#life in my #dreams it #seems all I have is me will that suffice the long nights. #letshopeso if not baby you can roll. ;) (Taken with instagram)

At first looks, Tony Swagg looks like any other flashy Bay Area rapper: the cars, the clothes, those really obnoxious 808s and the hipster girls on his arms… and honestly he’s not far from it. But apparently what sets him apart is the most important apsect of a rapper: the message. The facade of the “high life” (I mean that quite literally) is a part of a grander scheme to reveal a bigger picture to the world, about a radiating positivity that we can all be apart of by thinking outside of the box. Swagg is a 17 year old Jamaican native and current Bay Area resident that’s ready to take on the summer head-on with new bangers like “Move It,” a club slapper that’s sure to be the Bay’s new summer anthem. The Bittersweet Beat caught up with Tony last week as we chopped it up about the game, the fame, and the future.

BB: What’s your name and how did you get it?

TONY: Well my name is Anthony so I just shortened that. And in middle school everyone knew I had the swag so that was just added on. And there you have it Tony Swagg, simple as that.

Where are you from?

Native of Jamaica but I reside in the Bay: Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont.

How do you describe your style of Hip Hop?

My style of hip hop is limitless, I can do anything because I’m so poetic. The stuff I’m doing right now though: no style. Party music. It’s get a beat, rap on it, get a buzz. Basically mainstream. I’ve been doing mostly singles, but when I do release an album, it’ll have a real topic, and a theme, and a concept.

What’s your favorite song of yours and why?

Man, it’s on release. I did a song called Hey with Young Nittlz, and that one has a little lyricism, basically it’s a story of how we came up. It’s still mainstream, but delivering a message.

When did you fall in love with hip hop… if ever?

Love… I don’t know about all that. But since like 13 or 14, I used to just word play for fun— it, bit, spit. Then I seen I could really take this somewhere, stop playing around in the studio.

What is a misconception people have about you as an artist?

A lot of people think it’s like 1..2. Like it’s that easy, they’re like “Oh bruh, throw me on the track, throw me on the track,” but when it comes right down to it, I’ve brought a couple people to the studio and ain’t nobody ready. It takes time. The littlest details, it takes a lot of time. If you listen on quality headphones you hear all the little details and see I put a lot of time into it.

Who has been the biggest contributor to your music other than yourself?

Man, my homeboy Young Nittlz. I used to be in the studio all the time, like I said, just kinda playng around. I went with him one time and man, *snaps* it just happened we made a song everybody loved it. He hooked me up with the videos, everything online, Get it Now Not Later. (GNL)

Who are your heroes, if any?

Damn, I mean, Bob Marley. I mean everybody gotta say Pac, but mainly I’m Jamaican, so I’mma just say Bob Marley. I mean, that dude did some things that nobody else could do.

Does your heritage affect your music at all?

I feel like right now my music doesn’t really intertwine with my culture. But like I said, once I start getting more heavy into lyricism, after I get this little buzz out, dropping my album, start working on concepts, I’m gonna tie a little culture and heritage into it.

What is the most time consuming thing about making music?

The stuff I’m doing right now, like I said, doesn’t take a lot of writing skills. You could say the producing is the most time consuming because after the vocals are on the track, you can throw it on youtube whatever and it won’t go anywhere. It takes so much time to get something radio-ready, to be mainstream. That’s where “the magic happens” the smallest details, the ad-libs, the smallest things, they take time. That’s why my producers are the main support.

If you could change one thing about the game what would it be?

It’s not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of when. I would set up my own label, where you put on young people, let them have their shine show what they can do, Because I feel like not enough young people get a chance to do their thing. People look down on them, and no one goes out to gather them and let them do what they do. I wish somebody would’ve came and got me at a younger age.

What can people expect from you in the future as an artist?

Man, for summer, yall can expect a lot of tours. At least a couple of songs on the radio, atleast two. I mean, shit— food? What do you call Purple Bliss…food?

Welp, look out for Tony Swagg, Purple Bliss (whatever the hell that is), and label GNL this summer.

-B
thebittersweetbeetedit
What’s your name and age and where do you live?

The much anticipated (well for die hard fans for me at least) short film CRUEL directed by rapper Kanye West will debut at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Ye describes this fusion of art and film into an immaculate conception of a seven screen intense story unlike anything he’s done before. Not to name drop but the movie is featuring certain household names, (cough)Aziz Ansari and Scott Mescudi.