Sway | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Derek Andrew "Sway" DaSafo is a British hip-hop artist of Ghanaian origin who gained attention through a series of independently released mixtapes before winning a 2005 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) award, which positioned him as one of the leading hopes for U.K. rap. Born in London -- albeit unintentionally, when his mother was on a stopover between Amsterdam and her native Ghana -- and mostly raised there as well, DaSafo hails from Hornsey, a North London neighborhood positioned in between posh, middle-class Murray Hill and the slum Wood Green. His carefully constructed rap persona reflects this polarity by combining a literate, reflective approach with a savvy, street-smart sensibility. Together with his broad, cagey sense of humor and often nervously kinetic delivery, it amounts to a fascinatingly complex and undeniably charismatic style, comparable to an intellectual Ludacris or a more ruminative Twista -- its not hard to hear why he generated an underground buzz that developed quickly into wider awareness. Despite his unique and captivating talent on the mic, DaSafos initial focus was squarely on production. He got his start in Londons underground hip-hop, at age 15, by making beats for other rappers, before his peers encouraged him, on the strength of his battle freestyles, to try his hand at writing rhymes. A pair of mixtapes that he recorded on his home computer and released through his own Dcypha Productions -- This Is My Promo, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, released in 2004 and 2005, respectively -- garnered airplay on Londons pirate radio stations and, eventually, the BBCs urban-oriented digital station 1Xtra. He captured the public eye in September 2005 when he was named Best Hip-Hop Act at the tenth annual MOBO awards -- a surprise upset over 50 Cent and the Game -- despite being unsigned and before hed even released an album. Despite the slew of label offers that predictably followed this triumph, Sway chose to remain independent, but his proper debut album did arrive the following year, after the teaser single of "Up Your Speed" (a posse-cut remix of a track originally featured on the Promo mixtapes), with the release (by DCypha in conjunction with the indie All City Music label) of This Is My Demo. Its title is a continuation of the overarching meta-conceit to Sways oeuvre; as he explained it: "my whole career is going to be based on my career." All did not go quite according to plan (selling successfully enough to pave the way for a major-label release of the eventual, hypothetical This Is My Album) -- as Demo stiffed at number 78 on the charts, falling to number 152 in its second week -- though it did spawn a handful of underground hits including "Flo Fashion" and "Little Derek" (a bottom-of-the-Top 40 hit) in addition to "Up Your Speed" (the reggae-tinged "Products" and the humorous, anti-file-sharing "Download" were also released as singles). However, it was critically hailed, making the shortlist (of 12) for the 2006 Mercury Prize, and led to another MOBO nomination and a BET award for "Best U.K. Hip-Hop Act." Sway supported the Streets on their 2006 U.K. tour and appeared alongside Mike Skinner on the Mitchell Brothers single "Harvey Nicks," but he has also been active in the global hip-hop community beyond the U.K. -- collaborating with Lupe Fiasco, Chamillionaire, and Small World (of Ludacris DTP crew) -- and in music beyond hip-hop, working with ska veterans Madness and electronic duo Stanton Warriors. In 2007, Sway signed with Akons Konvicted label; released the One for the Journey EP, a harder-hitting collection than his debut that featured several of the aforementioned collaborations (and came clearly labeled: "This Is Not My Second Album"); discussed collaborations with Akon, Doug E. Fresh, Mark Ronson, and Pharrell; and announced plans for The Signature, to arrive in 2008. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 8 Title: This Is My Promo, Volume 2 Released: 2005 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:19:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 This Is My Promo, Volume 2 (03:37) 2 Intro (00:51) 3 Bangsh (03:35) 4 Set the Record Straight (03:59) 5 Up Your Speed (video version) (01:19) 6 Magic Round About (Episode 1: The Magic Metal) (02:41) 7 Flo Fashion (Fang Gang remix) (preview) (02:24) 8 Sway on TRL (MTV) (02:15) 9 Whoopsie Daisy (remix) (01:52) 10 Sway on Air, Part 3 (04:35) 11 Down Load (Aftershock Freestyle version) (02:33) 12 Feat. Sway (mix 3) (07:06) 13 Love Story 05 (03:19) 14 Call My Name (demo version) (02:56) 15 On the Road (Show & Tour Audio) (04:02) 16 Photographer (Paparazzi dub) (05:05) 17 Still on My Own (preview) (01:40) 18 Sway on Air, Part 4 (03:57) 19 Harvey Nicks (preview) (01:48) 20 Sway on the BBC (World Service & Radio 1) (02:12) 21 One Day (live From Radio 1) (03:08) 22 Stand Still (01:17) 23 Feat. Sway (mix 4) (04:45) 24 Charlie Boy Is Back (02:32) 25 Outro / Up Your Speed (remix) (06:15) |
 | Album: 2 of 8 Title: Sway & Lovedough Present... This Is My Rave Released: 2006-02-06 Tracks: 35 Duration: 1:15:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Mackems in the Toon (01:27) 2 Intro (00:27) 3 Aint No Stoppin Us (Freestyle) (01:55) 4 Up Your Speed (remix) (04:20) 5 Cor Blimey (remix) (03:56) 6 Taxi Driver (skit) (01:09) 7 Coming Soon (remix) (03:15) 8 Interlude (01:05) 9 No Dough No Show (03:08) 10 Set the Record Straight (02:50) 11 Around the World Like LoveDough (01:13) 12 Bump Bump Bump Bump (02:21) 13 Love Story 05 (04:08) 14 You Need to Know (02:19) 15 Bouncer (skit) (01:02) 16 Bouncers Theme Tune (03:00) 17 Interlude, Part 2 (01:55) 18 5, 4, 3, 2 (03:20) 19 Magic Roundabout (remix) (02:18) 20 Musicflows (02:09) 21 Broken Language (02:59) 22 Toliet (skit) (01:02) 23 Freestyle (01:09) 24 Locked Up Freestyle (01:00) 25 Carry On (01:19) 26 My Manor (00:48) 27 Stalker (01:13) 28 When Sway Met Matt (02:08) 29 Caribbean Love (remix) (03:56) 30 Interlude, Part 3 (02:42) 31 Rolling Stone (00:52) 32 Outro (00:42) 33 Shouts (00:44) 34 Attacks of the Evils (03:21) 35 Hungry For (03:58) |
 | Album: 3 of 8 Title: This Is My Demo Released: 2006-02-06 Tracks: 14 Duration: 58:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 This Is My Demo (06:01) 2 Products (03:31) 3 Hype Boys (05:08) 4 Little Derek (05:16) 5 Pretty Ugly Husband (03:41) 6 Flo Fashion (03:38) 7 Up Your Speed (02:56) 8 Download (04:43) 9 Loose Woose (04:09) 10 Sick World (04:03) 11 Still on My Own (03:11) 12 Back for You (03:44) 13 Slo Down (04:49) 14 Month in the Summer (03:50) |
| This Is My Demo : Allmusic album Review : Derek "Sway" DaSafo was one of the most promising British rappers to emerge in the mid-00s, the period immediately following the initial flourishing and fading of interest in the U.K. grime scene. (His music bears some sonic similarities to grime, but is better described simply as hip-hop, with all the breadth of appeal that distinction entails.) This debut album, which followed two rounds of "This Is My Promo" mixtapes, displays him as a fully formed and formidable talent: self-conscious and introspective (that much should be evident from his album titles), but never tediously chin-stroking or esoteric; delightfully witty and droll but almost always with a well-considered underlying message; streetwise but hardly thuggish; linguistically nimble but not ostentatious; decidedly English in rhetoric, references, and voice, but distinctive enough, and with enough sheer unqualified charisma, to transcend genre and geographic boundaries. Indeed, Sway strikes such a well-positioned balance between so many poles and potential pitfalls, offering a little something to appeal to almost any potential listener, that youd expect him to come off as overly calculated. On the contrary, though, his casual, almost tossed-off earnestness is quintessential to his charm. The album gets off to a particularly spectacular start, alternating between hard-hitting, grime-style tracks -- the hypnotically menacing, synth-based title cut and the contemptuous, verbally pyrotechnic "Hype Boys" -- and brighter, more melodious material like the charmingly breezy (and peculiarly harpsichord-laden) single "Little Derek," and especially "Products," a jaunty, pop-reggae love letter to his native London that plays like the hip-hop version of Lily Allens "LDN." This opening quartet is all basically autobiographical in content, but "Pretty Ugly Husband" veers into fantasy/role play territory with a supremely unsettling account of domestic abuse. Its easily the albums darkest and most violent moment, all the more startling for how its sequenced, after a candid, endearingly self-deprecating bedroom skit that accompanies the blissful "Derek," and just before the wry "Flo Fashion," with its spot-on skewering of trend-chasing credit card debtors. "Download" duplicates "Fashion"s gag of feigning cluelessness -- this time about illegal file-sharing -- to great comic effect, but also raises cogent questions about the contemporary musical economy. "Up Your Speed" is Sways rousing stab at an all-out Brit-rap anthem, complete with geographic shout-outs ("Wolverhampton: up your speed/Newcastle, Sheffield: up your speed"), an infectiously sinuous guitar line and a stuttering groove not dissimilar from the beats popular in contemporaneous southern U.S. rap. The later portion of the album, though not a major let-down, doesnt hold up quite as well -- it gets mired in saccharine R&B; territory to some extent, and is generally less inventive musically and conceptually -- but Sways personality and prowess on the mic are never in doubt, and he continues to litter the tracks with bon mots both complex ("I feared bending over backwards to get into heaven/only to end up in limbo") and cutesy ("I wish a was a million-trillionaire -- Id put so many rings upon your finger theyd say your hand was polyphonic.") Still, as saccharine R&B;/rap love jams go, "Month in the Summer" (the source of that last one-liner) is pretty irresistible, and so, ultimately, is the album as a whole. Even the skits have a surprising amount of replay value, particularly the sequence that follows Sways goofball alter-ego, MC Charlie Boy, as he departs from Ghana (DaSafo is Ghanaian by heritage and upbringing), swims to England, and promotes the release of his debut album I Swam All the Way from Ghana with previews of such tracks as "Theres a Mosquito in My Fufu" and "I Married Her for a Visa." As Sway laments on "Little Derek," "when you do U.K. rap youre number two/cause the U.S.A. aint giving us space to break through" -- but if the U.S. cant find at least a little space to welcome this U.K. rapper (who introduces himself helpfully on "Sick World": "Im coming to you from the same place as the Spice Girls"), it will mean a regrettable loss for American audiences, and for hip-hop as a whole. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 8 Title: One for the Journey Released: 2007-05-14 Tracks: 7 Duration: 27:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 True Stories (04:32) 2 Move Back (04:07) 3 Baby Father (03:17) 4 Up Your Speed, Part 2 (03:08) 5 Ex Boyfriend (04:09) 6 Every Man (For Himself) (03:57) 7 Get em High (04:15) |
 | Album: 5 of 8 Title: The Signature LP Released: 2008-10-06 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:07:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fit 4 a King (05:07) 2 Say It Twice (04:02) 3 Saturday Night Hustle (03:19) 4 Silver and Gold (04:10) 5 F UR X (03:14) 6 Jason Waste (03:34) 7 Look After My Girl (04:13) 8 Pray 4 Kaya (04:29) 9 Walk Away (04:31) 10 Upload (03:45) 11 Stereo (04:00) 12 Letters to Heaven (06:12) 13 End of the Road (04:44) 14 Special Place (04:58) 15 Taxi (03:05) 16 My Kind of Girl (04:28) |
| The Signature LP : Allmusic album Review : The ever-ambitious Sway DaSafo, who worked his way up from the underground to become one of the most visible rappers in the U.K., while remaining smugly unsigned, now has his sights set on the world. At least, thats the impression one gets from his sophomore full-length, The Signature LP, so named partly in reference to his recently inked international record deal with worldwide superstar (and fellow West African) Akons Kon Live label (hes still technically independent in the U.K.), a move that may or may not succeed in spreading his fame beyond Britains borders. "Lets take music all around the world/I cant do this by myself," he sings on the globetrotting, vaguely tropical-flavored "Special Place," but Sways far too enterprising to be satisfied with utopian daydreams, so hes concocted a handful of flagrant crossover bids, with a parade of known and unknown guest artists, to put those words into action. These include the inevitable humdrum Akon collab "Silver and Gold" (moral of the story: strippers will steal your money); the smooth R&B;/pop of "Saturday Night Hustle," an 80s throwback featuring British neo-soul crooner Lemar (best bit: Sway raps his clothing sizes, in case you want to give him any clothes); and the treacly "End of the Road" with Stings daughter Coco Sumner. Theres nothing horribly wrong with any of this, but none of it particularly plays to Sways strengths either -- and hes always been likable and engaging enough on his own to make watered-down, overtly attention-grabbing tracks like these feel doubly unnecessary. While his rapid-fire flow remains as impressive as ever, and his charisma is largely undimmed, Signature displays too little of the irreverent, happy-go-lucky spirit that made early singles like "Little Derek" so delightful. With a couple of exceptions -- including the bouncy highlight "Say It Twice" (which he does, clever-cleverly, with every line, at least for the first verse and hook) and the jokey "Jason Waste," an intermittently amusing character number relating the zany misadventures of a jobless loser -- this is a surprisingly serious-minded album, at least for the impish Sway. But then, hes always been more than just a jokester; hes as much a swaggering, boastful battle-rapper (a persona that crops up here on "Stereo" and the enjoyably epic, overblown opener, "Fit for a King") as he is a big softie -- indeed, it may be his sentimental side that makes the greatest strides here, most notably in the emotional middle section that includes "Pray 4 Kaya," a legitimately poignant homage to a departed friend, and the affecting anti-violence plea "Walk Away." Ultimately, despite its pop moves and world-conquering aspirations, The Signature LP may still be too idiosyncratic, too British, and too gloriously scattershot to succeed on the mass scale Sway seems to envision. Its hard to imagine, for instance, the U.K. single "F UR X," a jittery, grime-ish txt-message battle of the sexes, playing to an American audience. But that doesnt stop it from being a readily enjoyable listen -- its eclecticism practically ensures that youll find something to like here -- and Sways fans, once they get used to some of his more excessive departures, will realize that he truly hasnt changed all that much. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 8 Title: Two Fingers Released: 2009-03-29 Tracks: 12 Duration: 39:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Straw Men (02:57) 2 What You Know (03:14) 3 Better Get That (03:04) 4 Two Fingers (02:49) 5 That Girl (03:15) 6 Keman Rhythm (03:16) 7 Jewels and Gems (03:52) 8 Bad Girl (03:38) 9 High Life (03:15) 10 Doing My Job (03:39) 11 Not Perfect (03:26) 12 Moth Rhythm (03:13) |
 | Album: 7 of 8 Title: Level Up Released: 2011-04-08 Tracks: 8 Duration: 34:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Level Up (radio edit) (02:51) 2 Level Up (extended mix) (03:29) 3 Level Up (Blame radio edit) (03:18) 4 Level Up (Blame mix) (05:03) 5 Level Up (Sigma Full vocal mix) (04:50) 6 Level Up (Fake Blood mix) (05:11) 7 Level Up (Sunship mix) (04:30) 8 Level Up (Cahill mix) (05:18) |
 | Album: 8 of 8 Title: Deliverance Released: 2015-07-24 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:06:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Intro (02:18) 2 Deliverance Song (03:40) 3 Testimony (03:57) 4 Stream It (03:33) 5 Snap Shot (04:11) 6 Blow It (02:53) 7 Wanna Be (02:37) 8 Teach Us (03:12) 9 Crier (04:51) 10 The Sea (04:00) 11 Follow You (03:24) 12 Aint Going Home (04:00) 13 Reign Dance (03:54) 14 Still Speedin (remix) (03:44) 15 Level Up (02:52) 16 Next Chapter (Thank You) (13:01) |