No one should voluntarily listen to Justin Bieber’s “SWAG II.” The sequel to his summer album “SWAG,” offers little more character than the uninspiring title would suggest. The 23 additional tracks to the original fail to achieve anything markedly unique or enjoyable. It’s like listening to a broken record.

With 44 songs in total each song on the double album is short, lyrically limited, and sounds the same as the track before with some slight differences. An unimpressive two hour album can be listened to in a sitting, but by doing so you run the risk of a total waste of time.

It is safe to say Bieber’s additional tracks in “SWAG II” will put you to sleep as quickly as one of these two minute songs. 

While some songs stand out for their collaborations with musical artists such as Tems, Bakar, Hurricane Chris, Lil B, and Eddie Benjamin, the distinctive voices are the only unique elements on these tracks. 

Beginning with one of the least impressive tracks: “POPPIN’ MY S***” features Hurricane Chris with a whopping one lyric line sung by Bieber. “Mm, lil’ mama wanna be right beside me/ Lil’ mama wanna be just like me/ I’m poppin’ my s***, poppin’ my s***,” Bieber sings with lyrical creativity — clearly.

The song’s redeemable quality comes from Hurricane Chris’ portion, although he raps some Bieber promotional lines, as if to trick us that the album isn’t terrible. He raps, “Once I hit, you gon’ get hooked and ain’t gon’ never leave me/ Got some friends and they all love Justin Bieber.”

While some may appreciate Bieber’s attempts to diversify his musical portfolio, it is underwhelming to say the least. Granted there are a few good odes, presumably to his wife Hailey Bieber, which have the potential to add something sweet to the album. “I THINK YOU’RE SPECIAL” and “MOTHER IN YOU” contain some sweet sentiments, with Tems providing barely audible backup vocals on the former, but both remain lyrically limited. 

Other tracks — notable for their constant repetition — prove unforgettable, and not in the good way. On the track “EYE CANDY” Bieber sings, “Eye candy, eye candy/ ’Cause you taste so sweet, uh/ When you’re looking at me, uh,” which is astoundingly bad, although the beat resembles an overplayed R&B song, which manages to be catchy enough to regrettably linger in a listener’s head.

Another song which deserves the same warning label for a tune that will make you accidentally hum it without thinking is “DON’T WANNA,” featuring Bakar. The lyrics which seem to repeat the same “I know what it should be/ I don’t wanna mess this up,/ I don’t want you to leave,” repeat endlessly until the next track mercifully begins.

Overall “SWAG II,” if picked apart track by track, could be fine. And it might just be meant for a listener looking for a catchy and repetitive tune. But really the album’s only distinctive quality is that Bieber himself created it, and for the longtime Bieber fan it could be worth the listen, as his last full album was released in 2021. Yet in the four years since an album release, Bieber is not innovative with sound or creative with his lyrics, and he provides little evidence to suggest “SWAG II” took up much of that time. 

The hopeful Belieber might find something redeeming in this 44-track album, but one must dig deep for any worthwhile takeaways over the course of two hours and 11 minutes. Finally, a word of advice: a listen to this album is time you won’t get back and it certainly won’t enhance your music taste.