L.E.P. - Ozone Magazine

YOUNG SWIFT
Words // Randy Roper
While other rappers his age “Crank Dat
[insert dance name here],” 17-year-old,
Durham, NC rapper Young Swift is the
anti-crank. He has NC hitmaker 9th Wonder
proving him with the sounds and Raw 66
on XM radio spinning his songs on heavy
rotation, making him a young dude the
Carolinas need to be familiar with.
At 17 your music is lyrical. Why aren’t you
doing dances like other artists your age
When I first started listening to music, that
wasn’t really the type of music I was listening
to. I listened to Nas, Jay-Z, Pac, Biggie,
stuff like that.
Your buzz is coming through XM radio 66
Raw. How’d you get your music played on
XM
XM has been a blessing for me and my
whole career. Leo G and Nina 9, they’re
like the greatest things since sliced bread.
I got love for them. Nina peeped it out first
over Myspace, then she let Leo G hear
it and he started playing “The Cool Dude
(Slow Motion)”. He started playing it; people
started liking it, putting it on regular rotation
or whatnot. And now, I just gave [Leo G]
another song called “Amen” that he’s been
running a couple times.
What opportunities have come from getting
your music
played on XM
It’s a lot of things going on for me right now.
I just signed a management deal with Nina
9. We got a lot of things in the works, as far
as me and her and what we’re gon’ do outside
of the station. We shot a video for one
of the tracks and we’ve been in the studio,
trying to work on some new music.
You’ve done some work with 9th Wonder.
How did you hook up with him
I met him when I was 14. I was in a group
and we met him at a Hip Hop conference.
My dad told him that we rapped and whatnot,
but he wasn’t paying too much attention
to us. But he actually did a remix for us,
so we were all excited about that. Last year,
I had a Hip Hop class that he was teaching,
so I met him again. I went up to the studio,
and he remembered I rapped, and he was
giving a tour of the studio, showing people
this and that. So, he asked me to hop in the
booth, so I rapped for him. We did a couple
tracks together and we’ve been cool ever
since. I got a track [produced by 9th Wonder]
called “Young Love,” got a song called
“Thinking of You,” “Magic Show,” “Competition
Is None,” a bunch of stuff.
It’s been hard for artists to get on out of
the Carolinas. What are you, being a new
younger artist, bringing that’s different than
the Carolina artists that came before you
I’m just bringing more of a balance to it. A
lot of people say Hip Hop is dead, and
they blame Soulja Boy’s type of music.
I’m not blaming that, I’m just saying there
needs to be more of a balance between the
Soulja Boys and real Hip Hop.
What projects are you working on now
I’m working on a new mixtape called The
Return. That’s gonna be complete by the
summer. I got beats from E. Jones; he just
did Talib Kweli’s new album. A cat named
Gotti who’s worked with T.I.; I got BQ Music
on it; I got a new cat named Picasso. He’s a
monster. I got a guy named Kwes the Beast
on it.
How does it feel to be so young and making
a name for yourself in the music business
It feels great. Outside of my youth, just doing
it, period, feels great. Being young and
doing it is just a plus.
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