Influential artist CeeLo Green is backing a new and eclectic music group called Swagu Style House. Medulla (CeeLo’s son), Stranger and Deep are energetic and driven young men who’ve mastered creativity and alternative hip-hop.
Their new single, “Pick it Up” is edgy and has a good vibe.
Rolling out got the chance to talk with Swagu Style House about their new single, their relationship with Green and the overall recipe for creativity within the group.
Did you all collectively come up with your group’s name?
Stranger: With the help of CeeLo Green, we all collectively came up with the name. The name represents a collective effort of all of our talents. It’s like a boutique clothing store. We produce, we write, we have the multi-instrumentalist over here [referring to Medulla].
The “Pick it up” video contains interesting graphics and features. Who was the creative genius behind turning your heads into virtual emojis for the video?
It was a collective idea between us, video directors and CeeLo Green. We wanted a fun way to express our emotions while making the video technology based and charismatic. It was an idea that came out great.
What role does each of you play musically?
Deep: We are all collectively the same, but we all have different skill sets we bring to the table. Medulla is the multi-instrumentalist and we both play guitar. Stranger is a great vocalist and he comes up with melodies and hooks. We are all great writers. I like to write and freestyle and play a few strings on the guitar.
What is the overall message behind your new single?
Stranger: We want to make it a relatable concept. Speaking from a male’s perspective, we all have that situation where we get into a little trouble in our relationship and we want our girl to pick up the phone. I’m going to keep calling until she picks up the phone.
Medulla: I don’t ever have that experience. They always pick up the phone for me every time.
Have you all learned any life lessons from CeeLo while working with him?
Deep: Keep an open mind.
Stranger: Every day we are with him we learn something new. He’s a mentor. He guides us in money management and how to conduct business as well as formatting a relatable record for the public. We are definitely grateful.
Do you guys have any funny or interesting experiences as a group?
Stranger: It’s too private. On our way to the interview, my brother was joking about my hairstyle, he said it looked like a croissant. It’s all love. We were on the love train tour with CeeLo, and they locked me out the bus one time.
What do you want your fans to get out of listening to your music?
Deep: I would like our fans to feel a sense of unity and togetherness. We make such an eclectic range of music, rock, hip-hop and funk. We just want to express ourselves with variety and not be categorized, good vibes and fun.
What would your group like to accomplish within the next five years?
Deep: We want to set the bar very high. I would like to have a diamond album and produce great records. We want our faces to be familiar.
What are some of your new projects?
Stranger: We have a mixtape that is complete called “Shazam.” The name was inspired by the Shazam app, which is an app that can tell you the name of a song being played in any public area. We used that idea and created our mixtape.
–trianna anderson
