Black Magic (Swollen Members album)

Black Magic
Studio album by Swollen Members
Released	September 12, 2006 (2006-09-12)
Genre	Hip-hop
Length	1:08:21
Label	Battle Axe
Producer	DJ Kemo Double Dragon Evidence Madchild Prevail Rob The Viking Squeak E. Clean The Alchemist Vago
Swollen Members chronology
Heavy (2003) Black Magic (2006) Armed to the Teeth (2009)
Singles from Black Magic
"Black Magic" Released: 2006 "Too Hot" Released: 2006 "Put Me On" Released: 2006 "Pressure" Released: 2006

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllHipHop	[1]
AllMusic	[2]
musicOMH	[3]
Now	[4]
PopMatters	5/10 [5]
RapReviews	9/10 [6]

Black Magic is the fourth studio album by Canadian hip-hop group Swollen Members. It was released on September 12, 2006 through Battle Axe Records with distribution via TVT Records.

Recording sessions took place at Battle Axe Studios and The Warehouse in Vancouver, Crack Alley Studios in Los Angeles, Mr Vegas Studio in Kingston, Soundproof West in Venice, Westlake Audio in Hollywood, and various hotel rooms across America. ^[2]

Production was handled by members Rob The Viking, Madchild and Prevail, as well as Evidence, DJ Kemo, Alchemist, Double Dragon, Squeak E. Clean and Vago, with co-producers Roger Swan, Metty The Dert Merchant and The Corn Gang.

It features guest appearances from Evidence, Alchemist, Barbie Hatch, Casual, Everlast, Ghostface Killah, Mr. Vegas, Phil Da Agony, Planet Asia, Sick Jacken, DJ Revolution, DJ Babu, DJ Swamp, and former member Moka Only, who contributed on two songs.

The album peaked at number 22 in Canada, number 21 on the US Billboard Independent Albums and number 19 on the Heatseekers Albums charts. At the Juno Awards of 2007, the album won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Shane Bunting Robin Hooper	Rob The Viking Madchild	0:40
2.	"Blackout"	Bunting Kiley Hendriks Cristian Bahamonde Hooper	DJ Kemo Rob The Viking	1:47
3.	"Swamp Water" (featuring Phil Da Agony, Planet Asia and DJ Revolution)	Bunting Jason Smith Jason Green Michael Perretta	Evidence	3:35
4.	"Pressure"	Bunting Hendriks Bahamonde	DJ Kemo Rob The Viking (co.)	3:23
5.	"Press Forward"	Bunting Hendriks Hooper	Rob The Viking Madchild Prevail	0:28
6.	"Grind"	Bunting Hendriks Daniel Denton Hooper	Rob The Viking	3:14
7.	"Torture" (featuring Casual and DJ Revolution)	Bunting Hendriks Jonathan Owens Hooper	Rob The Viking	3:37
8.	"So Deadly" (featuring Evidence)	Bunting Perretta	Evidence	3:58
9.	"Weight" (featuring Ghostface Killah and The Alchemist)	Bunting Hendriks Dennis Coles Alan Maman	The Alchemist	3:47
10.	"Prisoner of Doom"	Bunting Hendriks Hooper Bryan Trevitt	Rob The Viking Metty The Dert Merchant (co.) Roger Swan (co.)	4:12
11.	"Heart"	Bunting Hendriks Hooper	Rob The Viking	3:06
12.	"Too Hot" (featuring DJ Babu)	Bunting Hendriks Hooper Kenneth Gonzalez Gabriel Roth	Rob The Viking	3:33
13.	"Dark Clouds" (featuring Evidence)	Bunting Perretta	Evidence	4:55
14.	"Ritual"	Chris Gestrin		0:37
15.	"Massacre"	Bunting Hendriks Hooper	Rob The Viking Roger Swan (co.)	3:41
16.	"Go to Sleep" (featuring Barbie Hatch)	Bunting Hendriks Barbie Hatch Sam Spiegel	Squeak E. Clean The Corn Gang (co.)	4:32
17.	"Sinister" (featuring Sick Jacken)	Bunting Hendriks Jack Gonzalez Hooper	Rob The Viking Roger Swan (co.)	4:19
18.	"Dynamite" (featuring Mr. Vegas)	Bunting Hendriks Clifford Smith D. Orellana Bahamonde	Vago DJ Kemo (co.)	3:03
19.	"Put Me On" (featuring Everlast)	Bunting Hendriks Denton Erik Schrody Perretta	Evidence	4:05
20.	"Black Magic" (featuring DJ Swamp)	Bunting Hendriks Hooper	Rob The Viking	3:58
21.	"Brothers"	Bunting Hendriks Elmo Chong Roy Chong	Double Dragon	3:51
Total length:				1:08:21

Personnel

• Shane "Madchild" Bunting — vocals (tracks: 1–13, 15–21), producer (tracks: 1, 5), executive producer
• Kiley "Prevail" Hendriks — vocals (tracks: 2, 4–7, 9–12, 15–21), producer (track 5)
• Daniel "Moka Only" Denton — vocals (tracks: 6, 19)
• Robin "Rob The Viking" Hooper — drums (track 17), producer (tracks: 1, 2, 5–7, 10–12, 15, 17, 20), co-producer (track 4), recording (tracks: 1–7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 20), mixing (track 5)
• Jason "Phil Da Agony" Smith — vocals (track 3)
• Jason "Planet Asia" Green — vocals (track 3)
• Jonathan "Casual" Owens — vocals (track 7)
• Michael "Evidence" Perretta — vocals (tracks: 8, 13), producer & recording (tracks: 3, 8, 13, 19)
• Dennis "Ghostface Killah" Coles — vocals (track 9)
• Mia Harris — vocals (track 15)
• Barbie Hatch — vocals (track 16)
• Jack "Sick Jacken" Gonzalez — vocals (track 17)
• Clifford "Mr. Vegas" Smith — vocals & recording (track 18)
• Erik "Everlast" Schrody — vocals & guitar (track 19)
• Bryan "Metty The Dert Merchant" Trevitt — backing vocals (track 6), co-producer (track 10)
• Elmo Chong — backing vocals, strings, producer & recording (track 21)
• Roy Chong — backing vocals, strings, producer & recording (track 21)
• Chi Turner — backing vocals (track 21)
• Kurt "DJ Revolution" Hoffman — scratches (tracks: 3, 7, 13)
• Russ Kline — guitar (track 6)
• Darcy Ladret — guitar (track 8), bass (track 13)
• Bryant Olender — piano (tracks: 10, 15)
• Chris Gestrin — organ (track 10), mini moog (track 17)
• Kyla Tamiko "Kytami" LeBlanc — violin (tracks: 10, 15)
• Fin Manish — cello (tracks: 10, 15)
• Chris "DJ Babu" Oroc — scratches (track 12)
• Jeff Babko — Wurlitzer organ & clavinet (track 13)
• Kevin Coles — guitar (track 17)
• Keefus Ciancia — piano, bass & strings (track 19)
• Ronald K. "DJ Swamp" Keys Jr. — scratches (track 20)
• Cristian "DJ Kemo" Bahamonde — producer (tracks: 2, 4), co-producer (track 18)
• Alan "The Alchemist" Maman — producer & recording (track 9)
• Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel — producer & recording (track 16)
• D. "Vago" Orellana — producer (track 18)
• Roger Swan — co-producer (tracks: 10, 15, 17), recording (tracks: 10, 14, 15), mixing (tracks: 4, 6, 7, 10, 15, 17)
• The Corn Gang — co-producers (track 16)
• Richard "Segal" Huredia — mixing (tracks: 2, 3, 8, 9, 11–13, 16, 18–21)
• Jason Rankins — engineering assistant (tracks: 3, 8, 13, 20)
• Amy Worobec — engineering assistant (tracks: 4, 6)
• Mike Cashin — mixing assistant (tracks: 10, 15), engineering assistant (track 17)
• Dan Okano — mixing assistant (track 15)
• Sean Tallman — engineering assistant (track 19)
• Bernie Grundman — mastering
• Marcello De Cotiis — executive producer
• Chris Allen — art direction
• Mark Gainor — art direction
• Graham Winterbottom — sleeve photo

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Canadian Albums ( Jam! ) [7]	22
US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [8]	21
US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard ) [9]	19

References

1. Thornton, Alex (October 11, 2006). "Black Magic". AllHipHop . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
2. Brown, Marisa. "Black Magic - Swollen Members | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
3. Hogwood, Ben (January 29, 2007). "Swollen Members - Black Magic | Album Reviews". musicOMH . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
4. Richards, Jason (September 14, 2006). "SWOLLEN MEMBERS - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
5. Schiller, Mike (November 21, 2006). "Swollen Members: Black Magic » PopMatters". PopMatters . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
6. Hernandez, Pedro 'DJ Complejo' (October 3, 2006). "Swollen Members :: Black Magic :: Battle Axe Records". RapReviews. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
7. Williams, John (September 20, 2006). "CANOE - JAM! Timberlake, Justin: Timberlake disc makes loud debut". Jam! . Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
8. "Independent Albums". Billboard . September 30, 2006. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
9. "Top Heatseekers". Billboard . Vol. 118, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 30, 2006. p. 65. ISSN   0006-2510.

External links

• Swollen Members – Black Magic at Discogs (list of releases)