In the first 18 months odd of his career, Sway DaSafo engendered more good will than most labels’ entire rosters manage in their combined careers. People wanted him to blow up, and blow up hard. This was back in the proto-Myspace days, which helped the seemingly organic buzz that built up around him: you got on board when you hear “Thief’s Theme Freestyle” or “Flo Fashion” or his J-Kwon remix, his Klashnekoff remix, his Usher remix, mixtapes 1, 2, or that weird ass “Sway In Newcastle” mixtape, “Up Your Speed”… there was never an overbearing “shit son, this guy got next” consensus/media hype about N8’s finest until he won the 2005 MOBO for “Best Hip Hop Act”. At which point his PR agency stopped returning my emails about a possible interview with/feature on him for Stylus Magazine, and instead booked him in a support slot for a Madness gig. Good work all round. (more…)
