Swavy exploded onto the scene in a way we haven’t seen in years. “Old Ways” was a mysterious single that snuck into the summer of 2022 and was heard all across the world. That was our first introduction to Swavy. All anyone knew, was this was a rising artist, with co-signs with some of the biggest acts in the world, including Nav, Meek Mill, and of course, Drake.
It’s been two years since Swavy first introduced himself to the world. In that time he’s gone on to perform at Rolling Loud, release a full-length mixtape, and even go on tour with Key Glock.
His affiliation with Preme, Reps Up, and Columbia Records has allowed him to be surrounded by some of the biggest and best artists in the world. Now, with even more life and musical experience with him, he’s ready to become one of the best himself.
In this interview with Swavy, we spoke to him about his experience in the industry so far, what he has coming up immediately, and what he’s still looking forward to accomplishing in the future. A new project is also on the way, but we’ll tell you more about that together, in the next interview.
How have you been feeling the last couple months since putting out Different Breed?
I’ve been good honestly. I’ve been I’ve been in a different mode. I put my tape out last year around August, and it did good but I know I’m always trying to one up myself, like I’m always in competition with myself. So now I just been making some of the best music man, and you know showing more versatility. My vault is crazy now man. There’s definitely a big difference from when I like first was coming up. Like, I got some sh*t now man [laughs]. But I just been waiting and letting people have their time, you know? But Swavy’s back man, Swavy’s back.
A lot of the stuff you talked about wanting to do when you first came up, like traveling and touring, has started to happen. Why did you feel like that was such an important thing for you to do?
I always knew that there was a world full of people out there that needed to hear what I had to say. I was always just a kid that was making music in his basement, but I wanted to bring it worldwide. I knew I wanted to travel around and you know win people over, win supporters over, and win fans over and you know, just make people love you, for who you are and the music you make, but not only the music, but the person and the performer.
I grew up watching a lot of great performers. Beyonce, Drake, Travis, a lot of people are great performers and their performance sells their music even more than they could have imagined, so I always took that seriously. I didn’t want to be the guy that didn’t want to perform or was too cool on stage and didn’t want to jump around and interact with my people. I go full mode (when I perform). The person I become on stage is not the person I am on a regular day. That was something I was always picturing, at home, in the shower, or literally in the mirror. I would just be singing, performing, acting like there’s a full crowd in front of me. So you know the fact that I get to actually do that now is definitely a blessing, man.
Did performing and all the prep necessary come naturally to you, or did you learn from the people you are around?
Honestly, there’s things I’ve learned from watching Drake on tour. Like Drake at the Apollo show. Being around his shows and seeing his performances, I’m picking up everything. Like I’m seeing people watching it and I’m enjoying it as a fan too, genuinely just staring, but it’s also like motivation and inspiration for how I want to piece my type of performances.
Last time we spoke, you only had one song out and of course people loved it, but what have you learned since putting out more music?
I’ve learned you gotta let the people decide your hit. I’ve learned you can’t sit on a song and be like ‘this is the one.’ There’s been times that I’ve played unreleased songs that I was going to scrap, and people will tell me that I’m tripping for not wanting to put it out. And stuff like that makes you realize that some people hear different than what you hear. Probably because you’re so accustomed to making your music, and so much of it, that it’s easy to be picky with yourself. There’s songs that you might think about throwing to the side, when really that could be a hit. I’ve learned that for sure.
You speak about music in a very specific way. You speak about it like it’s an art, and you’re the artist. There’s not a lot of games with you. When did you find that out about yourself?
I think when I realized that is when I realized I don’t get a happy feeling off of the clout, or the fame, or anything that comes with it. The best feeling I get is when I’m in the studio every night, and I’m working on a song and I leave and I know, I just made some sh*t [laughs]. I’m playing it the whole way home in my car and I’m like ‘I can’t wait for them to hear this sh*t,’ you know? That’s when I realized it wasn’t really about anything else for me. This is something that I’ve genuinely loved my whole life, and it’s just something that I’m talented with, that helps me provide for my family, and people love what’s going on so far, so I’m definitely doing something right.
Can you talk to us about the next single and some goals you have coming up?
The next single coming out is “Nights on Hill’ and then I got another single coming out a few weeks after, but this is just the warm up before summer. It’s a different sound than anything I’ve put out before, but I wanted to give people this before giving them the Swavy that they’ve gotten used to. This is a bop you can play in the club. We were playing it in Booby Trap and everyone was going crazy, so I decided that had to be next [laughs].
But yeah man, I’m hungry and not yet satisfied. There’s a lot more work to do. I’m trying to sell out arenas, man!
Swavy’s new single “Nights on Hill” is out right now on streaming platforms everywhere. Check out the new single and show Swavy some love!