Atlanta rapper SwaVay (Photo courtesy of TIDAL)
SwaVay is well on his way to becoming Atlanta‘s next big music star. The artist has a storied history as a producer and rapper. On his latest album, Almetha’s Son, he paints the picture of his upbringing by a single mother and they struggles they faced, and his desire to create a better life for her and himself.
SwaVay’s flow and voice are unique, with a different approach to the hip-hop space from most of his Atlanta peers. He’s been co-signed by the likes of super producers Metro Boomin and James Blake. Now a Def Jam artist, SwaVay has all the tools to blow up in the industry.
Now, he’s been recognized as a member of the TIDAL RISING Atlanta artists series. TIDAL RISING is a program the music-streaming platform has had since the services’ launch and was created to put a spotlight on emerging artists. Its alumni include 21 Savage and Chloe x Halle. This is the first year that Tidal has expanded the series’ focus to specific cities, and SwaVay has been recognized for the Atlanta chapter.
Recently, SwaVay spoke to rolling out about being a part of the series and his music career.
How did it feel being spotlighted in the series?
Man, that was cool as f— to me. Well, it was interesting because it was my first big production-type of ordeal. It was like a hundred n—– in my house, and it was crazy. They shot that s— like right here in my little studio. In one scene, I took them to the ‘hood; it was crazy. I guess it hit like my label, and bro it’s crazy because my best friend and I have been rapping for so long since like the fifth grade. Complex used to do the neighborhood videos, we used to watch the Nip one all the time. I always used to say, “Man. I can’t wait to do some s— like this.”
What was the process like creating Almetha’s Son and how did it feel to get it out to the public?
It was definitely fun making it. It was more stressful than fun making it because I’m real anal about how I want things done musically just because I always want things to be great, but I would say it was fun. I definitely have some memories from it. Knowing that it’s out now and exists in the world is a crazy thing.
I was talking to James [Blake] about this, I need to chill on this, but I was searching my name on Twitter and n—- was like, “I don’t know who SwaVay is, but this s— hard.”
I stopped looking at the numbers, and I’ve just been listening to the people. I think eight months from now, people will really catch on. Destin [Conrad]’s project just caught on, and he just dropped again, and I think a very similiar situation can happen to me, to be honest.
