Swang’s level of confidence is almost on par to Drake’s.
The Seattle native is 100% sure he’s going to be the biggest Asian hip-hop artist to ever grace the music industry — or the world period. He was adopted at 8-years-old and at 15-year’s-old, Swang began creating.
While he likes nice things, the “Tryin’” artist reminds you he’s not doing music for the money, it’s merely his one true love. His peers in high school thought he was a joke while his parents didn’t believe he was serious.
From recording downstairs in the basement to now collaborating with the likes of Asian Doll and Casey Veggies, Swang can hardly hold in the excitement for what the future holds.
AllHipHop: Being from Seattle, what was that like?
Swang: Seattle… [sighs] Actually, I was working with Lil Mosey. There’s a lot of talented Seattle artists out there, but sad thing is that they’re not able to be put on the platform. I’m in a studio with a couple of my friends from the south end of Seattle, and it’s a struggle to get out. For real.
AllHipHop: What was the inspiration behind your name?
Swang: My last name’s Wang, so we just put an S in front of it with a dollar sign. That was it.
AllHipHop: You just released “Lost It,” what inspired this one?
Swang: I released “Lost It,” just on SoundCloud. We didn’t do any promotion on that. Just the people around you. When you have money or when you’re doing something successful, there’s a lot of fake friends out there. They aren’t really caring about you. That’s what the song was about. To be honest, I have probably 3 albums done. There’s an upcoming project, I hope you go listen to it. It’s probably the worst songs in our inventory. The worst 8 songs, but I’m putting it out. After that, you guys are going to start hearing bangers.
AllHipHop: How was working with Asian Doll?
Swang: It’s great! I made that two weeks ago, then I sent it to her. They really liked it.
AllHipHop: You were locked up for 7 months, what happened?
Swang: That’s a cool story, it was actually my 21st birthday. Went to a casino, I’m having a drink. I’ll put it this way: I wasn’t hanging out with the right person at the time. The cops pulled up and found stuff in my car that wasn’t mine.
AllHipHop: Was it drugs?
Swang: Something like that. He didn’t claim it was his so we both got charged with it. I got charged with a heavier charge because it was in my car. The police wanted to take my car. They wanted to impound my car, seize it so they could sell it. That was their whole point, they know that I didn’t do it. But at the same time, I’m not going to snitch on nobody. So I sat in jail and just rode the charge for him. For 8 months man, it was a tough time.
AllHipHop: Biggest lesson behind bars?
Swang: Don’t take anything for granted. When you have nothing, you really have nothing. If I take all my clothes off, you put me in a tank with the rest of them. Everybody dresses the same, you’re just like one of them.
Friend: Jail food: tortillas with top ramen and Hot Cheetos. He makes it at home.
Swang: Spread. They feed you bread, no meat. Veggies, water, bread and butter. That’s it. It was definitely a rough time. Definitely hit me a little bit. It is what it is. On the album, there’s actually a song called “Cold” I wrote about that story.
AllHipHop: Favorite person to follow on IG?
Swang: My homies. The celebrity stuff is cool, but quote me on this: in a year, I will be the best hip-hop Asian artist out here.
AllHipHop: Even Rich Brian?
Swang: Rich Brian has nothing. Rich Brian’s music has nothing compared to mine that I have right now, not unreleased. Rich Brian, I saw you did an interview with him. I mean, we’re both Asian. I’m not hating on him. I support what he’s doing, I like what he’s doing. But you can tell him I said that: Rich Brian has nothing on me.
AllHipHop: Is there anything else you want to let us know?
Swang: Who’s Rich Brian? [laughs] It’s all love, but there’s not a lot of Asian artists getting acknowledged in the hip-hop industry. The style of music I’m making can blend into K-pop, pop, R&B, but mainly trap music. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to prove a point to my parents that I can really do this. I can prove a point to all these Asian kids out here that like music, that they can do this. Everybody can do this.