Stagnancy Is SWAVAY’s Biggest Enemy

SWAVAY‘s demeanor matches his flow: calmly confident, deliberate, and considered from all angles. He believes “every artist should dress like how their music sounds,” and he dresses accordingly. Donning a fresh pair of Marc Jacobs mules, artfully tattered jeans, a crisp navy blue polo, and a perfectly matching Stüssy beanie, the Atlanta rapper is a long way from home. Still somewhat fresh off his surprise THE PRELUDE EP, he’s in New York for the second stop on James Blake‘s Trying Times Tour, supporting act for the US run. If you’re unfamiliar with the duo’s lore, they might seem like an unlikely pairing, but SWAVAY and Blake go way back, now with a total of three studio tracks together.

The rapper, born André Khaliel Jones — contrary to popular belief, his name actually isn’t Billy – met Blake by total accident, buzzing in at the studio back in 2018. “James really helped me find my voice,” SWAVAY says. “He has been instrumental in teaching me, like, ‘Speak up for yourself. You should be confrontational the right way. If you don’t like something in the studio, or you want to do something different, you have to speak up. You’re here for a reason.”

Tourmate Blake is just one of the A-list collaborators Swavay has accrued over his decade-plus career. The skillfully penned, introspective storyteller toes a technical balance among lyrical rap, traditional trap, and melodic R&B, his deliberate, magnetic sensibility pulling even non-hip-hop artists such as Blake into his orbit. DESTIN CONRAD, Jermaine Dupri, JID, Smino, and Denzel Curry have also found their way into SWAVAY’s creative circle.

As I sit across from SWAVAY on a sunny Friday in the empty Hypebeast office, the obvious question hangs there. With all these high-level partners and cosigns — most recently a super random Saturday Night Live shoutout from Colin Jost during “Weekend Update” — why aren’t more people talking about him?

“I think about it,” he says, pausing. “It’s an interesting question because yeah, I do feel that way, but I’ve kind of just accepted the path that I’m on. I feel like I miss out on shit all the time. I feel counted out, left out, all that shit, but I’ve actually become OK with the fact that this is just my reality.”

That’s not to say the rapper is settling. SWAVAY is content; he’s just happy we’re actually talking about his music. That’s his marker of success: the conversation. Not the monthly Spotify streams, the yearly listeners, the follower count. “Seeing people talk about it — whether they like it or not — is success, to me. Stagnancy would drive me crazy.” He’s scrolled the Instagram comments and combed the Reddit threads (though he swears he finds it all by accident) and he’s not mad about it. Keep talking, seriously. It’s what SWAVAY wants.

Hypebeast: Are you in New York City often?

SWAVAY: I am here often now, but my trips to New York City didn’t become frequent until more recently.

Do you like it here?

I don’t know, New York City and I just … I don’t know. New York makes me feel a lot of different things — things I don’t know if I want to feel. I feel vulnerable every time I come out here. The city makes me feel everything all at once.

You’re still based in Atlanta full-time, right?

Yeah. I love it there. That’s my home. I would live in Atlanta for the rest of my life. If it were up to me, I’d never leave. I love the idea of being to myself. I love my space. I love the fresh air. It’s a good pace. In Atlanta, I don’t need to be high-speed all the time.

You and James Blake just recently performed a show in Atlanta, too. How was that hometown opener?

Atlanta was cool. The crowd’s energy was interesting, though, because it’s James Blake, who is not rap, and then there’s me, SWAVAY, who is rap. But I do think he and I are both artists who work across multiple genres. It’s just a different crowd, and I think they were taken aback at first. It took them a minute to get into my set. It’s funny, I don’t even know how I found this, but I went on Reddit yesterday…

You fucked around and found out… What did you find?

I was on James’ Reddit, and there was a post like, “SWAVAY crushed, but the crowd gave him absolutely nothing.” It made me laugh. I rely on the crowd for a good bit of my performance, to be honest, so if the audience is giving me less energy, it’s a bit harder for me.

Speaking of James, how did you guys first get connected?

We met by accident at a studio. I was waiting to get in, and for some reason they buzzed his room by accident instead of mine, so he was the one who let me in. He was like, “Are you SWAVAY?” and I was like, “Yeah … Wait, how do you know who I am?” He was like, “Man, I fuck with you,” and we had a conversation for like two hours that day.

I love that. You’ve now got three songs together; what are some things you have learned from him throughout the years?

James really helped me find my voice. I’m traditionally a quieter guy, and I’m not used to speaking up for myself or being confrontational. He has been instrumental in teaching me, like, “Speak up for yourself. You should be confrontational the right way. If you don’t like something in the studio, or you want to do something different, you have to speak up. You’re here for a reason.” He’s been preaching that mentality to me for years, so much to the point where I eventually started to get it. He’s also a huge hip-hop head, so just the things that he’s given me in hip-hop space while not fully being in hip-hop, but kind of being in hip-hop, is genius. I thank him all the time.

The fans are waiting for your BILLY 3 project. Why did you choose to release THE PRELUDE before it?

I really had no intention of dropping a project. I didn’t have any intention of making NO DELUXE either. Before THE PRELUDE, I went out to LA, and just like New York makes me feel a lot of things, LA does a really good job of making me feel small. So, while I was out there, I wasn’t my best, and I was just telling my team, “I could just come home, make a project in a week, and just see what happens, just to get me into a better headspace for recording.” I came home, and on that Monday, one of my friends, Reuben, called me and told me that he was doing the same thing. He was like, “I’m going to make a project in a week and just see what happens.” So I came home to Atlanta, and every day I tapped in with my friend Eric, and he made the beats, and we recorded. By the following Sunday, we were mixing and mastering the project.

The Jermaine Dupri feature on the opening track, “BACK TO THE TRAP FREESTYLE,” is quite the introduction. How did that shake out? 

I wanted to do something that pays homage to the moment I am in right now. With Jermaine, I’m a big fan of his. I was actually surprised that he said yes to the feature. I was just like, “Fuck it, I’m going to text him and just see what happens. There’s nothing to lose.”

You’ve collaborated with Dupri prior on his song “More Than Me” in 2025. What has it been like working with him?

He’s just so in my corner. James is that way, too. They’re both just always screaming for me in rooms. They both really champion me, and I owe those kinds of people everything.

“YKDM” is my favorite track on the project. Tell me more about working with Coupe.

Coupe and I have been in the lab, locked in because we’re working on a collaborative project together. “YKDM” was the only song that I had finished before the project in that week, and I knew this shit needed to come out right now. I was nervous to tell Coupe that I wanted to put it on THE PRELUDE, but he was like, “Go for it.” It’s such a fun track.

How would you describe the overall mentality or energy of the project?

I just wanted to have fun on this project. I knew I wanted to keep it short, but I also wanted to have moments where it felt like I was striving towards a sound that may be on BILLY 3.

Your cover art choices are always super intentional. How does THE PRELUDE’s art play into the project’s storytelling?

I wanted the cover art to show that this is me standing on my own. I’m standing in my neighborhood, of course, a place that’s foundational to my being. We’re also kind of crossing over into BILLY 3 being a real thing, and I know that cover will be a little darker, because the music feels a little darker, so this is the predecessor to what that will be.

When it comes to visuals, be it cover art or music videos, what does the process look like? Do you have an active role in that?

I just had this conversation yesterday with James [Blake], actually. I’m pretty resourceful, and I think I work best with people who are similar and do more than just their part. With me and Connor, my creative director, it’s so easy. I’ll come up with a concept, then he shoots it, edits it, colors it, and then we just drop it the next day, like fuck it. It’s that simple. It’s just Connor and me. Sometimes it’s run and gun, and others we have a carefully executed plan and idea.

Where are you getting visual inspiration from these days?

I’m a movie guy, but I get a lot of my inspiration from Vimeo. Vimeo has the greatest short films, commercials, music videos, just so many great reference points. It’s one big mood board for nerds. You can go down so many rabbit holes. People tell the best stories on there. I watched this one movie someone made called The Referee, and it’s just about a guy who’s having a hard time refereeing, but it was so great. I also love old-fashioned commercials. Your explore page on Instagram can just feel redundant, but I see things I’ve never seen before on Vimeo.

Something you did for both THE PRELUDE and NO DELUXE is host some sort of intimate fan listening event before the public release. Why is this important to you?

I still look at music from a childlike perspective, so a lot of the things that I do are things that I would have wanted to happen when I was younger. If I could go to an album release party for one of my favorite artists, that’s cool, but if I was hand-picked to be in the studio and give like real input and be like, “Actually, I didn’t fuck with this” or “I actually really like this,” is crazy. When I was a kid, I’d go back and forth with my friends arguing like, “Drake would never do no shit like that,” the whole time I’d never even met Drake a day in my life. But I felt like I knew him, you know? I want people to feel that way about me, but actually really feel that way. I want my fans to be able to tell people, “I met SWAVAY before. I have sat down with him.” It’s more important. I’m going to try to maintain that accessibility for as long as I can. I’m too small to fail, so fuck it. Who gives a fuck?

On that note, do you feel like you should be bigger than you are?

I think about it. It’s an interesting question because yeah, I do feel that way, but I’ve kind of just accepted the path that I’m on. I’ve just accepted that nothing for me is going to be easy. Things are not going to be direct from point A to point B; it’s going to be from point A to point A1 to point A2 and then back to point A1. Even on the drive over here, we were talking about how for every win we have, it feels like there’s another loss right behind it that we have to get ready for. So, all that’s to say, I do feel that way, and I do feel like I miss out on shit all the time. I feel counted out, left out, all that shit, but I’ve actually become OK with the fact that this is just my reality. As long as I stay at it, I’ll reap some type of benefit.

The random Saturday Night Live shoutout was a win! What did you think of that?

That was so random [laughs]. I fucked with it. But I’m like … Who told them? I was like, “Bro, is this me, SWAVAY, or like, some other SWAVAY I don’t know about?” They could have said anybody else, and they said SWAVAY, and that’s hard. Shout out to whoever wrote that at SNL.

You’re also pretty tapped into the fashion scene. How does your personal style play into your artistry?

I feel like every artist should dress like how their music sounds. I think my style feels resourceful, but it can get expensive [laughs]. I read this thing — I think it was literally last night too, I don’t know why I was Googling myself, Jesus Christ – but this guy was just like, “You know, I can’t really tell what side of the track SWAVAY’s outfits lie on. Sometimes it feels like a flex, and then others it feels super relatable.”

What would you wear every day if you could?

I would wear the most fucked up vintage T-shirt I could find with the most expensive, nice pants and just everyday shoes.

You’re big into manifesting and prayer. How do you remind yourself that you are on the right path when you’re not always hitting the numbers you want to hit?

Every day’s a fight, and I just have to commit to fighting. I don’t wake up every day positive. I don’t wake up every day enthusiastic. I don’t always feel like I have the strength to remind myself of these things, but every day I just pray that I can wake up and I feel enough energy to fight.

If you weren’t making music, what would you see yourself doing?

If I wasn’t doing something extremely lazy, I truly feel like I’d still be in music in some capacity. I’d be like an A&R or something — one of those older guys who everyone wonders, “Wait, what the fuck does he do?” I’d probably still look the same, act the same, and spend the same amount of money.

What other creatives are you drawing influence from?

Fashion-wise, I’m such a fan of Marc Jacobs. In music, JAŸ-Z of course. He’s so calm and witty, but he’s also never going to let someone walk all over him. It’s that balance of being calm and cool, but also knowing exactly who you are. I’m inspired by a lot of shit I feel like people wouldn’t even know that I’m inspired by.

Lately, I’ve been really channeling my inner LAZER DIM 700. This n*gga drops a music video every day [laughs]. When I’m on tour, I watch a lot of videos of other people performing and sometimes try to just channel their performance style. For example, when I was on tour with JID, I was trying to channel Slowthai‘s energy, because he’s rambunctious and just doesn’t give a fuck. But on this James Blake tour, I was watching calmer, but lit performers like Smino and JID. I’m inspired by a lot of shit. The only thing I’m not inspired by is the fucking Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fuck the Thunder.

Fuck the Thunder. I fuck with the Heat though. And the Knicks.

Aside from Reddit threads, do you read reviews or criticism of your music?

If I see it, I’ll read it, but not like too much on Instagram or Twitter or anything. I like that people are finally conversing about me, but I don’t read everything. I try to limit it, but honestly, these are great problems to have. Two years ago, I was bitching and complaining about not having any conversation about myself.

How have you seen things change in the music industry?

You see, people care about things. There’s always a new thing that people care about more than anything, like every six months. First, it was how many listeners you had per song. Then it was the monthly streams. It’s always a different number. That shit means nothing to me. I just care about the music. I know people who have 50,000 monthlies or shit, probably less than that, and they can go sell out fucking Baby’s All Right two times — like, Lord Sko.

To you, what is a marker of success?

Conversation. Seeing people talk about it, whether they like it or not. Seeing fans increase at a steady pace. Stagnancy would drive me crazy. If nothing changed, I’d be like, fuck… As long as I’m seeing some type of change, like an increase in something, I feel OK. I don’t know if I care about being the best rapper anymore. I want accolades, sure, but I think what’s meant for me is what’s meant for me. I can pray I get those things, but I’m at the point in my career where I’m taking shit day by day. Whatever meets my table today is what we’ll deal with.