Swavy is Toronto’s next big superstar. At only 21, the rising star has already accomplished what most would dream of at that age, including working with PARTYNEXTDOOR and Vory alonsgide signing a major label deal with Reps Up Records/Columbia Records. In fact, he’s gotten the cosign from fellow Canada natives Drake and Nav, as well as Future, Meek Mill, and Chris Brown.
Exploding onto the scene with his breakout single “Old Ways,” Swavy arrives with his own sound, own style, and own vulnerability that fans can’t help but relate to. In fact, Swavy’s nickname is The Lone Wolf, someone who’s always felt separated from the pack. Growing up, he was one of six siblings and had dreams of becoming an NFL star. Unfortunately even with financial aid, his family couldn’t afford the difference leaving Swavy no choice but to pursue the music.
In describing himself, Swavy states he’s “a vulnerable artist that gives his story in his music, and gives you guys songs that can’t be replicated. That’s how I feel. My music is one of a kind. My music’s own style. When you hear Swavy, you know that’s Swavy. Swavy’s that kid from Mississauga, a little big city in Toronto. Just hungry for this. Give them his best music, his best shot.”
Swavy recently dropped his newest song titled “Fallback Queen,” featuring Vory following his previous release, “Side Eye,” with standout vocals from PARTYNEXTDOOR.
AllHipHop spoke with Swavy who was posted in Toronto where the weather was finally warming up. Read below as we discuss his sound, roots in Toronto, the inspiration behind “Old Ways,” getting PARTYNEXTDOOR on “Side Eye” and Vory for “Fallback Queen,” getting cosigned by all the greats, how he ended up getting signed, goals, and more!
AllHipHop: How would you describe your sound? It’s so unique.
Swavy: Honestly, my sound is very, very versatile. All over the place. I have the sound for anyone: kids, older, all types of ages. All races, anyone can listen to my music. You can sit down, press play, there’s a song for everyone. I can’t wait to drop my tape, which should be coming soon. Which I’m most excited about because that’s when it will show I’m very versatile as an artist. My sound is versatile and melodic.
AllHipHop: Being from Toronto, what was that like growing up?
Swavy: Toronto means everything. This is the hometown. Some lit kid days, young days. Friends, just playing basketball. Playing football. I wasn’t even really that big into the music. I was always musically-oriented in my family, I play drums at age eight. But as far as taking it serious, I wasn’t serious about it. That wasn’t my serious path, I was a football player actually.
AllHipHop: Were you nice?
Swavy: I was nice, getting offers and everything. Then I got an injury. I played football. I started at age nine, stopped at 16. My older brothers played, so I always wanted to follow their footsteps and be a football player as well. I thought it was gonna be NFL dreams, then that switched and music came back around around age 19. I’ve been doing that ever since, that’s really my thing now.
AllHipHop: Top five artists?
Swavy: Not top five of all time, but my favorites I’d say is Drake, Future, Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, and Rod Wave. I f### with Rod Wave, gotta go with the mellow.
AllHipHop: How’d you get your name?
Swavy: Swavy didn’t really come from nothing. I was just a wavy ass person when I was little, so let me
put the ‘s’ in front of it. That’s really all, it didn’t really come from nothing to be honest. I was one day thinking I gotta have a stage name. My stage name at first was my actual name. I didn’t like it, I didn’t think it fit, so I switched it. I found Swavy, it just stuck from there.
AllHipHop: What inspired “Fallback Queen”?
Swavy: Fallback Queen was inspired by us having similar situations in women as y’all know we all have that person we go through toxic situations with and we just wanted to use this record to really talk to those toxic women we’ve experienced those situations with as we painted a picture in the song and it’s very relatable
AllHipHop: How did the collab with Vory come about?
Swavy: The collab with Vory was no coincidence as I was already a fan of his artistry and way of putting a story together in his music come to find out he liked my my music as well and he shot me a Dm letting me know he liked my songs “side eye” & “old ways” so from their we ended up linking in La at the house studio and had a deep personal conversation that I wont put out their for the public but basically we had a lot of similarities and the chemistry was just natural it was great vibes and we decided it only made sense for us to make a record for women around the world to listen to but also still make it relatable to the guys and instantly as the beat played I knew it was the one and we both freestyled our parts in 15 minutes off the top and the rest was history I’m glad I gave the fans what they’ve been waiting for I would always see them ask us to collab in comments and we made it happen now y’all can all enjoy!
AllHipHop: “Old Ways” went up for you, who or what inspired this record?
Swavy: I was in a time where I was going through a lot of friendships being broken, a lot of trust being broken. A lot of things being said by people that I once called my friends at the moment.
I wasn’t a person that was ever really involved in the drama, involved in all the politics. I’ve never been that person. That’s not really my whole thing. When I made that song, that’s basically what it came off. It was that vibe: don’t involve me in nothing man. Don’t involve me in the nonsense. It was a song that everyone could relate to. A lot of people get brought into drama that they didn’t ask to be brought into. That’s how that song came about and it did really good. It brought me here.
AllHipHop: You recently dropped “Side Eye,” how did you and PARTYNEXTDOOR link?
Swavy: Funny story, we’re in LA. We’re in the studio and it was a PARTY session. He’s playing beats. He was supposed to be the one using that beat. He played it, he was there vibing. He heard me singing the melodies, in the back behind them. Because I was feeling it, I loved the beat. He heard me like “Yo, you might have to go on there and do your thing.” I said, “Give me the headphones, I’m ready.”
He gave me the headphones. My manager Styles grabbed the headphone, we both sat down. I freestyled that song off the top. Straight emotion, straight vulnerability. PARTY’s like “Yo, this is crazy.” This is definitely the next drop, instantly we felt that vibe from it. It’s doing really good. I’m really happy with it honestly, because that’s my most vulnerable song and my most passionate one that I’ve put out so far. I’m very happy with that one.
AllHipHop: Did a certain female inspire it?
Swavy: A couple females. [laughs] Just a couple.
AllHipHop: Talk about getting cosigns from Drake, Future, Meek. How’d all those happen?
Swavy: Again with “Old Ways,” a lot of people were hearing it and wondering who’s this new kid in town that’s got this whole new sound we haven’t heard, and making a buzz in the city? It’s almost like he came out of nowhere, but he didn’t come out of nowhere. Especially to myself, because I was working and working and working before that song. A lot of them were hearing it. And I was meeting them. I met Future. He told me he really loved the song. My melodies are crazy.
I met Nav, we played it and Nav loved it. Drake heard it like, “Yo, this kid is crazy. He’s outta here.” Reposted it, which gave it obviously even more of a big buzz. Chris Brown posted it, he told me he loves it. It was a lot of stars reaching out and it was new for me. Definitely new and a blessing at the same time, because it’s what I’ve wanted. It was definitely big to be
acknowledged by people that you had such a high level [of respect for]. Coming up as you’re watching them, you’re seeing them on TV, all your days as a kid, then they’re reaching out to you and you become friends with them. Wow, I’m friends with the person I used to watch on TV. It’s definitely a blessing.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio at all times?
Swavy: Three things I need in the studio that we do not be having sometimes is water. I need water in the studio because my vocals be getting dry, and there is no water right now as we speak. I need my mic, and I need my phone. Because my phone is really where I be going, in my Notes if I want to think real quick and I put lyrics down. It depends if I’m freestyling or if I’m writing. Sometimes I’ll write, sometimes I’ll freestyle. But 90% of the time, most of my songs really come off the head. My vibe and the melody, I figure out the melodies, that’s where I go about it.
AllHipHop: How did a DM lead you to getting signed to Reps Up Records/Columbia Records?
Swavy: I was on a phone call with my friend Tyler, this was literally a week before I signed. I told him, “I’m gonna quit music.” I was so 100% about it. I was ready to quit, ready to work a regular job. Because I have family here, here, here, here. People in my ear here like, “this isn’t working.” My friend told me to stay down. Something’s gonna happen in the next month, he just feels it.
Over the next week, my manager Styles hit me up and told me he loved my music. He wanted to see potential in me and he wanted to bring me to the studio. I went to the studio and I started recording. They’re like “wow.” They instantly seen the potential. They seen I could sing, something that I wasn’t doing as often or as much vocally and confident when they met me. I started singing. They’re like “yup, new beginnings” at the end of that session. Yo, this feels right. It was genuine vibes, no one was awkward about it. We kept recording recording. They ended up bringing me to Preme.
AllHipHop: Love Preme!
Swavy: Shout out Preme, that’s the big dawg. Preme heard me and seen the potential as well. As I kept going and kept going on, they ended up bringing my music to Colombia. Colombia gave it a shot, and we’re here now. It’s a blessing for sure.
AllHipHop: Did you think you’d be signed this early? How long? Have you been doing music?
Swavy: I started in 2019, COVID time. Definitely didn’t think this at all. A lot of things definitely happened fast in a way. It wasn’t fast, but it was fast at the same time. When you’re there like, “yo, am I here right now?” I’ve had so much of those moments. That’s how I know things went fast, because I can’t even catch up on what I went through probably a week ago. I’m blessed to be here and I don’t get too caught up in it, try to stay true to myself.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from your forthcoming project Different Breed?
Swavy: With my project Different Breed, you can expect a variety of music and topics that will touch people in a deeper meaning. At one point or another, everyone has felt out of place or felt left out, a different breed in a sense so this project shows another side most people don’t talk about. Definitely something many can relate to & caters to all ages, both young and old. You can also expect a piece of who I am and telling my story through each track on the project.
AllHipHop: Any goals for yourself?
Swavy: Never get too comfortable, never to be too satisfied and to stay hungry. That’s how the best are the best. Tey don’t get too caught up, they don’t get satisfied and content with where they’re at.
They’re always hungry for more and always grinding, staying down. Grinding like they don’t have it. That’s my goal honestly. I hope that I never get too comfortable and be a person that’s okay with not making it to where I want to be.
AllHipHop: What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Swavy: When I’m not working, I’m working. Honestly. Even when I’m in the club, I’m working. You know why? Because I’m there trying to promote myself, I’m there showing my face so that it’s familiar. My music’s being played so people can hear it and put a face to the name. When I’m not working, I’m working. If I’m not in the studio, I’m at the gym. The little free time I get, I go spend with family and friends.
AllHipHop: Are you big into fitness?
Swavy: I am now. I’ve been going five days every single week, in the morning. I’m not the biggest morning person but I had to become that, so I’ve been there for a while now. Health is wealth.
AllHipHop: What are you most excited for next?
Swavy: I’m excited to give them the tape. After the tape, should be planning to go start doing shows. Doing tours, and really getting out there. Traveling more. I love traveling. I love seeing different cities, different states, countries. Seeing people and their accents, all that. I’m definitely really excited for that. Look out, tape and tour coming soon.