Away,” when Justin alludes to a breaking point in their marriage: “And, girl, we better stop before we say some shit / We’ve been testing our patience / I think we better off if we just take a break.” But then, on the chorus, he sings that despite what he just said about them needing a break, he’s going to stay and work on himself. “Baby, I ain’t walking away,” he sings. “I told you I’d change / It’s just human nature / These growing pains / And baby, I ain’t walking away.” Well, as long as he’s growing.
Throughout all of this, Hailey has consistently stood by her man. On July 10, when the album was announced, Hailey posted an Instagram Story captioned, “Is it finally clocking to you fucking losers?” That phrase is a reference to her husband’s now-iconic rant at the paparazzi in June, where he said, “It’s not clocking to you. It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?” Hailey has since posted Stories of billboards with the Swag cover art and a screenshot of her listening to “Daisies” — a song that, again, is about not knowing if Hailey Bieber still likes you.
Justin himself references the paparazzi rant on the interlude “Standing on Business.” On the track, Justin plays the audio from the moment, before the comedian Druski comments on the video. “I like that you pronounce ‘business,’” he says. “Usually when I say, ‘Standing on bidness,’ I say, ‘Standing on bidness.’” Well, Justin and Hailey Bieber are continuing to stand on business, by which we mean continuing on in a clearly messy marriage. Romantic, honestly.
