The Signature LP

7digital Interview

We caught up with top UK rapper Sway to talk about his club shaking collaboration with Lemar, Saturday Night Hustle and his second album The Signature LP, as well as a few other bits and pieces. Check it out - just click the image.

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7digital Review

Back in 2000, Eminem cracked the world in half with the cinematic, edge-of-the-cliff storytelling of ‘Stan’, emphatically setting a new high-bar in hip hop. Almost a decade on and the British strain remains the embarrassing uncle, generally delivering floppy ham where the beef should be, not dope, just plain dopey. Marshall Mathers’ gripping tale of a psycho fan is the same principle Sway deploys here on ‘Jason Waste’, comically rubbing-out the speeding car, pelting rain and impending doom for references to his dismal manhood, Feltham Young Offenders Institute, premature ejaculation and his grandma. It is these very things that make ‘The Signature’ a success.

Clearly Sway now feels he is ready to spar with rap’s rulers, three years on from debut ‘This Is My Demo’. Opener ‘Fit For A King’ comes out like Jay-Z’s ‘What More Can I Say’, the gladiatorial ‘We Will Rock You’ battle cry throwing a kitchen sink into the orchestra pit. “People from all over the world have gathered to witness the return of the King” an announcer booms, before introducing the meekly named Derek Safo, aka Sway. The braggadocio then hits overdrive on ‘Say It Twice’, as the Haringey massive bow to their master: “I’m the boss, I’m the king, I’m on top, I run this ‘ting”, he raps, in a grandstanding break-out presumably intent on trumping Hova, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West et al.

Tellingly it’s when Sway, like Roots Manuva and his pints of bitter, stays grounded that ‘The Signature’ flies. A self-deprecating wit, ‘F Ur Ex’ is more Dizzee Rascal than 50 Cent, while ‘Upload’ explores download culture, referencing our very own 7digital (fame at last!). Equally, he refuses to swallow the rap ideal that lionises criminality, a conscious attitude that reaches for the afterlife (‘Pray 4 Kaya’ and ‘Letters To Heaven’) and damns knife culture (‘Special Place’). ‘Saturday Night Hustle’ features Lemar but the most significant guest here is Akon (‘Silver & Gold’), Sway’s new boss after adding him to the Kon Live roster. Here’s hoping he keeps the Cristal to himself, because it’s Britain not bling that is Derek Safo’s true signature.

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