00:02
DJ Whippopatomus
What's good, Everybody? I am DJ Whippopatomus and you are listening to WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 Raleigh. We are a student run nonprofit radio station based at a North Carolina State University. Here with me today is Adam Sumner, AKA Swayve, who is a local rapper based out of our very own NC State University. What's good, man? How you doing?
00:29
Swayve
Hey, what's going on? Super happy to be here, man.
00:31
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, I appreciate you pulling up for real last. Last minute too. So yeah, real quick, introduce yourself to the people. Where you from, what you do, all that.
00:41
Swayve
What's going on, everybody? My name is Adam Sumner. I come from Burlington, North Carolina, super small town near Elon. That might be how you know of it. Yeah, yeah, it's about an hour from NC State.
00:52
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
00:52
Swayve
But yeah, I've been hanging out there most of my life. I actually went to App State my freshman year and transferred here, but.
00:58
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
00:59
Swayve
Been loving it. Love Raleigh. Love ncsu.
01:01
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah, that's what's up. That's what's up.
01:04
Swayve
Yeah.
01:04
DJ Whippopatomus
You're actually the first student rapper that I've interviewed here, so I'm pretty excited about that. Yeah.
01:09
Swayve
That's interesting.
01:10
DJ Whippopatomus
I know there's got to be a few more out there, so. Yeah.
01:12
Swayve
Oh, yeah.
01:13
DJ Whippopatomus
If any of y’all know any, if you know any, definitely let me know.
01:15
Swayve
I can try and plug you for sure.
01:17
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah. Just for. For context for our listeners, I met this guy in our arts business class. We're actually in that right now, and we've been working together on a few things. Shout out Dr. B. Yeah, the boy.
01:29
Swayve
Dr. B. Let's go.
01:31
DJ Whippopatomus
Dr. B is wild, man.
01:33
Swayve
Honestly, one of the smartest guys I've ever met. For real, for real.
01:36
DJ Whippopatomus
He's clutch. Like, he's got the knowledge. It's crazy. He's got game. So what are you studying?
01:45
Swayve
I'm actually an art studies major with a music concentration and then of course getting arts entrepreneurship minor with a business administration minor. So really just kind of trying to look to do anything in the music industry. Yeah, whatever field I end up in, you know, right now I'm kind of looking at live entertainment.
02:02
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
02:02
Swayve
Working at a venue or doing bookings, Something like that.
02:04
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah, that's dope. I feel that I'm kind of trying to go down a similar path, honestly, just. Just with the events and entertainment. Yeah, things like that. Yeah. So how long have you been making music?
02:18
Swayve
Personally, I've been making music since freshman year of college. I started Producing, then with the homies cooking up in the dorms, trying to have fun.
02:27
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah.
02:27
Swayve
And that was a great time. Yeah, I love those days. And then just kind of started writing verses to my beats just so, you know, like, try rapping out. See what that was like. And I just kind of fell in love with that and then kind of quit producing, got out of it because it wasn't as satisfying, I guess. But being able to just take my thoughts and poetically write a verse, you know, it's just like. There's nothing like that to me. So.
02:50
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. Yeah. And your. Your bars are definitely poetic. Honestly, like, one of the more poetic bars that I've listened to.
02:58
Swayve
Thank you.
02:59
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. So you used to produce too?
03:01
Swayve
Yeah, a little bit. My very first project, what A Time to Be Alive, that was all produced by me. Oh, wow.
03:07
DJ Whippopatomus
That's tough. Hell, yeah. Yeah. How was that? Was that hard? Is that a lot of work?
03:12
Swayve
Yeah, that's kind of what drew me away from, was like, if I spent all my time producing and rapping, like, that's so much work. So I just kind of had to choose one at the end of the day, you know? That's why I respect people like Saba and Mick Jenkins who, like, make a lot of their own beats too. And I know that takes so much time and learning how to mix it and do all the audio engineering with all that. It's crazy. Yeah.
03:33
DJ Whippopatomus
Producing is growing, and producers really don't get enough credit, honestly.
03:37
Swayve
I have mad respect for all the producers out there. Shout out to you guys. Shout out to my homie John Joseph. He's one of the closer friends I have that produces. He's produced some of the stuff I've dropped in the past. And also on the upcoming album, he's got some producer credits as well.
03:53
DJ Whippopatomus
Word. Where is he from?
03:55
Swayve
He's also from Burlington. You know, went to high school together and stuff. He's an app right now, so. Word.
03:59
DJ Whippopatomus
Words. Y’all still stay connected, though.
04:01
Swayve
That's cool. For sure. For sure.
04:02
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, yeah. So how did you come up with the name Swayve.
04:09
Swayve
That's a good question. A lot of people say Swayvy, which I don't understand. I don't read it like that, but, yeah, I just took Sway and Wave and put it together and. Yeah, I don't know. I just love both of those words.
04:21
DJ Whippopatomus
Right, right.
04:22
Swayve
I feel like it's kind of both of them kind of point who I am as a person. You know, I'm just like, chill dude, super wavy guy. So I feel that fitting?
04:31
DJ Whippopatomus
What is? You said sway and wave. What does sway mean?
04:35
Swayve
Sway. I just. I love Sway in the Morning, the radio show. I've met a couple people just like in Burlington who also go by Sway.
04:42
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay, that's tough.
04:44
Swayve
I just thought that was a cool ass name.
04:46
DJ Whippopatomus
No, it is for real. So how would you describe your music? Is there any type of genre or sub genre you would put it in?
04:54
Swayve
Yeah, that's something I've honestly struggled with sometimes. Yeah, I like to say, like, conscious rap, because that's like conceptually what I'm. The topics I talk about, I definitely talk. I talk about like meditation a lot, mindfulness, that stuff. But if you had to put it in like a sub genre that most people would be familiar with, I guess it would just be like lyrical, poetic rap, stuff like that. You know, Very dense rhyme patterns. I'm very inspired by like Saba, mf, Doom, Jid. Yeah, all those guys who are just like super dense with the bars.
05:24
DJ Whippopatomus
What do you mean by rhyme patterns?
05:27
Swayve
Just trying to rhyme words, like, within each line. Not necessarily like the end word has to rhyme each time. Like, I want the rhyme schemes to be happening all throughout each part of the verse, not just like on the downbeat of four.
05:43
DJ Whippopatomus
You know, I don't think I noticed that when I list. I'm definitely gonna pay attention to that next time.
05:47
Swayve
That's something. I feel like that's something I've been growing a lot more recently. Like the older projects that are out now, like, you probably can't really hear it as much, but the next project, you're definitely okay. There's a lot of rhymes.
05:58
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah. A lot of layers to. Yeah, I feel that's what's up. So, yeah, your album, the Conscious Chronicles, that's. That's your last album that you dropped. Your first song, Introspective Intro, really set the tone for the rest of the album. Like. Like you were saying, like, it just really is a conscious. You have a lot of conscious bars and you just. You talk on a lot of different topics and a lot of stuff. And yeah, I think some of my favorite songs. Introspective Intro took too much and. What is it? Conforming.
06:32
Swayve
Conforming. Oh, wait. Observing. Conforming.
06:35
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah. Observing Conforming. Yeah, that one's hard. Yeah, I'm play a few of those during the break we take during this interview, for sure.
06:43
Swayve
Yeah, those are also some of my favorites. I feel like they're some of the more raw songs as far as, like, me just opening up, talking about some personal Stuff.
06:52
DJ Whippopatomus
That's what I appreciate too.
06:53
Swayve
Yeah, for sure. You know, I feel like that's part of who I am as an artist is like. And part of why I write in general is a creative outlet. So I really have to be raw and genuine with what I'm saying, you know, I don't want it to be like talking about the same five topics all rappers talk about. Nobody's gonna listen to me if that's I'm talking about.
07:12
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah. That makes it a lot harder notice.
07:15
Swayve
But, yeah, I feel like introspection is another thing that I should have said when I'm talking about sub genres also.
07:21
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah.
07:22
Swayve
Freeform verses. Like, I try not to write a lot of courses.
07:25
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
07:25
Swayve
Especially on the next project, there's only gonna be like one or two courses. And the rest of the songs are just like a really long verse, you know? This is because that's how I like writing.
07:34
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. I don't.
07:35
Swayve
I don't like to go into the songs with too much of, like, a concept or an idea. Like, hear the beat, let the beat determine how I feel, and then use those emotions to kind of send me off in the direction, you know?
07:46
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, that's hella interesting. Everyone's got their own process, right?
07:49
Swayve
Right.
07:49
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. So who did you work with on the project? Anybody I know you don't have any features. It's just you. Which is really cool too, because it's.
08:00
Swayve
On the last project. Yeah, I do have just one feature, I think with the homie. Declan Levitt. Okay. Yeah. He's. He also went to Western Elements with me in Burlington. He was a acapella kid.
08:11
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
08:11
Swayve
I was in marching band.
08:13
DJ Whippopatomus
That's tough.
08:14
Swayve
He also, you know, did some band with us, so. I really love that kid. You know, he's super nice guy and shout out to him. He's got a spectacular voice, like.
08:22
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
08:23
Swayve
Easily one of the best singers that I've ever met personally. So I've worked with him on the Conscious Chronicles. He's also got a feature on the upcoming project and would love to work with him in the. In the future for sure.
08:35
DJ Whippopatomus
Hell, yeah. Yeah. I hear from the people that I've known that were in band, I hear some crazy stories.
08:44
Swayve
I'm sure I could tell you some really messed up stuff.
08:46
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, yeah. People don't know it's low key.
08:50
Swayve
Yeah. There's definitely, like, a lot of bullying, a lot of, like, hierarchies. Click culture.
08:55
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. Yeah.
08:56
Swayve
You think marching band, you think, like, ocean. Just like a bunch of nerdy kids. They all probably friends with each other. Like, that's not how it is.
09:02
DJ Whippopatomus
Huge misconception.
09:03
Swayve
Even, like, different instrument groups. Word. Sometimes don't like to talk to each other. It's really interesting. Like the clarinets and the flutes. Sometimes, like, because they're mostly girls for both, you know, they'd be getting at each other's necks.
09:19
DJ Whippopatomus
That's funny. So have you or do you have any plans to shoot any music videos?
09:25
Swayve
Yeah, I've spent a lot of time thinking about doing it here in Raleigh somewhere. Like, going out to the skate spots, getting there, throwing a bunch of skate clips in, you know, just posting up in front of, like, some cool graffiti or whatever. Just getting some cool shots around town. But I haven't done anything yet. I really want to. Yeah, it's just a matter of, like, having the time, being a student for one. You know, finding somebody who knows how to record a good music video, get the angles, get the lighting, all that type stuff. That's probably my main issue. Yeah. I feel you find someone with a good camera who knows what they're doing, so.
10:01
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah, keep looking.
10:03
Swayve
I'm sure if anybody is into videography.
10:06
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, yeah, there's. There's a lot of that around here. I'm sure if I see something, I'll definitely try to put you on.
10:13
Swayve
So.
10:13
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, you're.
10:14
Swayve
You.
10:14
DJ Whippopatomus
You hinted at it already, but your next album, do you have a time frame on when that might drop yet?
10:20
Swayve
I'm hoping it'll be out before the summer. I actually have it all, like, recorded already. Okay. It's a matter of, like, getting it all together, getting it mixed, getting it mastered, getting the album cover together. I was thinking about, like, having a music video shot and, like, edited and everything before it drops so that can drop as like a single before or just drop with album. So depending on whether or not I actually do the video, that'll just kind of be determining whether it's going to be within the next few weeks or next few months.
10:51
DJ Whippopatomus
All right, that's a bet. Do you have a name for. Yep.
10:55
Swayve
I'm thinking about locals mostly.
10:57
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, you know, love that.
10:59
Swayve
Everybody loves the concept of locals. Only, like, you know, I'm with my click like that.
11:05
DJ Whippopatomus
That was the name of my radio show last semester. Yeah, I just. I changed it this message to Local Legends.
11:13
Swayve
Okay.
11:13
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, that's good.
11:14
Swayve
That's good. Yeah. Like, I thought the idea of locals, mostly, I forgot where I heard that from. Honestly, I had heard it from somewhere and I was like, damn.
11:22
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah,
11:24
Swayve
I thought the idea of, like, especially with skating culture now, a lot of people are just coming into it. Like, college kids are getting into it. They're just, like, looking for some.
11:34
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah.
11:34
Swayve
Culture to, like, attach themselves. I didn't realize that's something that, like, me and the homies have been talking about. It's like skating culture is getting so big now. It's like, that's a really. You go to the park and it's like, it's not going to be ever just locals, you know, there's almost always going to be some new kids showing up out of nowhere, like.
11:51
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. Yeah.
11:52
Swayve
Trying to get into it, you know, like, not trying to, like, disrespect people for coming into a culture late when you're older or whatever, you know, you got to do what you got to do. But, yeah, we're like, a lot of people's cultures are just, like, getting invaded, like.
12:08
DJ Whippopatomus
Right. Right. Yeah, I feel that. Yeah. That's interesting, because I was kind of worried that skateboarding was. Was dying. I thought it was kind of. I didn't realize, like, college kids were getting into. I thought people start off when they're young, and if they don't get in, then they usually don't. But.
12:23
Swayve
Yeah, like, back in the day at NC State, I'm sure, like, everyone that skated flat together, like, knew each other.
12:28
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah.
12:29
Swayve
Pretty much every time I go to flat, it's like I see somebody new at the board.
12:32
DJ Whippopatomus
See a whole lot of people out there.
12:34
Swayve
Exactly.
12:34
DJ Whippopatomus
I love it, too. I love that.
12:36
Swayve
I'm glad that the community's growing and they're like. They're trying to get rid of the stigma around it. Right. Which is really important, too, so.
12:42
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, for sure. Because not a lot of campuses let people skate.
12:46
Swayve
Yeah.
12:46
DJ Whippopatomus
So it's pretty dope that. That they let that happen.
12:49
Swayve
I mean, dude, a couple of years ago, you literally couldn't even ride a board at app. Like, you couldn't even have four wheels on the ground and push around, let alone hop an ollie or do some tricks.
12:59
DJ Whippopatomus
That's insane.
13:00
Swayve
You can't do that. But you can at least ride now. Yeah. Yeah. Progress. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. One law at a time. For real.
13:11
DJ Whippopatomus
All right, so we're gonna take a quick break, and we're gonna leave you with Introspective Intro off of Swayve's latest album, the Conscious Chronicles. Y’all enjoy.
13:27
Music
[Swayve – Introspective Intro]
15:19
DJ Whippopatomus
Welcome back everybody. I am still here with Swayve and we're going to continue talking about his music journey. So I really love how you incorporate skate culture into your music. We already touched on it a little bit, but you even have an EP called Sidewalk Surfer. How long have you been skating, man?
15:39
Swayve
Just about as long as I can remember. So I was about six years old. I definitely took like a pretty Big break for about four years, I want to say around middle school time. And that set me back as far as skills go. You know, I had to relearn a lot. And also at that once I was getting back into skating, we didn't have a park. We had YDG growing up in Graham and I love that place. It's like my home. But they tore down, you know, skating culture just. Yeah, it was like. It's hard to think about. Like I grew up warehouse, low key. I was there like Saturday and Sunday every day pretty much. Yeah. They had outdoor and indoor park. It was so dope. Oh yeah.
16:20
Swayve
They took that down like years and years ago so we would skate Elon and that's about all we had. So yeah, there's a couple stairs, a ledge. But like you get kicked out. Like there's just. There's nowhere really safe to go and learn. Like you do flat ground. That's it. So.
16:37
DJ Whippopatomus
Damn. Yeah, so. So why they shut it down?
16:40
Swayve
Too many things going on, I guess. I think the dude who owned it just couldn't keep up with it, you know, like there wasn't enough skaters in Alamance county really to like even keep the place open. He had a skate shop too that got shut down way before the park. And people ended up buying the park and like renovating it and trying to save it, like. And that eventually failed. Like, you know, it's just low income area. Things just don't work out. It sucks.
17:07
DJ Whippopatomus
You can tell that definitely affected the big time.
17:10
Swayve
Yeah, I mean me and my brother had to quit. Our biggest passion in our lives, you know, like our lives completely change. Yeah. Sad you got a brother shout out to the homie. Living in Seattle now. He got me into skating. We both started around the same time. Older brother, four years older.
17:28
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh yeah.
17:29
Swayve
We've both been skating for most of our lives. So we both also took a big break around the same time. But yeah, yeah, he's loving skating out in Seattle. Man, there's so much to do there. Oh, it's insane.
17:42
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, I bet. Yeah.
17:43
Swayve
The skate scene in Raleigh, I do want touch on that too. It's pretty great here. Like not going to lie. Like, obviously the community can be toxic at times or whatever just being a bunch of ratty old skaters. But as far as having support and a place to go and feel safe and meet great people. I've met dozens and dozens of friends just do skating, shout out, stp, all the homies from there.
18:11
DJ Whippopatomus
That's the beauty about skating. A lot of people that Aren't in that scene. Don't realize there's a huge community around it. And like we were saying, it means a lot to a lot of.
18:19
Swayve
People, a lot of support.
18:24
DJ Whippopatomus
Do you see a connection between rapping and skating?
18:28
Swayve
Oh, yeah, for sure. I think they've only grown to become more intertwined. But as far as I've been in to rapping or been into hip hop, you know, like, I can see the ties to skating for sure. Especially looking at, like, Lupe Fiasco, Logic, Germ, Little Gnar. Like, all them skate and they're all like, especially Germ, bro. Germ is so nasty as skating is crazy and Lil Nar. Like, they're both really good.
18:57
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
18:58
Swayve
Yeah, I think there's no, like, skater rappers necessarily that are like. That's their main thing is, like, I'm a skater and this is what I do. Like. Like, there's Nikel, who's like, more of a pro skater than he is a rapper, but he also makes music and is really successful with it. But yeah, I think the cultures are definitely going to be growing even closer in the future, and I want to definitely be a part of that.
19:19
DJ Whippopatomus
You know, I think they have a lot in common, honestly, because sometimes both. Both scenes have a hard time in the public's eye, I guess.
19:29
Swayve
For sure.
19:30
DJ Whippopatomus
You know, they have a lot of stereotypes behind them. And yeah, I can see them converging and getting even closer in the future. And that. That's. That's a cool kind of, like, thing to market.
19:41
Swayve
Right.
19:42
DJ Whippopatomus
Like a skating rapper. Rapper.
19:47
Swayve
Not.
19:47
DJ Whippopatomus
Not a whole lot of those out there that. That are deep.
19:49
Swayve
Interesting. Like, there's a bunch of similarities between, like, expressing yourself, you know, like. Right. Writing in a certain way and rapping in a certain way. Like, everybody's got their own style skating, and everybody's got their own style rapping. So.
20:04
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. Are you goofy or regular?
20:06
Swayve
Yeah. Okay.
20:07
DJ Whippopatomus
I feel like all the good.
20:12
Swayve
That's funny. That's funny.
20:16
DJ Whippopatomus
So, so is most of your family from Burlington? You got roots anywhere else?
20:21
Swayve
Yeah, well, my mom was actually born in Germany, so. Oh. My father was stationed or my grandfather was stationed there, and then they ended up moving back to Virginia when she was like six or something. So I definitely got a lot of ties to, like, German culture. Don't really rap about it or talk about it too much, but yeah, everybody else in my family's North Carolina.
20:43
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay. That's cool. Yeah, I'm from Virginia, actually. You know, what part of Virginia they were living.
20:48
Swayve
They, like, grew up in, like, Blacksburg. Oh, okay. Maybe. Yeah, yeah.
20:55
DJ Whippopatomus
Kind of like central Virginia.
20:57
Swayve
My grandfather lives in Richmond now.
21:00
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay. Yeah, there's a whole lot going on out there. Have you been able to experience the hip hop scene out here in the Triangle at all?
21:11
Swayve
Just a little bit. I go to a lot of concerts, so.
21:14
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, do you?
21:15
Swayve
Every time a good rapper comes around, you know, I'll try and be there. Trying to go to like a couple local shows. Like. Yeah, I think Transfer Food hall, they had a concert like a month or two ago with LesTheGenius and Sonny Miles. Like that was really cool to see some local artists look up to a lot.
21:35
DJ Whippopatomus
I really wish I could have made it. I know exactly.
21:37
Swayve
That's the Genius.
21:37
DJ Whippopatomus
Dude.
21:38
Swayve
He's crazy rapper, like insanely talented.
21:41
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, lyrical hell.
21:42
Swayve
I'd love to get literally. Literally a genius.
21:47
DJ Whippopatomus
He's alumni.
21:49
Swayve
Oh really?
21:49
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, he used to go to state. He did a, a lounge.
21:54
Swayve
Oh really?
21:55
DJ Whippopatomus
Last year. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, y’all can find that on WKNC's YouTube. Just type in LesTheGenius WKNC lounge.
22:04
Swayve
Nice.
22:08
DJ Whippopatomus
But yeah, there is a, a lot going on out here in the Triangle. Rap wise, hip hop wise. At least there's. There's a lot of different groups and a lot of different things going on. I've been really trying to stay plugged in and connect and try to, to put everybody on, just provide more exposure for.
22:22
Swayve
Yeah, I would love to get more involved in it for sure. Like I know about 47 eyes on me with Joey Zen. Oh wow.
22:30
DJ Whippopatomus
I just heard about. Oh, Jo Zen.
22:31
Swayve
Yeah, shout out to him. He's super talented as well. He's also in like the mindfulness consciousness kind of wave, you know, trying to have some intellectual content in our raps.
22:42
DJ Whippopatomus
That's what's up. Yeah, we WKNC is actually having an event. They have one every year as like a fundraiser because we are a non profit and it's called a double barrel benefit. And so we have locals, or at least North Carolina locals from each genre, two from each genre perform. It's a two day thing. It's going to be at the poor house. That's going to be pretty lit. Yeah, we got some Durham and actually another NC State alumni.
23:11
Swayve
Yeah, you have to remind me, I need to pop out to that for sure.
23:13
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You're gonna hear more from me on that for sure. So who did you listen to the most growing up?
23:22
Swayve
Oh man, growing up a lot of my dad's classic rock. That's for sure.
23:27
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay.
23:28
Swayve
Honestly, didn't.
23:29
DJ Whippopatomus
That's interesting.
23:30
Swayve
There was a point in time where I, like, didn't understand rap. Honestly, I was just like, they're just rapping too fast. And the content, I was too young to understand that too. Like, it was just going straight over my head. And then in high school, I started getting into lo fi a lot and those essentially just hip hop instrumentals for those of you who don't know. But that just got me into, like, the sound of hip hop. And then it's. I started getting into lyricism and finding rappers that said things that I resonated with. And then, you know, just started getting into hip hop from there. And ever since then, I've been a huge hip hop head. There's like very few people I know that are more into it than I.
24:10
DJ Whippopatomus
I love to hear it, man. Yeah, there's a few. Few of us.
24:13
Swayve
Hip hop, we're a rare breed for sure, though. Yeah.
24:17
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah. I've put countless hours just digging, like,
24:20
Swayve
Digging deep in the Soundcloud has just got millions of reposts. Yeah. Yeah.
24:27
DJ Whippopatomus
I'm pretty deep on Spotify too.
24:30
Swayve
So.
24:32
DJ Whippopatomus
So who are some of your favorite artists that you've been listening to lately?
24:37
Swayve
Honestly, recently I've been getting into like a lot of old jazz, international music and kind of like getting out of hip hop a little bit. But I've been listening to a lot of LesTheGenius for sure.
24:50
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay. Yeah. Shout out Les.
24:53
Swayve
Trying to think of some other rappers, new discoveries. It's pretty tough off the top of.
24:59
DJ Whippopatomus
My head, but one of my favorite North Carolina rappers is Tia Corinne. Have you heard of her?
25:05
Swayve
I think I heard her one of your sets. Yeah.
25:09
DJ Whippopatomus
Hell, yeah. Yeah. She's actually from Winston Salem. She's actually kind of blowing up right now. She's. She's got. Kenny Beat produces. She made a song for Bojangles. They partnered and they paid her.
25:23
Swayve
Dude, that's crazy.
25:25
DJ Whippopatomus
For real. For real. Yeah. That I'm really happy to see businesses, even local business, I know they're chained still, but they are from North Carolina. But yes, I love to see businesses connecting with rappers because, like, that's a real thing that can happen, like, marketing wise.
25:40
Swayve
Yeah. That working with Kenny and Beau, like, that's going to blow her up like crazy.
25:46
DJ Whippopatomus
She got a different flow. I'm definitely going to send you some.
25:49
Swayve
I'm trying to think of the song I heard on her set, but I was like, really vibing with it.
25:53
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, yeah, it's. It's different. Another one of my favorite local rappers is Jooselord from Durham. Yeah, he's on that conscious type too, but a different type of conscious. More aggressive, more. More, I guess, activism. Yeah, it's really tough. He really speaks.
26:12
Swayve
Yeah. I also got put on to shmoney Moe recently. I don't know if you know about him. He just put on a little concert on campus last night at flat. Yeah, were just out there vibing. It was super sick. So shout out to him. Yeah, local, I think he goes to. Ok. Yeah, my homie put me on to him.
26:29
DJ Whippopatomus
Okay. I need a super cool.
26:31
Swayve
Yeah, he's very ambitious, very talented dude. You know, he's definitely got like the right character, you know, characteristics to. To be a rapper.
26:41
DJ Whippopatomus
So I like to ask a couple random questions just. Just to further get to know you better. First of all, what's your favorite place to eat around here?
26:49
Swayve
I gotta shout out Wings Over Raleigh, bro. I mean, there's so much I just.
26:55
DJ Whippopatomus
What's your favorite?
26:56
Swayve
I get the hot lemon pepper, the spicy teriyaki lemon. It's essentially just a buffalo sauce with lemon pepper on top of it.
27:06
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, wow.
27:07
Swayve
So it's like a dry rub and a sauce and it's just like so good that.
27:13
DJ Whippopatomus
That's like the best of both worlds.
27:14
Swayve
That's why some people don't like saying, yeah, it's not a sauce. Yeah. You can also get the lemon pepper seasoning on their waffle fries. Oh my.
27:23
DJ Whippopatomus
What was it called?
27:24
Swayve
Wings Over Raleigh. It's literally like right on Hillsborough, like right next to campus. Yeah.
27:28
DJ Whippopatomus
For real.
27:29
Swayve
Right next to Good Guy Babes.
27:31
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, word. Yeah, they got a. They got a shop over there. There's a. Like a thrift.
27:38
Swayve
Yeah, yeah. Out the box. Yeah. They actually were behind good guys in the same building. Yeah. But now they're like.
27:45
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah.
27:46
Swayve
In their own unit in the same building on the end. Yeah, they came up for sure. They got a bigger space to work with, but those guys are super cool. I was actually talking with the owner about doing part of my music video there too, which would just be cool to, you know.
27:58
DJ Whippopatomus
Oh, hell yeah.
27:59
Swayve
Have the ambiance. No, for real.
28:03
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, because that. That thrift store, they got a lot of fly stuff. Like it's not a regular thrift, it's more like a boat.
28:09
Swayve
Like they. You can go in there and like sell your. Like they got a lot of hypebeast stuff. A lot of. It's not just like old vintage thrift you get at Goodwill, you know?
28:21
DJ Whippopatomus
How many hours of sleep do you get a Night. I'm just.
28:24
Swayve
I love that question. I'm all about the sleep, bro. I got. I try and go for like eight hours, you know, A lot of people probably like, what? That's crazy. A college kid getting eight hours. Like, no, did I need my sleep? Sleep for sure.
28:40
DJ Whippopatomus
I hear you, man. I do too. I really. I try to get less sleep just so I can work on more stuff, but it's really hard for me not to get eight hours.
28:48
Swayve
I'm one of those guys that, like, tries to get up at, like, 7 and, like, be working my tail off in the morning so I can, like, be chilling by like, three or four. So, bro, I'll be getting to bed a little early, you know, I feel that.
29:01
DJ Whippopatomus
No, I do.
29:02
Swayve
I don't understand why people be starting parties at like, 11 o'. Clock. I'm like, Bro, let's start at 7 so we can be done at like, 12. I can go home.
29:14
DJ Whippopatomus
Yeah, you'd be a great venue.
29:16
Swayve
Oh, yeah, for sure. Concerts, 5 o'. Clock.
29:21
DJ Whippopatomus
Get the hell out of here. Go. Go to bed.
29:24
Swayve
Yeah, yeah. Y’all get your sleep out there. I know you college kids aren't getting your sleep.
29:30
DJ Whippopatomus
There's a whole lot of people not getting sleep, honestly. All right, man. I'm gonna start closing things out. Is there anything you like the listeners to know? Shout out your. Your social medias where they can find your music.
29:42
Swayve
Yeah, you can find me Swayve STP on Instagram. I don't really use social media that much, but, yeah, definitely look me up. Yeah, you can check me out on all platforms. My music's pretty much everywhere. Swayve S W A Y V E. Be on the lookout for locals mostly coming out next couple months. Shout out to AO Norm. Got some six producers, so, yeah, putting on for the homies. Yeah, I got some really talented friends. Gotta. Gotta show some love. Gotta support them, you know, coming out next couple months.
30:23
DJ Whippopatomus
Yes, sir.
30:28
Swayve
Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah.
30:33
DJ Whippopatomus
Love it. Hell yeah. Yeah. Locals only. Locals only. Local legends. Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Gotta put that out there. Well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you again for sharing your story. It was. It was a whole lot of fun and I'm sure our listeners have enjoyed it too. I actually appreciate each and every single one of you for tuning in. And you can check out my interviews that I've done with other local artists at wknc.org/podcast and click on off the Record. I am DJ Whippopotamus and I was here with Swayve on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 Raleigh. I'mma send y’all off with one more song by Swayve called Observing Conforming. Y’all be easy and don't forget to show some love to the people around you.
31:56
Music
[Swayve – Observing Comforming]