You’ve been called the hardest working-man in British Hip-Hop. Do you get much of a chance to chill out and, if so, how?
I’m definitely not the hardest working-man in British Hip Hop. I do work hard, but I’m not the hardest working by a long shot. I spend a lot of time with my friends and family doing recreational stuff. I like going to the theatre and the cinema. 80% of my life is based around music but, for that 20%, I lead a relatively normal life.
You like theatre much?
Yeah, man. Last thing I went to go see was Fela, which was like three hours long but it was amazing. I’ve seen Wicked as well, that’s one of my favourites, I love Wicked. There’s a song from that called ‘Popular’, which we sampled for a track. I like theatre in general, but I like musicals mainly.
Do you set aside specific time periods to write songs or are you constantly jotting down ideas?
My gift and curse is that I’ve got a home studio situation now. So whereas before I might have loads of little ideas, then go to the studio and cane out three or four songs in a night. But now, I might wake up at 5AM with an idea then actually turn it into a song by 9AM. It’s kind of strange now. There’s no actual method to the madness, it just happens.
Obviously you’ve got your roots in Ghana, now you’re signed to Konvict and you hail from Hornsey. Where do you spend most of your time?
As in, where do I live, or?
Where do you live, where do you work?
I live in London. I travel a lot, you know. I’ve been everywhere from Ghana to Kenya, Malawi, all over America, Canada. I’ve travelled all around the world and I continue to travel because wherever the music calls me to go, I go. But I live in London.
The early game plan for you was to make five albums. Is that still the case?
Really and truly, maybe it was a bit stupid of me to put a cap on how many albums I was gonna do but, the reason I did that was, when I started rapping I didn’t really wanna be a rapper. I wanted express myself with words on music. My drive wasn’t to be a rapper, it was to be a musician, even if that meant taking a back seat and producing for other people. I hate to say it but: I like the sound of my own voice. So for my own good, I wanted to tell the fan base that I was only gonna do five albums. Which may not be the case, because I’ve got five albums worth of material and I’m only on my third.
If you hadn’t have gotten involved in the music business, is there another career that you think would have interested you?
I definitely have an interest in politics. I don’t follow it religiously but I enjoy watching how people’s decisions effect our environment. I think after my music career, God willing, I will venture into politics to some capacity.
"I’m a pretty emotional person, as you can hear in my music. I find strength in music. If I go through something in life that I find kind of hard to swallow, writing about it always makes it easier for me."
A lot of rappers like LL Cool J, Will Smith and Plan B went into acting. Is that something that interests you?
I’ve dabbled in it. I would do more acting if I had more time. I respect actors that really take the time, like Plan B, to make a film and learn scripts. Not just for the sake of widening your fan base. You have to have a passion for acting. If an actor just decided to start rapping because he wants more fans, that would be disrespectful to the culture. I’ve been called for a few acting roles but until I have the time to commit to it 100%, I don’t think that’s something that I aspire to do in the near future.
There’s a divide in opinion within the music industry over the ‘X Factor’ economy churning out new stars every year. Do you have an opinion on that?
I think ‘X Factor’ is great, I watch it when I got the time to. I’m not like “X Factor is ruining the music industry!” If you’re worried about ‘X Factor’ ruining the music industry, maybe you need to evaluate the kind of music you’re making and start making music that you’re confident will sell. People will only complain about something else going on when there’s a problem at their own table. If anything, ‘X Factor’ is making everybody’s mum and dad an A&R, it’s inviting people into the industry. We’re gonna cheer, we’re gonna boo and then we’re gonna phone and vote. So now your nan’s an A&R. Yeah, it’s an entertainment show, so it needs the shock value of people that are pretty crap, but then that already exists in the music industry anyway. Not everybody that gets into the Top 10 is especially talented. You have people like Afroman – I don’t think he’s that talented but he had a hit because he released a record that was entertaining.
You’ve had a lot of deeply emotional songs. Is it therapeutic to write songs like that?
Totally man, that’s the perfect word to describe how I feel when I write songs like that. As a musician, as an artist, I like to express myself. I’m a pretty emotional person, as you can hear in my music. I find strength in music. If I go through something in life that I find kind of hard to swallow, writing about it always makes it easier for me. I’ve managed to maintain strength through writing, it’s my way of reflecting on things and learning and healing.
As well as being an artist, you also founded Dcypha Productions. Was there ever much fear that it wasn’t all going to go to plan?
Not really, to be honest with you. I don’t really have the mind state of ‘This isn’t gonna go to plan’. It has to go to plan. Or if the plan isn’t working, you have to be a man about things and change up. That’s what success is about, it’s a journey, it’s trial and error. Even the people that go Top 10 on their first albums, they’re usually backed by a team of people who have gone through many failures, learnt their craft and have come a long way to get to where they are.
What’s the best thing about being involved in an industry like this?
One of the best things is, for example, the other day I was at the bar getting a drink and this guy stopped me, and he said “You’ve really helped me get through a lot of things in life. I’ve listened to you since This is my Promo all the way to now. Your experiences and words have inspired me.” Just to hear that I’ve had an impact on someone’s life who didn’t exist to me prior to that conversation is a wonderful feeling to me. That motivates me to go back in the studio and say I wanna touch other people, I want them to dance, I want them to feel my pain and understand it and heal along with me. I want people to have a laugh. If I can achieve that, then it’s far greater than any monetary gain.
And the worst thing?
The negative side is that when you put yourself out in the public eye, you’re there to be ridiculed. You have to take it with a pinch of salt. You could put what you think is the greatest song ever up on Youtube, you could get 300 thumbs up and 1 thumbs down and that is the one that will play on your mind. You have to try not to think like that but, as a human, you fall into that trap. I know most artists in the UK that release records are actually on Google, Youtube and Twitter to find out what other people are saying about them. From the top to the bottom, everybody’s concerned about what people think.
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
God willing, I see myself alive and successful in a powerful, prominent position. More powerful than I am now with a lot of accolades for the work that I’ve put in over the years. Five years isn’t that far from now, but I aspire to do a lot in the next two, three years. Five months. I’m always trying to develop and grow.
What can fans expect to hear from your next album, The Deliverance?
The fans can expect to hear an undiluted Sway. You know, real, genuine, heartfelt, passionate, entertaining music. The first album done really well, the second album done okay. I love my second album, I think it’s some of the best music I ever made, but it’s very personal and I think I got a bit caught up in my own world. I lost some people in my life and it was therapeutic to write about that. Now I’m at a space in life where I’m more grown up. I understand that it’s an entertainment business and people wanna be entertained and that’s what The Deliverance is all about. Setting yourself free, setting your mind free of any restriction: be it physical, spiritual, emotional. It’s about having fun.
By Martin Dunne
By Martin Dunne
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