Monthly Archives: February 2015

Day 02 – Cali Swag District, Young Sixx

The second single off the Real Dreams project, “Money Dance”, Ft. Cali Swag District & Young Sixx, was an unbelievable experience. It leaves me with a bittersweet feeling because it also involved a human tragedy.

I had already been working on a collaboration song with Young Sixx from L.A. Meanwhile, during one of my DJ gigs, I met Cali Swag District when they performed out here in Zürich Switzerland, and we talked about doing a song together. Coincidentally, a few days later, Young Sixx had a show in Dubai with the entire Cali Swag District crew. During their soundcheck, they heard him play my beat, and the name “Swissivory” was mentioned. Shortly after, I received a text message from Young Sixx asking me if I would like to have Cali Swag District on the song! Small World, indeed. Well they say things do happen for a reason, and whatever the reason for this song may have been, my instinct told me that it was simply meant to be.

I was so excited to get the track mixed. I sent the files to the sound engineer for mixing and mastering, and couldn’t wait for the finished product (the un-mixed version already made people dance when I tested it at one of my DJ-gigs). I knew and felt that I had a potentially great club record. Unfortunately, I received the shocking news two weeks later: JayAre, one of the members of Cali Swag District, passed away to sickle cell anemia. His tragic death happened within 24 hours. He was brought into hospital and passed before the doctors could do anything to prevent it. I was so sad and destroyed. They had already lost member T-Bone a few years earlier, and went from 4 to 3 members. Now there were only 2 members left…

Not only was it a personal tragedy for us, it was also a musical tragedy for everyone involved: imagine having a great record, and the person on the 2nd verse of the song passes away before you can even put the song out. “What am I going to do?” I wondered… “Should I publish the song? Should I just keep it for myself?” Especially it being a party song, it didn’t feel right to put this song out. I decided to shoot a tribute video and release it for free. So I organized a video shoot with 50 of Switzerland’s best dancers and gathered them for a video shoot at club Härterei in Zürich:

That’s the beauty of music. It’s timeless. This song has a special place in my heart, because it’s not only a song with the kings of the “Dougie”, it’s also probably one of the last vocals ever recorded by JayAre. For that reason, I wanted to have a fitting tribute, my way of thanking the entire Cali Swag District Crew. I want to thank the management for allowing me to release the song.

I dedicate this record to anyone who ever pursued and lived their dreams but are no longer with us. R.I.P. Jay Are. #realdreams

When you preorder the #RealDreams album, you get this song for free. Please click here to support the album.

Day 01 – “Real Dreams”: The beginning of a journey

(Every day until the release of my project on March 6th, I will be bringing you the story behind the music, by which this incredible album came to be. You can pre-order the album here and also visit my music store to get a few gifts, including a free download of my single with Cali Swag District, “Money Dance”. #realdreams)

Real Dreams. How did the name come along? I don’t know exactly, to be honest. But it started with me wanting to make a simple dream come true: producing for established artists. I began playing the piano in 1991, I’ve been a DJ since 2001. And I’ve always been involved in music projects, be it mixtapes, remixes or actively supporting local talent here in Switzerland since 2006. Real Dreams is the culmination of my music career, the ups and downs I’ve been through both personally and professionally. Real Dreams is about beating the odds, fighting for what you believe in and working at reaching your goals, no matter how long or tough the journey might be, and overcoming all obstacles in order to reach full potential.

It all began 2 years ago, in January 2013, when my new year’s resolution was to produce a song with an artist that I admired. So I started doing my homework by gathering all necessary tools and equipment to get my “groove” back on, since I’d taken a break from beat-making to focus on building up my DJ career. Soon enough, I connected with Papoose, who had already recorded a drop for my 2012 mixtape which was hosted by Fatman Scoop. It took Papoose only 48 hours to write to the song, record his part. That was in November 2013. Not only did I achieve my goal for that year, but I also began to realize the potential of me reaching out to all the people I had worked with in the past, and that’s when the “Real Dreams” project started to take shape.

In the summer of 2014, I went to back to New York City as part of my US Tour with my artist Tariah, and linked up with Papoose and long-time friends and collaborators C-Tru from L.A. and Spits Nelson from New Jersey, one of the first Emcees I used to record with in the closet back in Boston in 2004. Little did we know, 10 years later, that we’d have our own video premiering on MTV, VH1. By November 2014, we had reached #3 on the college radio charts with the record “How We Roll” next to records by M.O.P, Ras Kass, DJ Premier, etc… The video came out crazy and got worldwide attention. Since then Dj’s from around the World have been sending me drop requests, screen-shots of their seratos and supporting the record. Pun intended: this was a dream come true.

After the success of “How We Roll”, I got signed to Ryan Leslie’s label, and my album is now available for pre-order via www.swissivorymusic.com. The physical copy will be available on March 6th but you can already get it here, as well as a free download of my single “Money Dance” Ft. Cali Swag District. I hope to inspire many people like myself, who have a talent but may or may have not given it a try, to follow their dreams. It’s not about music. It’s about real life. If you can dream about it, you can make it a reality. Tell a friend to pre-order the album here. Thank you for your support. May the journey begin #realdreams