Early life
Swift was born and raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, by Colombian heritage. He started being an DJ at the age of 12 by watching his father and brother. Swift educated himself with the classic turntable beats of the early 1980sCareer
In 1991, Swift joined the groundbreaking turntablist crew the X-Men aka X-ecutioners ( Roc Raida, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista). Also in 1991, he won the DMC East Coast title. In 1997, the X-Ecutioners debut their album ' X-Pressions' (Ashpodel), marked the ascent of Swift as a recording artist, evident in the dirt-funky tracks like "Word Play." Five years later, their major-label debut ' Built From Scratch' (Loud/Columbia) propelled the group to stardom with the massive hit "It's Goin’ Down," featuring Linkin Park. "Following the success of ' It's Goin Down,' our label reps aimed to shift us into a Rap-Rock group, not grasping our core aim of using the turntable as a tool to continually push musical boundaries." — says Swift. Swift decided to pursue a solo career due to the pressure from the label, which aimed to force conformity for commercial success, ultimately straining the X-Ecutioners' creativity. His debut in 1998, ' The Ablist,' marked the beginning of his solo journey. ' Sound Event' (2002) further showcased his diverse production style, seamlessly blending dark jeep beats, Latin Jazz, and ambient-electronic funk with seasoned studio craftsmanship. “Venturing off into my solo career helped me realize I was just beginning to scratch the surface of my true potential.” Swift says, “the worst thing one can do to an artist is limit them and I started to feel stifled creatively. My departure from the X-Ecutioners was a necessary one cause it freed me from all constraints.” Swift's post-9/11 beat collage War Games (2005), his third solo album, (featuring guest shots from The Large Professor and Bob James) “is an ominous soundtrack to the DJ's perspective on the state of the contemporary world today. It's complex, intelligent, and provocative…” In 2001, he was featured in the DJ documentary '' Scratch'' ( Palm Pictures). He has appeared on ESPN, the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and '' Sesame Street''. In 2008, Swift was the first hip hop DJ invited to perform at the Savannah Jazz Festival in Georgia. He has collaborated with artists from many genres including Blue Man Group, Herbie Hancock, Scritti Politti, Bob James, Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Dan The Automator, Fat Joe, Cypress Hill and Bill Laswell. He currently works solo, as part of the group Ill Insanity (featuring former X-Men Total Eclipse and Precision), or collaborating with other like-minded artists. In January 2010, Swift hosted the online hip-hop radio show ''Dope on Plastic'' on Scion A/V Streaming Radio 17 on which he plays mixes and interviews with guest turntablists. Guests have included J-Smoke & DJ Element, Tim Martells, and DJ Platurn. In February 2010, Swift's solo 18-song turntablism-classical music fusion album ''The Architect'' was released by Mike Patton on Ipecac Recordings, which Swift dedicated to Roc Raida who died in 2009. In June 2008, Swift's girlfriend played a piece by Chopin for him on her iPod while he was shaving. In July, he began work on a new album and a month or two into the recording process. He was heard quoting "I listened back to see how to album was starting to shape up. After sitting down and listening to it I started realizing that I was being influenced by this genre of classical that I had a new found love for... I then started creating my music in a way that was reflective of the way that the composers created their pieces. So I started working in movements. I was using sounds and then reintroducing the sounds in other songs. And I sat down and went, 'wow!' All this time, artists like Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven were influencing me on this album subconsciously without me knowing. So once I realized that, then I decided that this album would be a take on what I feel classical composers like Mozart and Chopin would have done if they had turntables." One guest MC, Breez Evahflowin, rhymes about the album's concepts on "Principio" and "Ultimo". On March 20, 2012, Swift released the albumDiscography
Albums
* 1997 '' Presents Soulful Fruit'' (original release on Stones Throw Records) * 1999 '' The Ablist'' * 2001 '' Airwave Invasion'' * 2002 '' Sound Event'' * 2003 '' Under the Influence'' * 2003 ''Who Sampled This?'' * 2004 '' OuMuPo 2'' * 2005 '' Wargames (Label Coup De Grâce)'' * 2006 '' Back to the Beat'' * 2006 ''Pure Moods'' * 2008 ''Dust to Dust'' * 2010 ''The Architect'' * 2012 ''Roc for Raida'' * 2012Singles & EPs
* 199Film appearances
* 2001 '' Scratch'' * 2007 ''As the Table Turn'' (documentary) * 2009Interviews
* 2002 KelavisionMixtapes / Performances
* 1992References
External links