Monthly Archives: February 2015

Day 12 – Gallo, C-Tru

Tonight is the 2 year-anniversary of my residency at Plaza Nachtseminar, a Thursday Night student party we started 2 years ago. The event has become the reference party for students on Thursdays in Zürich, Switzerland. Like many other nights I’ve been a part of over the past few years, I’ve been a very loyal servant, DJ-ing countless nights for the same clubs and promoters for years on. That’s why today I would like to talk about the song I made with C-Tru & Gallo called “The Nightlife”.

We’ve been shooting the video to “The Nightlife” which is the 2nd track on the Real Dreams album, and the first song after the Intro by No Malice of the Clipse. The reason being that it is one of my favorite songs on the album, and represents my life as a DJ, producer, and entertainer. As an artist, I’ve spent countless hours working on mixtapes, beats, mixing at clubs for hours. We artists have a hard life. We try our best to make music and stay up long hours, our work happens mostly at night. We are often working and hustling on side-jobs to make end’s meat, while we keep the dream alive of making it one day with music.

The Nightlife is about living the life we always dream of, going out at night and living our dreams, feeling free, having a good time and experiencing the drama that happens at night-time: clubbing, partying, meeting people and doing all kinds of crazy things. The track starts off with my good friend Gallo, producer and rapper from VA, who goes on and raps about partying on any given day, and having a good time. Of course he makes great references to the different scenes in the club, from the perfect tens to the other girls grilling each other, to partying hard and living Life to the fullest. Rather than the typical misogynistic lyricism, he manages to really talk about partying in a positive, energetic way.

For the second part of the track, none other than my partner in crime, C-Tru, goes on about how crazy his vision of the nightlife is, with a lot of funny anecdotes, his delivery is once again perfect and complements the track very nicely with the content and flow of Gallo. The video we are shooting will be based on a really simple but nice concept. We will film the nightlife from 3 different angles: on the East Coast (Gallo), on the West Coast (C-Tru) and in Europe (Swissivory). Overall it will reflect what I’ve experienced myself in the nightlife: whether in LA, New York, Zurich or Tokyo, the Nightlife is the same everywhere. The video will be out soon. And I can’t wait to share it with you. You can pre-order the album here. #realdreams

Day 11 – Ras Kass, SwizZz, C-Tru

What West Coast rapper killed a DJ Premier beat? No one ever quite did it like the legendary Ras Kass did. The #goldenchyld of the West. At his peak, he was one of the most proficient rappers and held the torch for California for a good minute, especially having a different flow and vibe, he was able to give something that West Coast rappers weren’t known for, namely being able to rap on East-Coast beats with a unique delivery. A true hip-hop legend, it was an honor for me to have him on my project. The song is called “Dramatik” and he basically used the name of the beat I gave him, to write his lyrics and came up with some hyperboles and figures of speech. The great thing about this record is that it is a dark, slow paced track, more of a trap sounding record, on which every artist raps double-time and at various speeds and flows.

Fellow collaborator C-Tru has been involved with me on a musical level for around 10 years. Being from the West Coast, he’s also a rapper who, in my opinion, can shine on any type of beat. From his voice, and delivery, it’s hard to believe that he is Asian. My Philippino brother from another mother really delivered the goods on this song, creating a killer hook to match the verse by Ras Kass , and the verse by SwizZz.

SwizZz is one of hip-hop’s underground king-pins. He is a member of the legendary independent label “Funk Volume” which is best known for putting out artists like Hopsin & Dizzy Wright. SwizZz, alongside Jared Benton, is one of the lesser known artists on the FV family roster. But don’t get it twisted, he is an incredible rapper, and his flow and delivery are simply second to none. His voice is also highly recognizable, which give him a big advantage over other rappers.

The end-result is a West Coast collaboration over a dark southern style beat, something which is unusual but works because of the versatility and killer flows shown by these rappers. As a producer it’s always important to push artists and get them out of their comfort zone. But it’s even better when artists themselves decide to rap on one of your beats, and it comes out even better than you expected, because they really gave their best effort on the track.

Pre-Order #realdreams here

Day 10 – Youngstarz, Aslan

Being a DJ and producer from Switzerland, one of the most important things for me was to put my country on the map. That’s why, amongst many others, I really wanted to involve rappers from Switzerland on this project. I reached out to all the rappers I know from out here. One of the first ones to be down with the Real Dreams project is YZ Gang, also known as Youngstarz from Basel. They are a duo hailing from the Caribbean and Africa respectively, based in Switzerland. Our stories are similar in that we’re from African origins but we live in Switzerland, and make music like it’s all we ever knew. I first saw them when they opened for the Bobby Valentino show in Obsession club a couple of years ago, and since then we’ve kept in touch, connected on mixtape projects and shows. So it was a natural evolution to involve them in my project once I knew about it. They then introduced me to German rapper Aslan. This kid, I swear, is on the same level as the best German rappers in the mould of Bushido, Kollegah, Kudo, and more.

“Money from da Sky” was the idea brought to the table by YZ-Gang, they then sampled Aslan’s voice to wrap up a catchy chorus. “Dresscode Moncler, Gürtel Hermes” (Gürtel is “Belt” in German). The track is a really nice club track, with a nice flow and vibe to dance to when you’re in the VIP section of the club with your people, not really paying attention to what’s going on around you, but rather just having a good time and feeling the music being played by the DJ. That’s what we went for in the music video. As a DJ I love to make people in the VIP stand up, bottles in the air, and vibe and dance to my mixes. That’s the feeling I get when I listen to this song. and will also be released as a single alongside the “Victims” video.

Looking forward to it! You can pre-order the album here to get the #realdreams project on time for release!

Day 09 – Lua Proc

New York, Miami, L.A., Chicago, and Atlanta, are the cities one thinks of as “hubs” when it comes to hip-hop music, what Nashville is to Country Music, or Hollywood to the movie industry. Therefore, Pittsburgh is typically not the first city a hip-hop fan would think of when it comes to amazing rappers. Thank God for Lua Proc, who basically heard the first trap beat I sent him and absolutely MURDERED to track within days, he sent me back the stems to a FULLY recorded song! Absolutely on point, flow is incredible, voice is deep and the presence of this Emcee on the beat is really strong.

This is also real dreams. Like I’ve said before, I wanted to give the chance to independent artists who might not be known in the charts or on MTV to shine on my album. I think it’s important to give artists who work hard on honing their craft and skills, a chance to shine alongside bigger names. And Lua Proc is no different. He is a talented rapper and us linking up was no coincidence. He’s already been around the underground scene, dropping tracks on mixtapes by Coast 2 Coast and more. He’s also something of a local celebrity in his hometown, having gained the attention of XXL or Hype Magazine, the BET Hip-Hop Awards and many hip-hop blogs.

He’s now on tour with Bone Thugs & Harmony, and it seems as though he’s one of the artists who’s got next in line to blow up. So I really hope this record will give him even more exposure, because even though he’s put Pittsburgh on the map, he absolutely deserves to shine on a wider scale, and the trap beat I produced for this song should also please a section of the listeners. There aren’t many songs like this on the Real Dreams album, and the drums for “On Da Bloc” are really crazy. When you hear this beat, you will not stop bouncing around and/or nodding your head. A big shout-out to my engineer Marco for bringing out the baseline on the track, while keeping the drums hard-hitting on this certified trap-hit! Make sure to cop the Real Dreams album when it drops, because you’re gonna definitely have a favorite track on there. This might just be the one if you like raw hip-hop / trap beats! #realdreams

Day 08 – Kia Shine

The break-out song by Drake, “Best I Ever Had” starts with a sample. That sample was taken from a song produced by Kia Shine. After legal battles, Drake’s first hit landed Kia shine 25% revenue in unpaid fees. Although I am not a fan of legal battles in music, it was only right that the person who made a record hot, or at least made the sample which became the “bed” for a hit single, should be rewarded or at least credited for it…

That is the story of Kia Shine. Back in 2007, “So Krispy” was a billboard hit record. The rapper on that one-hit wonder was Kia Shine. Since then he’s been more of a producer and has been behind the scenes making good money, getting his own like many people in the music industry. His talent is undeniable, and when I reached out to him for talk of a collaboration, he immediately loved the beat, concept and overall idea I had for a record called “Aight then”.

The song is about a typical club scene, where a woman lets loose to a heavy-bass club track. With no disrespect to the ladies out there, we all get those moments where it’s time to pop champagne, have a party and let go from the daily stress. A bit of fun never hurt nobody, and that’s the theme of this record. As a DJ, I wanted to create a record which I could comfortably incorporate into my set. That was the thought behind this track. The beat has no bass guitar: the 808 drums hit so hard that a natural baseline leads the song with a pitch-shift of the kick-drums. Added to that, I used a raindrop-sounding synthesizer for the lead melody. This is one of the fastest-made beats I’ve ever made in my career. I think I needed about 15-20 minutes to finish it. After 10 minutes it already sounded incredible, and I spent actually another 5-10 minutes thinking of what I could add to it, but it sounded complete to me THAT quickly!

The end-result is a heavy club, dirty track which reminds me a bit of the Ying Yang Twins’ “Whisper Song”. Khia Shine (who now goes by the alias of “Pharow Belafonte”) uses auto-tune effectively. And even though I am not a fan of that plug-in when it comes to vocals, I have to admit that it worked beautifully on this beat, giving it that extra edge that was needed to turn this club banger into a certified hit-record. “Mama bounce that, shake that –Aight then – Mama Move that twerk that –Aight then” the catchy hook just stays in the head like a never ending phrase, and the bouncy bass-driven beat keeps you nodding your head. The track is sure to be played in the club by many Dj’s, and I’m really looking forward to releasing the record on March 6th. #realdreams

Day 07 – Swissivory, Tariah, Nico

Today we’re shooting the video to the single called “Victims”. This is an honor for me, a very special song, for various reasons. First of all, it’s the only song where I’m actually rapping a verse on my entire project. I don’t consider myself a rapper, I like to host on the mic at my DJ-Gigs, that’s as far as it goes; although I do write a lot of texts, song-writing and poetry is one of my many passions.

“Victims” is a song for all victims of domestic violence, abuse and rape, both physical and emotional. The words in the song are positive, and addresses the victims directly. I have people close to me who have been affected by rape, child molestation, as well as physical and emotional abuse. So this is a theme that is important to me. It’s important that a victim speaks about their experience, and talks about what happened. Be it to a therapist, a friend, or a family member: as Tariah sings it on the hook, “talk about it, you’ve got nothing to lose”.

Many people have already addressed this type of subject matter in songs. What I’ve noticed is that they usually focus on the past or the current state in which the victims are. That’s why I tried to focus on the positive aspects of the topic: you feel down, but you need to move on. The only way to get over such a horrible fate of events is to open up your heart to someone, and to talk about it. The most powerful message I can give is through my music. That is why Nico and I focus our lyrics on being positive, being strong, and moving on. Obviously, it will affect someone for their entire life, especially if they’ve been subjected to abuse at a young age. You can never forget. But forgiveness is the most important step to getting over it. Talking about it is the first step that many victims of abuse never even get to. And that’s why a lot of victims feel guilty inside. Of course it is a heavy subject. But as a DJ I can not only make music about partying and having a good time. How can someone enjoy Life without dealing with the reality of their past?

Nico and I rap about it on the song. However, the most important person on this record is Tariah. Not only does she sing the chorus beautifully and soulfully, she starts off the song with a first note which simply gives me goose bumps every time I hear the song. Being a woman, she gives the message and meaning of the record its authenticity and makes the song relatable. Being a man, I’ve personally not experienced it myself. Having a woman’s voice on the song was important to me when I created this concept. And who better to have on a song than my artist and wonderful partner in life and music, Tariah. A big thank you to Nico for also writing an amazing verse and making the track into a full song.

If you’ve been a victim, but haven’t talked about it because you feel ashamed and guilty, I hope this song will help you take that first step towards start the healing process. If you don’t have anybody you can trust, you can talk about it to a therapist. You’re a beautiful person, and you have the right to live your life happily and be a Real Woman.

This is why I wanted to have a song like “Victims” on my record. Music helped me get through a lot of personal issues, like the passing of my mother, tough break-ups or past relationships. It’s a form of therapy, a way to find one’s self when you feel lost. Be a part of history. Pre-Order the album here. #realdreams

Day 06 – Reks Ft. Young Sixx

Having lived in the Boston area for many years, I always had a great admiration for local artists. Boston has a lot of dope lyricists, few made it on the national and international level, but almost all of them are respected on the underground scene. One of the most successful being Guru. R.I.P. I was blessed to have had a mixtape with him back in the day.

Reks is also one of the great Northeast rappers. A well-respected lyricist in the game, I never heard him on such a clubby beat before. So when I reached out to him and told him about my project, I was expecting him to get on a golden-age type of beat. I showed him – for the sake of choice – 3 “true hip-hop” beats and a clubby one. Surprisingly, he picked the one I threw in as a “joker”. A few days later, he showed the song to me, and it started like this: “Swag, my bad the beat called for it!”. You’ll understand when you hear it. The album is available to pre-order here. Couldn’t believe the bounce his flow added to the record. Reks on such a beat is something unheard of, and he definitely brought his A game on this. Young Sixx completes the record with his verse and a killer chorus: “Overseas, East to West, you’re now rocking with Swissivory, Young Sixx, and Reks!” this song is sure to grab listeners’ attention, because it’s unexpected, and also very catchy. The beat is a good mix between a club banger with that west coast vibe, yet enough head-nodding effect to listen to while driving in the car or just enjoying great music at home.

Once again, the Real Dreams concept has been kept intact on this record. L.A. Rapper on the chorus, Boston Rapper on the verse, Switzerland-based producer on the track. International hip-hop at it’s finest. Cross-country, cross boundary. Simply put, a dream come true. Can’t wait to share the album with you in a few weeks. Pre-order it here.

Day 03 – Cory Gunz (YMCMB), Jessy Shung Lee, LiveSosa

I make all kinds of records: street anthems, emotional ballads, club bangers or story-telling beats. I do not limit myself to a single style, because I personally enjoy many kinds of music. With the opportunities in the world today, there is no reason why someone should stick to one particular style. Why not explore different avenues and try new things? That’s the beauty of collaborating with other artists: the opportunity to discover new things and to learn from one another.

That was the case with this record, “The One And Only”. I reached out to Cory Gunz from YMCMB through my New York contacts (“A Milli” Ft. Lil Wayne was his biggest hit), and I wanted to have LiveSosa, an up and coming artist from Arkansas. And to make things interesting, unique and different, I reached out to my good friend Jessy Shung Lee, from Lausanne, Switzerland, and asked him if he’d like to be on a song with a Young Money Cash Money Records artist. Shungleezy is a French-speaking rapper. I wanted to give him an opportunity to be on a record with a big US-Artist, because his style fits the American Trap / Southern style, the only difference being that he raps in another language. And boy did these artists deliver!

Like with all the songs on the Real Dreams album, I wanted to make sure that talented independent artists I know would get the shine they deserve. That is also the beauty of collaborating and producing, the ability to mix different artists and styles to come up with something that’s never been done before. With the connections I’ve made DJ-ing around the world, I’ve been put in a unique position to make this dream come true.

There are so many great aspects of this song. Firstly, Cory Gunz is one of the best lyricists in the game, and a member of the world’s most successful hip-hop labels in the world, YMCMB. I had asked him to record a verse, but he loved the beat so much, he recorded a chorus to it too! Jessy Shung Lee then added his part to the hook, playfully adding to the words rapped by Cory. All the artists involved ended up blending their parts perfectly together. Cory and Jessy complement one another on the chorus, Gunz and LiveSosa both went for more than 16 bars on their verses…

As a result, this is the longest track on the entire record, going well over 6 minutes. “The One and Only” is a special record to me, because it’s in my two main languages, namely French and English, it has a piano-led melody, which is my main instrument, and represents the concept of my album, Real Dreams. A truly universal collaboration track which shows that no matter how far apart, how different or how famous artists are, when the music does what it’s supposed to, you can just feel it. I think this is around the time when I started thinking about the Real Dreams concept, which started to take shape. I’m really looking forward to the official release on March 6th.

You can pre-order the full album here Check out the snippets below or directly in my web-store.

https://soundcloud.com/swissivory/real-dreams-album-snippets