“SWAVAY is here for the long run, and his silver tongue practically guarantees longevity, so get used to seeing his name.” – OFFICE
“His tone is assertive, the genre-transcending wordsmith boasting about his talents, squad, and wins.” – BILLBOARD
“There is profound intelligence in the matter-of-fact manner in which SwaVay states the reality of who he is, where he comes from, and where he plans to grow from here. To honor his words, we won’t discuss it – we’ll just point out its brilliance.” HIPHOP-N-MORE
SWAVAY – a native son and scion of Atlanta’s diverse rap ecosystem – unveils his highly-anticipated new BILLY EP, out now via Giant Music/Def Jam Recordings. Listen HERE.
Across five tracks, SWAVAY expands his ever-evolving sonic palette. This time around, he embraces innate R&B inclinations with smooth melodies and organic instrumentation. “ALL MY FRIENDS” layers silky vocals above creaky acoustic strumming as he opens up without filter. It culminates on an anthemic chorus as he sighs, “Guess I’m not too fortunate for love.” On “EVERYTHING,” heartfelt emotion echoes through his hypnotic high register and soaring harmonies. It builds towards a promise on the anthemic refrain, “I will be your everything.” Simultaneously, he flexes his range once again. Then, there’s “LET ME KNOW.” Strings accent the soundscape as SWAVAY’s arresting vocals simply captivate. The trip climaxes with the single “800 MILES.” Gentle acoustic guitar wraps around thick drums. Overwhelmed with emotion, he pleads, “Just tell me what you want me to be…I’ll be it.”
The project asserts his versatility, vulnerability, and vitality out loud.
SWAVAY paved the way for this body of work with “NO ORDINARY LOVE.” It has already attracted applause from HotNewHipHop who said, “he has proven to be incredibly versatile. He can rap but he can also sing his heart out. This leads to hip-hop and R&B hybrids that have left us in a trance.”
About the EP, SWAVAY commented, “I wrote this project in two weeks about a girl who ended up breaking my heart when I finished it. At least we got some good emotional ass songs outta it. I’m a simp, what can I say? This is my greatest attempt of proving to the world that I’m not one dimensional.”
This time around, SWAVAY leans into his longstanding passion for R&B, showcasing his soulful side and flaunting no shortage of vocal fireworks in the process.
He capped off 2023 by dropping the Deluxe Version of his acclaimed debut album, ALMETHA’S SON. This body of work has already generated just shy of 10 million global streams. Beyond plugs from XXL and more, ATTACK THE CULTURE raved, “Sometimes you just want to cruise with the windows down and music blasting. So leave it up to SWAVAY for coming through with a revamped version of his ALMETHA’S SON studio album. Deluxe edition goals? You bet.” Billboard touted “UH” among its “R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week,” going on to applaud how, “The song laces a thumping bass line and 808 claps with orchestral loops as SWAVAY stomps all over the beat with fiery bars.”
Powered by a hard-earned confidence that his own genre-traversing style is ready for hip-hop’s – and music’s – biggest stages, SWAVAY arrives at the industry’s #1 hip-hop destination with the depth and dexterity that is typical of Dogwood City’s greatest. His brand of soulful trap fusion has earned cosigns and collabs from artists across genres and sounds, from multi-platinum producer Metro Boomin, to U.K. pop/electronic/R&B auteur James Blake.
In 2019, SWAVAY shared a Grammy® nomination for his contribution to “Elevate” (with DJ Khalil, Cordae, Denzel Curry, and Trevor Rich), from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. In 2021, SWAVAY appeared on “Frozen” (with Dreamville Records’ J.I.D), a track from Blake’s LP, Friends That Break Your Heart.
Inspired by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Drake, as well as golden-era greats like Jay-Z, Nas, and Snoop Dogg –SWAVAY dropped his first solo project, Poet Talk(2012), while still in school. More indie releases followed, including TRVPLANTA (2015), and Before Eye Die (2016), as SWAVAY found his place amid Atlanta’s competitive trap scene.
BILLY EP Tracklist:
- ALL MY FRIENDS
- NO ORDINARY LOVE
- LET ME KNOW
- 800 MILES
- EVERYTHING
ABOUT SWAVAY:
SwaVay can’t be boxed in. Few MCs have the musical depth and dexterity of the Atlanta native, whose brand of soulful trap fusion has earned cosigns and collabs from artists across genres. Now, with his major-label debut album release via Giant/Def Jam Recordings, the rich and real Almetha’s Son, SwaVay is powered by a hard-earned confidence that his genre-traversing music is ready for hip-hop’s—and music’s—biggest stages. In addition to the boundary-pushing sounds, the record encapsulates his relationship to his city while continuing to show off the many emotions and energies that he’s captured in his music so far. SwaVay put out his first solo project, Poet Talk (2012), while still in school. He followed that up with several more indie releases while finding his place amid Atlanta’s bubbling trap scene. SwaVay’s malleability and persistence paid off in 2017 when super-producer Metro Boomin signed him as the first act on his then-fledgling Boominati Worldwide label. Under Metro’s tutelage, SwaVay dropped his breakout 2019 mixtape, Pure Infinity. The same year, SwaVay earned a Grammy nomination for his contribution to the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse song “Elevate.” In 2021, he appeared on James Blake’s “Frozen” (with Dreamville’s J.I.D). Still, even as he prepares to release his most fully realized record yet, the SwaVay story is still being written. It’s an autobiography, guided by rich talent and the ambition to be a legend in the game. He isn’t settling for less.
photo credit: vlonery
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