Bay Swag is one of the most recognizable new faces in hip-hop today.
The New York native is one of the leading acts in the freaky drill subgenre led by Cash Cobain. After years of working on his craft, he finally experienced his mainstream breakthrough in February when he collaborated with Cash Cobain on “Fisherrr.” The song instantly became a viral sensation, and Ice Spice hopped on the remix. In a matter of months, Swag found himself touring with Spice as a part of Cash’s opening set.
On the Atlanta stop of the tour, Swag visited rolling out and spoke about his career and the process of blowing up as a rapper today. Fellow rapper D Lou, whom Swag collaborated with on “Skims,” also sat in on the discussion.
Did you know “Fisherrr” was going to change your life?
No, I didn’t.
How has your life changed since that song dropped?
Amazing.
What was your reaction when you heard Ice Spice was jumping on the remix?
Me and Cash were together.
We got the call. I was like, “D—, that’s fire.” I was happy because I was excited to see how she was going to [perform on the song]. I was excited to see how she was going to come with that.
I think that’s one of her best recent verses.
Bay Swag: She did her thing, I ain’t going to lie.
How is she as a person?
Bay Swag: She’s cool. We’re on tour together, so we talk and she’s cool. I f— with her.
Shout out to Riot[USA], too.
Do you think it’s easier to pop in music now?
Bay Swag: I think it’s easier.
Is that a good or bad thing?
Bay Swag: That’s a good question. I can’t answer that. What do you think?
A lot of times, it’s a bad thing. Every now and again, you get an artist like Laila!, Mos Def’s daughter, who is talented enough for a sudden blow-up, but I don’t think most artists are ready for that spotlight so suddenly.
Bay Swag: Why don’t you think it’s a good thing to pop?
I love that s—.
If you pop before you’re ready, I don’t think you’re going to last very long in the industry.
Bay Swag: What about Lil Bow Wow?
Lil Bow Wow was developed for years by Jermaine Dupri and Snoop Dogg.
Bay Swag: So you’re saying he was ready?
Yes. I think a lot of kids who record music off their iPhones and suddenly blow up on TikTok aren’t ready.
Bay Swag: But you don’t know that. You don’t know if someone’s ready or not. You can’t judge a book by its cover.
Look at the decline in the quality of live performances, the overall quality of the music, it has taken a dip and it’s a bad look on our culture. For example, you have been rapping for eight years before you popped. You had to do open mics, get a song to 20,000 plays, get a song to 100,000 plays, build a buzz around Queens and then your region before you had your “Fisherrr” moment.
Bay Swag: I see what you’re saying.
So if you popped in 2016, and you didn’t know if you were taking rap seriously back then, you weren’t ready.
Bay Swag: You’ve got a good point.
D Lou: But it’s like having a baby at a young age. You’re either going to get with the program or not. I also think anything is good for hip-hop because it’s music at the end of the day. It’s art.
Bay Swag: Yeah, and in art there’s no structure.
D Lou: You’re trying to put a blueprint to it. There are a lot of people who did what you said, popped and then failed. There are so many different ways.
Bay Swag: That’s why I said I feel like the internet is a good and bad thing for making it in rap nowadays. That’s more of an opinion.
D Lou: People who complain about a certain type of music shouldn’t listen to that type of music. That’s like buying movie tickets to a movie you don’t want to see.
