Angie Martinez IRL - Swae Lee on Living An Impossible Dream & Taking A Chance On Yourself

00:00:00
Speaker 1: How has it been with your brother, the ups and downs of that.

00:00:03
Speaker 2: When we come together, it's like it's like the Backstreet Boys, like twenty years We're gonna come together again, reunited. You know what I'm saying. Do a Toy Boom new album. We're gonna keep linking back up.

00:00:18
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for watching, guys. This episode is brought to you by Blosmobile, young man from Mississippi who came up with his brother and quietly became the voice behind four Diamond records, including Sunflower, Unforgettable and Black Beatles from Beyonce to Post Malone, Madonna and Travis Scott. He has been the secret sauce for many artists for years, and now for the first time. I can't even believe it's the first time.

00:00:45
Speaker 3: It's crazy.

00:00:46
Speaker 1: Technically he is stepping out on his own with his debut album, Same Difference Sway Lee's.

00:00:52
Speaker 3: On IRL today, Yang Dang Yang, what's good?

00:00:55
Speaker 1: What's good? What's good? What's happening?

00:00:58
Speaker 3: Chilling man, glad to be here.

00:01:00
Speaker 1: It's crazy that this is technically your debut album.

00:01:02
Speaker 3: It's crazy like you're a new artist out here. Yeah. I really had a unique career.

00:01:07
Speaker 2: No debut and Diamond records, all these diamond records not bad.

00:01:12
Speaker 3: It's crazy.

00:01:12
Speaker 1: Did you plan it this way?

00:01:14
Speaker 3: No? Nah, I definitely didn't.

00:01:16
Speaker 1: Did you plan it at all?

00:01:17
Speaker 2: I imagined it and just imagine what you know, success would be with music. But I never expected to be like this for Surey.

00:01:24
Speaker 1: It wasn't set up for you.

00:01:26
Speaker 4: Na, Na.

00:01:27
Speaker 3: I had to jump a lot of hurdles. You know.

00:01:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to talk to some people that maybe don't know your whole story. But the beginning was not.

00:01:36
Speaker 3: It wasn't laid out.

00:01:37
Speaker 1: What was the childhood like, maybe just paint the picture of that.

00:01:41
Speaker 2: I was born in la I had one brother, Slim Jimmy, and my big brother was born in Englewood. We ended up moving around a lot in La I slipping past the deen at one point in time, sleeping on the floor, you know, saying my mom trying to figure it out. Long story short, my mom and my stepdad. We ended up moving to Mississippi just growing up there, you know what I'm saying. In the country, Yeah, country is hell. I stayed in apartments. I stayed in type of stuff.

00:02:08
Speaker 3: I remember.

00:02:09
Speaker 2: I stayed in apartment in f fifty eight in these It was an apartment complex called Evergreen Square, so I used to live there.

00:02:17
Speaker 3: Boom came up, started messing with music.

00:02:19
Speaker 1: When do you find the music? When does that happen?

00:02:22
Speaker 2: My mom got in the military, so we was moving around and I ended up moving to Texas, so I moved. I moved to Clean, Texas. How old I think I might have been like eight or nine or something like that. And then my dad's my stepdad's hold me. His name was King James, and he ended up bringing this software. It's called fruity Loops, so that's what you make the beats on. And this is like fruity Loops two freey loops one and two, like the early versions. So I just started making beats and stuff, started experimenting with it. Boom sound like shit, but.

00:02:54
Speaker 5: Just out the blue, like no introduction, no manual, no like you just yeah no mans like.

00:03:03
Speaker 3: It ain't made no sense like. But then I just started learning it and just got better and better.

00:03:07
Speaker 1: What made him get you that in the first place, I don't know.

00:03:11
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:03:11
Speaker 2: Maybe because it was turned like we were just running around heaving like a lot of it was you like an artistic kid, or like I might have been. I'm just thinking I'm normal, you know, IM saying, running around probably singing and just doing whatever like he was like King James dis messed with that right there, gil Son like boom, and I ended up started like using it for real.

00:03:31
Speaker 5: And then you when did you know you were good?

00:03:36
Speaker 3: I always just thought it was cool music I was making.

00:03:39
Speaker 2: But then probably like high school, my whole school, they voted me like most likely to get famous.

00:03:45
Speaker 1: Oh so something was going on with you? Yeah, it was something that people were singing.

00:03:49
Speaker 3: I was rapping at lunch, you know what I'm saying.

00:03:50
Speaker 2: I was that kid like rapping at lunch, performing at the talent shows.

00:03:54
Speaker 1: But are you confident? Are you? Like?

00:03:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's just what I think I'm supposed to be doing.

00:03:58
Speaker 2: I'm doing that just like every day, like second in nature, just confident music. Yeah, Walmart clothes on popping it, you know what I'm saying, through store clothes, whatever it was, I'm popping it.

00:04:09
Speaker 1: Like, but what is that? So how do you get that? Where does that confidence come from?

00:04:12
Speaker 2: It's just having fun, you know what I'm saying, Having friends, like because it was me my bro and then my other homie and we used to always just ye be on the music stuff, like even in school we make songs together.

00:04:23
Speaker 1: Popular.

00:04:24
Speaker 2: I was popular, but not like the regular popular, Like everybody knew me, Like the geeks knew me, athletes knew me, the hood kids knew me, white kids knew everybody. Yeah, but I'm not necessarily like I don't know if I was considered like the cool kid. You know, I'm saying, I'm just like the kid right now that I'm in the project. You know, I'm at the parties on the skateing rink.

00:04:45
Speaker 3: I'm cool.

00:04:46
Speaker 2: I'm I'm just cool with everybody. Yeah, I'm just a nice cool look here. Like for the projects. You know what I'm saying, that's rapping, be loud all the time.

00:04:53
Speaker 5: You know they got the crazy crazy they used to do all the record songs on that on that.

00:05:02
Speaker 3: If they made reggaetone songs on that's that's a different bounce. I can see.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: I can never figure out the reggaetne bounce on Fury Loops. Definitely can make like trap songs and like R and B songs with Frey Loops for sure.

00:05:11
Speaker 5: And then what about the writing. That's been a big thing for you too, Like when did you know, like I'm a good writer.

00:05:19
Speaker 3: Mmm.

00:05:21
Speaker 2: I had made this one song when I first started messing with it with auto tune, Like, I went on YouTube and I just learned how to like do the autotune settings. I remember I had search auto tune settings like t pain bom and YouTube like it showed you how to do it, so boom. I just like tweaked my ship from there and I made this song like it's called all Along, and it was just it was just different, you know what I'm saying. If people was got damn crying to it and too like vib into it, like telling me it was like one of the ones and you would.

00:05:50
Speaker 1: Let people hear and you put it, you put everything out.

00:05:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I put it on YouTube. Actually I put on my Space. I put on YouTube everything for sure.

00:05:57
Speaker 1: So but mostly it's a small audience at that point.

00:05:59
Speaker 3: Right, it's just like seven thousand.

00:06:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a lot of people.

00:06:02
Speaker 5: For not being famous, that's a lot of people, right, Like for somebody who's local to hear put people here that you have music.

00:06:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought I thought it was a lot of the time too.

00:06:10
Speaker 1: You thought you was popping.

00:06:12
Speaker 3: I'm like they listening like we gotta draw something again.

00:06:16
Speaker 5: But did you have big dreams or did you think, like I'm gonna really do this.

00:06:20
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, I want.

00:06:21
Speaker 2: I definitely wanted to get out of the city because my city was like it really was nothing there, but I was it was like close to Memphis, It's close to Atlanta and just bigger cities, you.

00:06:30
Speaker 3: Know what I'm saying. I always looked at it like those be bigger opportunities.

00:06:34
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00:07:49
Speaker 3: Probably like.

00:07:53
Speaker 2: All through high school he was doing it, but fresh out of high school, like all like we end up get kicked out of the house basically, you know what I'm saying, because we was loud, Like we was on the computer, going to talent shows and then coming home late past twelve, so it's like the door just be locked sometimes, you know what I'm saying, Like we tried to come back home, the door be locked.

00:08:11
Speaker 3: So we'll be like one day we just came home, the door was locked.

00:08:14
Speaker 2: We're working McDonald's wood at this time, so we just stacking our bread like boom So. I came home one day the door was locked. I'm just like, Damn, bro, I ain't doing that. I'm going to get my own house, you know what I'm saying. Boom, I'm trying to you know what I'm saying, build some of myself a boom.

00:08:30
Speaker 3: Door locked.

00:08:31
Speaker 2: I'm like, damn, let me do this. Ship locked for real, like damn little nigga. Me and my bro like we can't get at the crib. Boom So we got there. We go sleep in the car for the last night. Boom, stack our money, boom and just get this like raggedy ass crib whatever, water running, you know what I'm saying, lights on.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: Boom wow. Basically boom So.

00:08:49
Speaker 2: We posted up there for like a couple of years, and one of our homies his name was DJ Shrimp, So his name was JaMarcus, and his cousins they made beat for Mike Will basically, so it's just like crazy alignment.

00:09:04
Speaker 3: I don't even know how this.

00:09:06
Speaker 2: It's like random, his cousin making beasts for Mike Will and the ear drummers, and they making beats for like Rick Ross, all the superstars at the time.

00:09:13
Speaker 3: You know, they got the hardest beats. Mike Will.

00:09:15
Speaker 2: Mike Will made it shout out, Mike Will made it Boom. So they telling us keep making songs.

00:09:19
Speaker 1: That's not a small plug.

00:09:20
Speaker 3: That's no, it ain't small. It ain't small plug.

00:09:23
Speaker 2: It's just like like, what are the eyes it is your cousin, Like, yeah, you know what I'm saying. So they telling us come to Atlanta. They start hearing our music, like y'all come to Atlanta, come fuck with us, Like you know what I'm saying. We're gonna were gonna help y'all get to where you're trying to go, so we're gonna turn you all up.

00:09:36
Speaker 3: So Boom. We saved all our money. We had a little.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: Apartment too at this time. We moved up to an apartment, like a better apartment. Niggas, you just taking no friends and you and your brother, me and my brother, and we had a third member at the time. His name was Bobo Sway, so Boom. He had a truck and ship too, so Boom. We had out the bands.

00:09:55
Speaker 3: We stacked our money up, maybe like seven hundred dollars.

00:09:58
Speaker 2: Jimmy had I don't know, like five hundred dollar or something, and Bubbo had a couple of dollars suit in the truck boom. So we finally told be nasty. That was air drummer homie like JaMarcus cousin. So when we told them were finish, come to Atlanta, you know what I'm saying, were gonna see how we want to see what we can do. And you're how old, like seventeen eighteen?

00:10:16
Speaker 1: Shit, that's the ambitious.

00:10:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you.

00:10:20
Speaker 1: Think about it now, like a seventeen year old thinking about going to another state and chasing a dream that a lot of people would think it's not even a real possibly.

00:10:31
Speaker 3: I think it's impossible.

00:10:32
Speaker 2: I think it's impossible, and everybody like they telling us is far fetched, you know what I'm saying. But niggas just believing, like what everything we got we just believe in, like we know it's gonna happen, like we just feel it.

00:10:43
Speaker 3: We believed that right right, and we're gonna make it happen. We're gonna do the work basically.

00:10:47
Speaker 5: So Yo, when your mother locks the door on you, yeah, what what gets her to that point?

00:10:55
Speaker 2: Probably because I ain't gonna she had three boys, like it's three boys like we have and as much as we can. But I get it, Like she had a boyfriend and stuff. Yeah, definitely, definitely. I put viruses on the computer and shit, you know I'm saying to crack out of software loud.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: Was she trying to regulate you? Like? Was she giving you like curfews.

00:11:13
Speaker 2: Or yeah, she gave us that like a twelve o'clock curfey for show. But it's then you were like, we got to go way up here to this other city and perform and then drive all the way back.

00:11:21
Speaker 3: So boom we come home. We're trying to make it at twelve too. Damn boom. We can't make it at twelve and do both. You know what I'm saying. So so got them.

00:11:30
Speaker 1: So did you take that well?

00:11:32
Speaker 2: As a kid, I was mad as hell because I'm paying a light bill too. I'm using my mcdonald'scheck, I'm paying a light building, I'm helping out.

00:11:37
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

00:11:38
Speaker 2: I'm I'm the cool kid. It's three of us though, you know what I'm saying, So I get it. Even being a parent now, like three boys is like crazy. You feel me in an apartment like, so, I get it. I get the stress that came with it. You know what I'm saying, and she got a boyfriend, so she's trying to you know what I'm saying, started life exactly, you know, some order in her house exactly, So like boom, probably do seem crazy, like you know what I'm saying, Like.

00:12:03
Speaker 3: They loud, like, so I get it. I get both sides.

00:12:07
Speaker 1: It's hard being a mother.

00:12:08
Speaker 5: It's hard being a single Mushay get boys because it's like you love them, but you also got to raise.

00:12:13
Speaker 2: Them to be man right, and if you out here being reckless, right, it seems so reckless what I'm doing. It's like this ship is just strategic. You feel me, Everything I'm doing strategic.

00:12:23
Speaker 1: Has she ever apologized for that.

00:12:25
Speaker 3: In a way?

00:12:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's cool because I don't even got no bad blood about it. I'm glad it happened because that's literally I want to blew up. If I would have been if I would have gotten the crib, probably won't even be here right now, you know what I'm saying.

00:12:35
Speaker 3: So the door being locked, it's like that's how it's supposed to be for me. That made me really get up and go get it.

00:12:40
Speaker 1: Like is she proud of you?

00:12:42
Speaker 3: Definitely? Yeah, overly Yeah. And I'm happy.

00:12:44
Speaker 2: I'm proud of her. I'm I'm thankful for her, you know what I'm saying. Like she did her best. Yeah, she was in the military for me and everything, so she did her best. That's why that's all that mattered to me.

00:12:53
Speaker 5: Oh that's what it is too. She had that military background, so yeah, she wasn't playing with you.

00:12:57
Speaker 2: She didn't have sergeant energy. Though she didn't have like drill, she was still sweet. She was very sweet, especially me. I was like, that's my twin. Like you know what I'm saying, is it, Yeah, my twin.

00:13:08
Speaker 1: You guys are close.

00:13:09
Speaker 3: Even I looked like her, like yeah, so I could never have no bad blood for her. She must be really proud of you overly. Yeah, overly proud for sure.

00:13:17
Speaker 1: And she did.

00:13:18
Speaker 2: She did believe in us too, in a way like m hmm, but it just got too crazy, like but she did. She did believe us.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: She brought us software, brought us mics and stuff.

00:13:26
Speaker 1: She did.

00:13:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, so she she held it down for shore.

00:13:30
Speaker 5: Wow, you must be so like when you think about those times, is it amazing to you that you come this far?

00:13:35
Speaker 2: Like looking at everything, Yeah, it's crazy, that's how it's supposed to be.

00:13:41
Speaker 3: I think it was written for show. Like you know what I'm saying.

00:13:43
Speaker 2: I wasn't supposed to be in the hood, Like, yeah, I was supposed to be doing some.

00:13:47
Speaker 3: Of my life, you know what I'm saying.

00:13:48
Speaker 2: Even my name, my name, my real name, it mean leader to people, you know what I'm saying.

00:13:53
Speaker 3: So my mom named me that. And my dad he was a shaman, like my real dad. He was a shaman. So I think it's like it's just yeah, it's written.

00:14:01
Speaker 1: Where is he now?

00:14:05
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, really, you know what I'm saying.

00:14:09
Speaker 1: But and he never popped up through all of this.

00:14:11
Speaker 3: He did hit me when I was like like sixteen seventeen, but.

00:14:15
Speaker 1: I mean through the fame. He never popped up through the fame.

00:14:18
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, I don'tly want to pop up, like yeah, and I don't even know what happened between YOUM know what I'm saying. It could have been they could have been toxic, had a toxic relationship. It could have just been overbearing for him to be there, you know what I'm saying. So yeah, now fame brings him out though all the thing. Hey man, I miss you signing.

00:14:35
Speaker 1: Sometimes the fame and the money brings him out.

00:14:37
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, but now you hit me up, like right before I blew up though, when he's seen probably like no flecks on like right before I really blew up.

00:14:44
Speaker 3: I'm saying when, But it's like you weren't open to it.

00:14:47
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's a random time on earth it was because he's seen that, but it was just like mm hmm, damn gang.

00:14:52
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. I'm good, I'm good without you know what I'm saying. But how is love?

00:14:56
Speaker 1: But how has it been with your brother? How the ups and downs of that?

00:15:00
Speaker 3: Every thing good? Like even my brother.

00:15:01
Speaker 2: Like I was telling people, like I look at that shit like a Jordan brand, like Ray Shimmer, that's that's a Jordan brand swale. That's like another Jordan that's like like Ray Shrimp, like the Jordan twelve's swally. I'm like the Jordan ten's slim Jimmy, like the Jordan the thirteens or something, you know what I'm saying. Like they always gonna drop, like you know what I'm saying, Like they are their own entities, you know what I'm saying.

00:15:26
Speaker 3: Like people.

00:15:28
Speaker 2: Even like when we come together, it's like it's like the Backstreet Boys, like twenty years we're gonna come together again, reunited, you know what I'm saying, do a tour, boom boom, new album.

00:15:38
Speaker 3: We're just gonna keep linking back up.

00:15:39
Speaker 1: I know you've publicly had some ups and downs. How have you? I don't know where where has that landed? Or what have you learned from going through all of that? Like what like just what have you learned now? Like like I feel like you shared some stuff at one point and you were like, you know, we're brothers. Should happen slow, you know, But like I don't know if you regret sharing some things sometimes or or I don't know.

00:16:04
Speaker 2: Like definitely, I think when you when you like going through something, it's best to just keep it off the internet because it can blow end up.

00:16:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, blown up in your face later.

00:16:11
Speaker 1: But it is.

00:16:16
Speaker 3: Whatever.

00:16:17
Speaker 1: But you guys are in a good place now.

00:16:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, we're good. And it's like shrimlight. You know what I'm saying, We shrimlight. It's like where were the Black Beatles? You know what I'm saying, Like he got a choice but to be good. And that's my real brother, that's my big brother. Like we're a year and a half apart.

00:16:31
Speaker 1: Well, you guys are close. You've been through so much. I mean, I know you've told stories about you guys kind of.

00:16:35
Speaker 2: Like yeah, sleeping the cars together, Yeah, broke homeless together for show, Like we did everything together.

00:16:41
Speaker 1: What was those what were those times like like with the conversations of this life, like did you see it for yourself?

00:16:48
Speaker 2: It was like, yeah, we definitely gotta we gotta get some money. Like we always just felt like we're almost there, Like just keep going like you're almost there. You always say you almost, like every no, you're almost there. Fuck that you almost there almost, And just it kind of seemed insane sometimes, but it's like ships. That's how we was rocking. Like we believed, we believe in ourselves, like we know we could do. We just felt like we need to just be in the right place.

00:17:11
Speaker 1: Do you think having each other helped that?

00:17:13
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, for sure, for sure.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: It's like because doing that on your own, right, you being by yourself going through that, it's different.

00:17:20
Speaker 3: Crazy.

00:17:21
Speaker 2: That would have made a lot tough for Shure because we put our money together, like and we just always there for each other whatever he needed, Like if I could do it. I'm helping him, you know what I'm saying, Like we needed some food boom, where you gotta fight out of that. I find out I got ten dollars to get some good food today.

00:17:33
Speaker 3: Boom. You know what I'm saying. We're working.

00:17:36
Speaker 2: We're working jobs together, Like where I get a job, he getting a job Boom. Like if I live somewhere, I'll make sure he can he can get in there too.

00:17:44
Speaker 3: Boom. It's just like that helps partners in crime.

00:17:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. So yeah, how could anybody or anything, especially the music business right come into that?

00:17:54
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:17:55
Speaker 1: How did? How did that change you?

00:17:57
Speaker 3: Though?

00:17:57
Speaker 1: Like when you're getting can you start getting success and you start gett some money, Yeah, people start treating you a little different.

00:18:04
Speaker 2: It was just like get access to different stuff, you know what I'm saying, get access to different rooms. And that always felt good for like definitely the recognition.

00:18:14
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: Month was ain't telling you no like you like usually you know what I sing, you can't be here, you can't do this?

00:18:18
Speaker 3: You get it? Nah my fuck is my ship now? Asked about here?

00:18:23
Speaker 4: That?

00:18:23
Speaker 1: Like you know saying when is the moment though?

00:18:27
Speaker 5: Like when is the moment that you're like, yo, we we're here.

00:18:31
Speaker 3: Like we arrived definitely. When I signed with Innerscope.

00:18:36
Speaker 2: Boom, I was in Jimmy ivean backyard, so they flow us to LA and shit, we're gonna start.

00:18:40
Speaker 1: Meeting probably a nice ass backyard.

00:18:43
Speaker 2: Nice ass crazy crib about three folk guest house, boom, big ass clean white paint and shit, every superstar in nigga backyard. I'm like, the fuck is this like? Boom Doctor Dre walk up to me, Boom, Sway, Lee, we love your music. Man, Hey, welcome to the game, Boomom, But this Doctor Dray nig I'm like, this ship should get real, you know, like for real seeing God, damn what shorty name?

00:19:13
Speaker 1: Who is it?

00:19:14
Speaker 4: You?

00:19:14
Speaker 2: Old times have been around that Tracksha Boone sitting out there smiling, bright white smile.

00:19:20
Speaker 1: Was it a party?

00:19:21
Speaker 3: It was like, I guess is what he's doing a Saturday?

00:19:23
Speaker 2: I don't know, just in back yeah backyard looking like Coachella, you know what I'm saying. I'm just like, all right, we hear Jim Boom. Then we met Jimmy Ivean. He just saw the beat. Shit mabe and it was millions of dollars. You know what I'm like you and your brother, me and my brother and Mike Will. Mike Will is super locked in with Jimmy Ivian and the label and stuff.

00:19:41
Speaker 1: So he walked you in there.

00:19:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, he walked us in there, boom, everything lit, you know what I'm saying, And we just started doing crazy stuff.

00:19:48
Speaker 1: What's going on with you in that moment? Like? What is what does that feel like?

00:19:51
Speaker 3: I'm just like, nigga, this shit a simulation or something.

00:19:55
Speaker 2: Doctor Drake Yo, welcome to the game, your nigga, My brother ship getting crazy? You know what I'm saying. I just watched the NW a couple of years ago. Got damn all that shit real.

00:20:08
Speaker 3: So I'm like, this ship real? Is that?

00:20:11
Speaker 1: Get no fear in that though?

00:20:13
Speaker 2: Like I wouldn't feel like it's just one of the things to put a better in your back, Like, oh ship, you gotta yeah, turn off nigga, like you know, turning back.

00:20:20
Speaker 1: Who do you feel like? Inspired pressure? I don't know. Do you call your mom?

00:20:25
Speaker 3: Like, like, what.

00:20:26
Speaker 1: Do you do after a thing like that?

00:20:29
Speaker 3: Go to the studio, get to the studio, get to work.

00:20:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I had my album done and stuff, but it's like, man, we're really in this.

00:20:36
Speaker 1: You got a good work ethic too, probably huh.

00:20:38
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, for sure, I'll be missing holidays. I live in the studio for sure, but no holidays. She got to be disciplined, you know what I'm saying. Sometimes you don't want to be there. Sometimes it's a lot of other stuff you want to be doing. But it's really your life now, you know what I'm saying. Shit, I just be thinking about eighty years and this ship, you know what I'm saying. So like Elton John and this ship sixty years. So I just yeah, I don't doing as long as long as I can. You know what I'm saying, I'm doing it forever great dread locks.

00:21:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I just know what it takes.

00:21:12
Speaker 1: The beauty is too.

00:21:13
Speaker 5: It's like it's you're you're a talent that's like beyond the artists, like you could you could write and appreciate that create for other artists. So those artists tend to have a longer lifespan.

00:21:24
Speaker 2: Because true, very true. Did you writing for other people even think on the front line? Yeah, they still still winning for sure.

00:21:31
Speaker 1: When was the first time you did something for somebody else and you're like, oh, shoul I could do that too.

00:21:40
Speaker 2: I had a crazy experience like super early on, like Michael had brought me to the studio and it was like I had to write for like a female artist. I ain't gonna say so many names and stuff, but it was like he had me writing for a female artist. And it's like when I first came into games, like a rapper. Yeah, like she was like a pop star like and rappers to do it all like so yeah post so he ranging for this artist and it was a girl artists. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like the whole guy. I'm like, how do I write for a girl? Like I'm just learning. So I'm like sitting in the studio like four or five hours and I I couldn't come up with nothing for the girl. So I'm like but at the end of study, like my fuck was telling me like you need to get your ship together, like it's the it's the real industry. You need to get your ship together.

00:22:17
Speaker 3: And what was that.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm like, man, I ain't really listen to it, but it's like legend telling me. That's a legend telling me you gott get your ship together. And then boom, so I dropped no flex on a week later, No flex don't go crazy, and it's just like it was just my flex.

00:22:32
Speaker 3: I ain't like it was crazy or like that was when.

00:22:35
Speaker 1: My first that was you like, no flex on was like your response.

00:22:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, exactly exactly too.

00:22:43
Speaker 2: So no flex on the drop was like my ship together, you know what I'm saying, talk to me.

00:22:50
Speaker 3: But it was like it was it was a learning experience too.

00:22:52
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, boom and writing and ship, like you got to approach it a certain way. And then that's when I started just playing like my records for the artists, like I ain't even think it too deep into it like gender or nothing, Like just here's a banger, you know what I'm saying, just re sing it boom.

00:23:07
Speaker 5: Why would you prefer to give that? Do that as opposed to building yourself up as an artist?

00:23:13
Speaker 3: Oh? You see.

00:23:14
Speaker 2: Now it's like I don't really want to write for people too much because like now I'm really keeping it for myself for sure, like locked into your artists mostly, yeah, I'm keeping it.

00:23:23
Speaker 1: For that time. What were what was going on?

00:23:26
Speaker 2: And that's how I'm just trying to catch whatever plays I can catch, Like you know what I'm saying. So I'm like, are they want to write for somebody?

00:23:30
Speaker 3: All right? Boom, here go some bars boom, Ye hopefully they use it.

00:23:35
Speaker 2: Boom, get my credit, you know what I'm saying, Get my writing credits.

00:23:38
Speaker 1: Boom.

00:23:39
Speaker 2: So back then it was just like, yeah, trying to just kick that door in, you know what I'm saying, solidify myself. Yeah.

00:23:46
Speaker 1: And then what was the first one, that song that you did for somebody else?

00:23:49
Speaker 3: The first song? I think I think it was Formation.

00:23:52
Speaker 1: It was Formation. That was the first time, you think, so I Beyonce.

00:23:56
Speaker 3: If I'm not mistaken, this Formation for sure? Crazy? No pressure, nah, because I ain't have to write for her. I just wrote the song and they liked it.

00:24:08
Speaker 1: So it's like, so you didn't know when you were making it that it was for her.

00:24:11
Speaker 2: Hell no, I'm just Mike Will. Mike Will got the ear. Yeah, Mike Will like played it for her and she was like, she fucked with the ship. And I get why she fuck with it because she getting a lady's information. You know what I said, She get in the whole world information.

00:24:23
Speaker 1: But it's crazy. You go from like not being able to write a song for a.

00:24:26
Speaker 2: Rapper, right right to like caring her crazy?

00:24:30
Speaker 1: Get information?

00:24:32
Speaker 3: What caring her crazy? For sure?

00:24:35
Speaker 1: So did you ever get the experience in that experience?

00:24:37
Speaker 3: I met her too. I met her too. It was crazy. It was it was dope, were.

00:24:40
Speaker 1: You saying when she recorded?

00:24:41
Speaker 3: No, yeah, oh you are? Yeah I was.

00:24:43
Speaker 2: It was it was in New York. I forgot what studio it was. It was a vibe up on met her. She was blowing and ship hair floats blowing in the wind and ship you know, I'm still this nigga from Missippy, Like damn it, look.

00:24:55
Speaker 1: It's Beyonce like doing my song.

00:24:59
Speaker 3: What like what's going on right now? For so she did it. She loved me.

00:25:03
Speaker 2: She she had like super like just pure like nice energy like yeah, kind of like motherly energy. I'm just like, damn, Like she's so beautiful, like beautiful person, like you know what I'm saying, Like she's a good soul. You can feel her energy and ship like like yeah that.

00:25:20
Speaker 1: God won''t be on one of the.

00:25:22
Speaker 2: Things like yeah, it reminds you like you're really here, like keep going crazy. I love that for you real.

00:25:27
Speaker 1: And then you gave French unforgettable.

00:25:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, shout out French. Yeah, I got that forgettable billions on billions?

00:25:35
Speaker 1: Did you ever think I should have kept that?

00:25:38
Speaker 3: I look at it like like it's my ship, you know what I'm saying. I got it. I got a good publishing on that ship.

00:25:42
Speaker 2: Like yeah, I know what people mean, know, like I should have put on my project or something.

00:25:47
Speaker 3: If anything, I definitely should have.

00:25:50
Speaker 2: And I don't know if it's too late to do this, but put my put my face on the artwork, because my face is not on the artwork, so some people might be confused and not even like recognized me for that song.

00:26:01
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's like even in my shows when I do that song, it's.

00:26:05
Speaker 1: Like it was huge.

00:26:06
Speaker 2: It's huge. I still I look at it like my ship, you know what I'm saying. The video was beautiful, video crazy. I would probably put my face in the video a little more too, though.

00:26:15
Speaker 1: What was that experience?

00:26:16
Speaker 3: So like that was crazy? Like we really the videos.

00:26:19
Speaker 2: It was twohun and fifty thousand dollars video we went to We went to Uganda, like one of the really really third world areas. Like these people like they're happy with the bare minum, you know what I'm saying. They smile and dance and natural rhythm.

00:26:33
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

00:26:33
Speaker 2: It's crazy to see the different lifestyles and it made you, It made you really appreciate.

00:26:37
Speaker 3: It made us appreciate what we had at home.

00:26:39
Speaker 2: Like like when the city, like when the sun went down, I'm talking about you can't see nothing. It's pitch black, no lights, no electricity flowing through the city.

00:26:48
Speaker 3: Hearing anson crazy noise in the back. You're like, damn, Like these folks lived through this.

00:26:55
Speaker 2: I'm saying, we had to like use flash like you just get back to the cars and shit like it's crazy, Like but these people were happy, you know what I'm saying. That's that's the main thing. They happy, well what they have. And it's like whom that changes you, right, like changing experience? Yeah, your eyes like you appreciate you.

00:27:12
Speaker 1: I touched Cuba one time when I was in my twenties. I went to Cuba for the first time and there was a little bit. My mother's half Cuban, and so she took me to Cuba and we went to this thing and this like little party, and it was they were talking about how this guy quit his job as a doctor to drive a taxi because taxi drivers made more money than doctors. And here and this is my American ass sitting at the table.

00:27:36
Speaker 5: I go, well, why would you go to medical school then all that time to be a doctor? And they looked at me. They were like to help people, and I was like, yeah, shit, but it shifted, it changed me. I was like, it just opened my eyes to like, the whole world is not about money, Like not.

00:27:55
Speaker 3: Everybody operates the same way.

00:27:57
Speaker 5: Yeah, Like, and so I know that experience is like that could really change how you see the world.

00:28:03
Speaker 3: I really can't complain about too much, you know. Yeah.

00:28:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it was crazy because like we took a couple of those kids, like to America.

00:28:11
Speaker 3: They live in America now, like a couple of the kids to day they live here.

00:28:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like three of them live here in America now they since the video. Yeah, and French did that too, by the way, French looked out for them.

00:28:24
Speaker 1: That's beautiful.

00:28:25
Speaker 3: Sure.

00:28:26
Speaker 1: Yeah. In real life, what are you most proud of about your career so far?

00:28:31
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, Just like having classics, having songs that that you can play anywhere, like a wedding, you can play them, in the hood, you can play them, and overseas you can play in Switzerland. Just having those like songs that really stuck with people, you know what I'm saying, like and songs that age well, and just being being known for.

00:28:56
Speaker 3: Being like a hook guy or like you know what I'm saying, like a melody god or some shit. It's like, dope, you.

00:29:01
Speaker 1: Like that the feeling of like contribution or or is it just.

00:29:04
Speaker 3: Helping me like recognizing like mm hmm, your quality.

00:29:08
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you have other things that you still want to do?

00:29:13
Speaker 3: For sure?

00:29:13
Speaker 2: For sure, I got a lot of like versions of Suay that people ain't even seen, so like what just like even the R and B stuff, like even more Afro stuff, like versions like they ain't seen.

00:29:26
Speaker 3: They seen glimpses of me.

00:29:28
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying, I ain't never It was my first solo project, so they only seen glimpses at a time.

00:29:33
Speaker 1: So it's like, yeah, we're seeing some of that on this too.

00:29:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, on this you're gonna see some like new new styles, new styles, new flows, new melodies.

00:29:43
Speaker 1: You know what I wanted to ask you about.

00:29:44
Speaker 5: I know we have to we don't have that much more time, and I want to have a couple of little segments I want to do with you.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: But you know what I'm here.

00:29:52
Speaker 5: I love that we were talking about those those songs that you have, and you you did that song about.

00:29:58
Speaker 2: ADHD the anthem yeah anthem yeah, And.

00:30:05
Speaker 1: I don't know. We hear that term all.

00:30:06
Speaker 5: The time, and I think people sometimes just throw it out there because we also, all of us is our attention span. It's like what the internet has done to us on social media. You just hear that all the time. What does that mean to you? Like is that something you were diagnose with or is that just your experience of.

00:30:24
Speaker 3: I don't even I don't even know, Like.

00:30:28
Speaker 2: I just know sometimes like people people be thinking different, you know what I'm saying, Like people mind work different. I don't know, like even like social anxiety, Like I don't even know if that's if that's a symptom of ADHD or whatever.

00:30:40
Speaker 3: But just for the people like.

00:30:44
Speaker 2: Going through it in their head, like that's why I mean that song, just for like them just letting it's normal. Like you know what I'm saying, You do the best you can type shit, yeah, you know what I'm saying.

00:30:52
Speaker 1: Do you think you have social anxiety?

00:30:54
Speaker 3: No?

00:30:54
Speaker 2: I don't think I have social anxiety, but sometimes I don't want to be talking it for sure.

00:31:00
Speaker 3: Just be my own zone, you know what I'm saying.

00:31:03
Speaker 1: Please, sometimes I don't feel like talking to me.

00:31:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I don't know, couldn't it couldn't normal. I don't know, but yeah, sometimes you know, you just you don't even want to. You want to be in your under your rock. Yeah, you know my job, I gotta be on.

00:31:18
Speaker 3: The front front line, so yeah, you gotta be on Yeah, the A A D. I don't know. It can be a superpower too though. That's that's what I noticed.

00:31:26
Speaker 1: Like I was gonna say, some people have some of that.

00:31:28
Speaker 3: Do you think I could have it?

00:31:29
Speaker 2: I ain't sometime be like damn, like where was my head at when I thought about this? Like sometimes you know, you think about some crazy You're like, damn, like where's my brain at right now?

00:31:38
Speaker 3: But I ain't never sat down with a doctor he's just like analyze that or whatever. Yeah, I ain't never Huh.

00:31:47
Speaker 5: I thought it was like something you were claiming, like you you.

00:31:51
Speaker 2: Know, I mean, I feel like it's a possibility. I don't know that might just be a creative brain, true, you know.

00:31:58
Speaker 3: What I'm saying.

00:31:58
Speaker 2: Like, that's why I don't really call it a but yeah, who knows shit? If it is shit might be a less superpowers, so you can just be looking at shit different sometimes yeah, same difference.

00:32:09
Speaker 1: Hey guys, you ever signed up for a phone plan thinking wow, what a great price, and then a few months later it's like, surprise, your bill is higher? We hate that. With Boost Mobile, you pay twenty five dollars a month forever. That's unlimited talk, texts, and data starting at just twenty five dollars a month. There's no price hikes, there's no contract, and this is forever. Plus, Boost Mobile is now a legit nationwide five G network. They invested billions building five G towers across the country. So what you need to do is visit boostmobile dot com or head to your local Boost store today and get unlimited talk, text, and data for twenty five dollars a month forever. Five G speeds not available in all areas. After thirty gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay twenty five dollars a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. All right, we have a little segment that we do this is a voice note. It is usually like a fan or a listener of the pod that knows you're on. We always like lists who's coming, and so they send questions in Yeah, so this is a voice note from Jericho.

00:33:13
Speaker 3: Jericho.

00:33:14
Speaker 1: It up Yo, sway Lee.

00:33:17
Speaker 4: I have a business with my sibling and it's the best thing in my life, but at the same time, it's the hardest thing in my life. I love them to death, but sometimes I don't know where the brother ends and the business partner begins. So I'm kind of curious. How do you navigate that with slim, Like, how do y'all separate the relationship from the work and when it gets real, what do you actually do to get through that? Thank you man?

00:33:50
Speaker 2: Thank I was first I thought I was about to advertise the business, but that was that was a great question.

00:33:56
Speaker 1: Come on down.

00:33:59
Speaker 2: The cookie business, my cousin. We got some cookies and tell you want chocolate chip cookies. But no, that's a great question. I think once it gets to a certain point, it has to be like understood, like it's just bigger than brothers and sisters, Like this is like it's our livelihood. It's a bigger picture now, Like HM, when y'all clock out. Though you can be human, you know what I'm saying, be human for sure, but yeah, so separating it, right, you definitely got to separate it for sure. Yeah, And the sibling wars is crazy, like because you feel so entitled to the other person, like you know that person, like you grew up with them, so you feel like you can say whatever you want, you know what I'm saying. So m that can get crazy, especially when when money's involved. Yes, sibling wars like motherfucker want to be right, but you gotta find that middle ground.

00:34:46
Speaker 1: And do you have to humble yourself Sometimes.

00:34:52
Speaker 2: You definitely do. But sometimes you got to compromise your decision. So it's crazy, Like it's crazy, It could be crazy. Sometimes you got to cut the ties something you can't work with people don't your family your family, like you can't.

00:35:04
Speaker 1: How did you manage the shift of like make it getting money too, like money all of a sudden and fame all of a sudden? Yeah did it?

00:35:13
Speaker 3: Ship?

00:35:13
Speaker 1: Did it change you at all?

00:35:15
Speaker 3: For sure?

00:35:16
Speaker 2: Like without even noticing, but like just always been in type, like to save money, know what I'm saying, Like stack money, Like I always been good with my money. Like, so just having it come in by the boatload is just like damn, did you say the boatload?

00:35:30
Speaker 3: Yeah? You know what I'm saying. To put something up, the put something up, spending something, you know what I'm saying.

00:35:35
Speaker 1: But but you're being smart with it.

00:35:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, being smart with it. Eighty years that she got to stretch eighty years. Yeah, where do we see you in ten years from now? What you think ten years from now? Paint the picture. Goddamn thirty thousand.

00:35:53
Speaker 2: Show is gonna be like thirty thousand people, stadiums, two super Bowl performances under the belt, super Bowl dancing, choreography, everything like we go crazy boom. I definitely want to have a lot more albums out, Like I look at it like like Prince Like he dropped thirty albums, you know what I'm saying. So I don't want to drop no posthumous albums. Definitely, Yeah, more music, a lot of more albums out, a lot more albums, no posthumous albums, no posthumous album I'm gonna get it all out for sure.

00:36:29
Speaker 1: What does that look like if you have that opportunity to do Super Bowl? Like, have you thought about that?

00:36:34
Speaker 2: That's just you're gonna see final forms soly like I'm going Michael Jackson mod like for sure, choreography, choreography, flying through the stadium, backflips, ship all type of stuff.

00:36:45
Speaker 3: For real?

00:36:47
Speaker 1: What are you are? Your pet peeves or triggers? Mm hmm.

00:36:55
Speaker 3: Liars?

00:36:56
Speaker 1: Liars?

00:36:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, liars?

00:37:00
Speaker 1: Are you a trick teller?

00:37:04
Speaker 3: For the most part? You go lie right now? I tell the truth. I tell the true.

00:37:10
Speaker 2: I keep it real for show shop. I don't even like I don't even really like the sugarcoach it. Sometimes it's like, damn, you gotta be real. I gotta keep keep it your respect.

00:37:21
Speaker 5: And then in real life, what do you think your superpower is? Like what do you think the thing is that has gotten you here? Like what makes you different or makes you able to create the way you create? What's your superpower?

00:37:32
Speaker 3: Oh yeah? Partly of melodies for show melodies?

00:37:34
Speaker 1: Melodies? Yeah, you know how to do a melody? What's the key to that?

00:37:38
Speaker 3: Though?

00:37:38
Speaker 1: Like, what's the key to a good melody? Like how do you even know if this is fire? Is it just something you feel.

00:37:45
Speaker 2: You gotta it's gotta be tucked in the beat, like you gotta ride on the beat, Like gotta be writ in pocket.

00:37:52
Speaker 1: Can you teach that?

00:37:53
Speaker 2: Or is that something you you gotta have like that internal rhythm?

00:38:00
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. Yeah, some peep gott it, some people don't. I guess for real, Hey guys.

00:38:05
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00:38:46
Speaker 2: How happy are you from a scale of one to tea? Oh, that's a good one, super happy man?

00:38:52
Speaker 3: Thirty five man?

00:38:54
Speaker 4: Right?

00:38:54
Speaker 1: Is that real? Yeah?

00:38:55
Speaker 3: Because the album album out of everything good that makes you happy? That makes me overjoyed, like overjoyed?

00:39:03
Speaker 5: Are you genuinely a happy person most of the time or physic go up and down?

00:39:08
Speaker 2: Nah, I ain't gonna take a lot to like really bother me. And shit, you know what I'm saying. You put out, that's what you get back. Like I'm just if you walk around like what a shitty added two all times like a life gonna give you back, you know what I'm saying. But yeah, you're happy, you believe, you're staying optimistic.

00:39:22
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

00:39:23
Speaker 2: You find the reasons to be happy, like, yeah, let's get more from life for sure.

00:39:28
Speaker 1: On the scale of once to you at.

00:39:29
Speaker 3: Thirty five five in real life, same difference. All right, now, you know what I'm saying. We've got the album at We're good now.

00:39:38
Speaker 1: Swayly everybody in real life.

00:39:41
Speaker 3: Appreciate, Thank you love. This is Swaly in real life.

00:39:49
Speaker 1: Hey guys, thanks for watching. Make sure you subscribe, like comments, and check out all of the other episodes we have on Edge. Martinez I RL Podcast No.