The latter question is asked but not answered by “Swag,” the album Justin Bieber surprise-released on Friday and one that forces us to consider how the pseudo-events of celebrity give oxygen to pop superstardom but steal it from pop music.

After the singer teased his first album in four years, titled “Swag,” AP journalists proved what fans have made known for years — there is no cure.

Titled “Swag,” Bieber’s seventh studio album is his first full-length project since 2021’s “Justice.”