Published on July 10th, 2024 | by Jameelah "Just Jay" Wilkerson

Swavay – No Ordinary Love

SWAVAY – a native son and scion of Atlanta’s diverse rap ecosystem – reveals a new single and music video entitled “NO ORDINARY LOVE” out now via Giant Music/Def Jam Recordings. Listen HERE. Watch the music video HERE. It heralds the arrival of his forthcoming BILLY EP on June 14. Pre-save the BILLY EP HERE.

On the track, keys glimmer through a vital and vibrant drumbeat. SWAVAY flaunts his melodic prowess, barely holding back his feelings on the verses. In a moment of clarity, raw emotion surges through a chantable chorus punctuated by a plea, “I can’t keep folding…I let you control me, just don’t you disown me.” The accompanying visual projects this energy on-screen. Highly stylized cinematic shots and deft editing find SWAVAY stuck in his feelings. The pacing matches the speed of his anxious thought process as he wrangles with memories of an ex.

About the EP, SWAVAY commented, “I wrote this project in two weeks about a girl who ended up breaking my heart when I finished it. At least we got some good emotional ass songs outta it. I’m a simp, what can I say? This is my greatest attempt to prove to the world that I’m not one dimensional.”

This time around, SWAVAY leans into his longstanding passion for R&B, showcasing his soulful side and flaunting no shortage of vocal fireworks in the process.

He capped off 2023 by dropping the Deluxe Version of his acclaimed debut album, ALMETHA’S SON. This body of work has already generated just shy of 10 million global streams. Beyond plugs from XXL and more, Billboard touted “UH” among its “R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week,” going on to applaud how, “The song laces a thumping bass line and 808 claps with orchestral loops as SWAVAY stomps all over the beat with fiery bars.”

Powered by a hard-earned confidence that his own genre-traversing style is ready for hip-hop’s – and music’s – biggest stages, SWAVAY arrives at the industry’s #1 hip-hop destination with the depth and dexterity that is typical of Dogwood City’s greatest. His brand of soulful trap fusion has earned cosigns and collabs from artists across genres and sounds, from multi-platinum producer Metro Boomin, to U.K. pop/electronic/R&B auteur James Blake.

In 2019, SWAVAY shared a Grammy® nomination for his contribution to “Elevate” (with DJ Khalil, Cordae, Denzel Curry, and Trevor Rich), from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. In 2021, SWAVAY appeared on “Frozen” (with Dreamville Records’ J.I.D), a track from Blake’s LP, Friends That Break Your Heart.

Inspired by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Drake, as well as golden-era greats like Jay-Z, Nas, and Snoop Dogg –SWAVAY dropped his first solo project, Poet Talk(2012), while still in school. More indie releases followed, including TRVPLANTA (2015), and Before Eye Die (2016), as SWAVAY found his place amid Atlanta’s competitive trap scene.

ABOUT SWAVAY:

SwaVay can’t be boxed in. Few MCs have the musical depth and dexterity of the Atlanta native, whose brand of soulful trap fusion has earned cosigns and collabs from artists across genres. Now, with his major-label debut album release via Giant/Def Jam Recordings, the rich and real Almetha’s Son, SwaVay is powered by a hard-earned confidence that his genre-traversing music is ready for hip-hop’s—and music’s—biggest stages. In addition to the boundary-pushing sounds, the record encapsulates his relationship to his city while continuing to show off the many emotions and energies that he’s captured in his music so far. SwaVay put out his first solo project, Poet Talk (2012), while still in school. He followed that up with several more indie releases while finding his place amid Atlanta’s bubbling trap scene. SwaVay’s malleability and persistence paid off in 2017 when super-producer Metro Boomin signed him as the first act on his then-fledgling Boominati Worldwide label. Under Metro’s tutelage, SwaVay dropped his breakout 2019 mixtape, Pure Infinity. The same year, SwaVay earned a Grammy nomination for his contribution to the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse song “Elevate.” In 2021, he appeared on James Blake’s “Frozen” (with Dreamville’s J.I.D). Still, even as he prepares to release his most fully realized record yet, the SwaVay story is still being written. It’s an autobiography, guided by rich talent and the ambition to be a legend in the game. He isn’t settling for less.

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