Rob Swift

Last updated
Rob Swift
The X-Ecutioners.jpg
Rob Swift in Bronx, New York City, 1998
Background information
Birth nameRobert Aguilar
Born (1972-05-14) May 14, 1972 (age 51)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Turntables
  • programming
Years active1988–present
Labels
Website www.djrobswift.com

Rob Swift (born Robert Aguilar; May 14, 1972) [1] is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. He was an original member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners until 2004. He has also released numerous solo albums and collaborated with various artists, including Mike Patton, Patton's project Peeping Tom, Dan the Automator and Handsome Boy Modeling School, Lords of Acid, Portugal. The Man, and Herbie Hancock.

Contents

From January 2010 through May 2015, Swift hosted the online hip-hop radio show Dope on Plastic on Scion A/V Streaming Radio 17. [2]

In August 2012, Swift became the resident DJ for a new late night college sports TV talk show on ESPNU called UNITE.

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. [3] [4]

Swift educated himself with the classic turntable beats of the early 1980s New York City playground pioneers while listening to funk and jazz at home with his brother. He draws inspiration from Bob James, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Quincy Jones, Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore.

In 1990, Swift enrolled as a student at Baruch College in New York City and graduated in 1995 with a degree in psychology. He found passion in Speech and English class, which arguably translates into his cerebral style of scratching, juggling and making music.

Career

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…” [5]

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[ when? ] works solo, as part of the group Ill Insanity (featuring former X-Men Total Eclipse and Precision), or collaborating with other like-minded artists. [6] [7]

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. [8] Guests have included J-Smoke & DJ Element, [9] Tim Martells, and DJ Platurn. [10]

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. [11] [12] [13] 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." [14] One guest MC, Breez Evahflowin, rhymes about the album's concepts on "Principio" and "Ultimo".

On March 20, 2012, Swift released the album Roc for Raida , a collection of songs (some unreleased) and battle style routines that defined the late fellow X-Ecutioner Roc Raida as an artist, lost interview archives (from John Carluccio), and other material, with proceeds going to Raida's family. [15]

In August 2012, Swift became the resident DJ for a new late night college sports TV talk show on ESPNU called UNITE. “My roll on the show revolved around me using my abilities as a DJ to score highlights from various college sports games. Providing the overall soundtrack to the show as the cast (former Florida State Seminole & NY Giants QB Danny Kannel, TV personality Marianela, and comedian Reese Waters) debated and poked fun at the day's college sports and hot topics. UNite was the first show of its kind. Never has a DJ been such an integral part of a live television show. ESPN is the most recognized sports network across the world and with my passion of sports and Djing combined, this was yet again, a defining moment in my career.” [16]

In September 2014, Swift became a Professor at The New School in New York City and while there taught the course DJ Skills & Styles. [17] Smith's research includes Hip Hop History and culture as well as Musical Composition via turntable techniques.

Discography

Albums

Singles & EPs

Film appearances

Interviews

Mixtapes / Performances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turntablism</span> Art of manipulating sound using turntables

Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system and/or broadcasting equipment so that a wider audience can hear the turntablist's music. Turntablists typically manipulate records on a turntable by moving the record with their hand to cue the stylus to exact points on a record, and by touching or moving the platter or record to stop, slow down, speed up or, spin the record backwards, or moving the turntable platter back and forth, all while using a DJ mixer's crossfader control and the mixer's gain and equalization controls to adjust the sound and level of each turntable. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records.

<i>Scratch</i> (2001 film) 2001 documentary film directed by Doug Pray

Scratch is a 2001 documentary film, directed and edited by Doug Pray. The film explores the world of the hip-hop DJ from the birth of hip-hop when pioneering DJs began extending breaks on records, to the invention of scratching and beat juggling, to the more recent explosion of turntablism. Throughout the documentary, many artists explain how they were introduced to hip-hop while providing stories of their personal experiences.

The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The X-Ecutioners</span> American hip hop group

The X-Ecutioners, originally known as X-Men, are a group of American hip hop DJs/turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, and DJ Precision. Original members of the group included Mista Sinista, Rob Swift, and Roc Raida. Rob Swift and Total Eclipse formed a side project called Ill Insanity releasing one album together in 2008 entitled Ground Xero.

ie.Merge is an American hip hop turntablist who won the 2004 and 2005 DMC World DJ Championships. He has won nine American national titles and four world titles, and is known for his highly technical routines.

DJ Woody is a prolific DJ and turntablist born in Burnley, Lancashire UK.

Turntablist Transcription Methodology, or TTM, is a notation system for scratching and turntablism. The system was founded by John Carluccio in 1997. A seminal booklet detailing the system was written and published by John Carluccio, industrial designer Ethan Imboden and DJ Raedawn in 2000. It is an intuitive graphical representation of the movement of a record whilst performing with a turntable, and was originally documented in a booklet form for distribution used by turntablists around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roc Raida</span> Musical artist

Anthony Williams, better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners.

<i>General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners</i> 2005 studio album by Mike Patton & The X-Ecutioners

General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners is a collaboration album released by Mike Patton and New York City's hip-hop DJ trio The X-Ecutioners. It was released on February 5, 2005 through Ipecac Recordings, and was entirely produced by Mike Patton.

John Francis Carluccio is an American filmmaker, artist, and inventor. Carluccio is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker who is best known for documenting obscure pockets of urban society and the creative process.

<i>Built from Scratch</i> 2002 studio album by The X-Ecutioners

Built from Scratch is the second studio album by New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners. It was released on February 26, 2002, through Loud Records and Columbia Records. The album was produced by Beat Junkies, Chris Frantz, CJ Moore, Dan the Automator, DJ Apollo, DJ Premier, Kenny Muhammad The Human Orchestra, Knobody, Large Professor, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, Mike Shinoda of American rock band Linkin Park, Sean Cane, The X-Ecutioners, Tina Weymouth, and was executive produced by Peter Kang.

<i>X-Pressions</i> 1997 studio album by The X-Ecutioners

X-Pressions is the debut studio album by New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners. The album was released on September 23, 1997 for Asphodel Records and was produced by four members of The X-Ecutioners, including Rob Swift, Total Eclipse, Roc Raida, and Mista Sinista.

<i>Revolutions</i> (The X-Ecutioners album) 2004 studio album by The X-Ecutioners

Revolutions is the third studio album by New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners. It was released on June 8, 2004, through Columbia Records. Production was handled by members Rob Swift, DJ Total Eclipse and Roc Raida, as well as The Professionals, Matt Stein, Sean C, Dr. Butcher, The Ratt Pakk and Todd Perimutter. It features guest appearances from Aasim, Anikke, Black Thought, Blue Man Group, B-Real, dead prez, Fat Joe, Ghostface Killah, Josey Scott, Rob Zombie, Roc Marciano, Saigon, Scram Jones, Sly Boogie, Start Trouble and Trife Diesel. The album peaked at number 118 on the Billboard 200, number 50 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 24 on the Top Rap Albums in the United States.

<i>Soulful Fruit</i> 1997 studio album by Rob Swift

Soulful Fruit is the first album by the turntablist Rob Swift. It was released on May 13, 1997, by Stones Throw Records and was produced by Rob Swift, Mista Sinista and Roc Raida. The album was a huge critical success, gaining many positive reviews. Soulful Fruit is regarded by many as one of the best turntablism albums ever made.

<i>Airwave Invasion</i> 2001 compilation album by Rob Swift

Airwave Invasion is a compilation album by the turntablist Rob Swift featuring his X-Ecutioners bandmates, Roc Raida and Mista Sinista. It was released on June 8, 2001, by Triple Threat Records and was produced by the X-Ecutioners. The album combined The X-Ecutioners scratches and productions with classic R&B and jazz songs.

<i>Crossfaderz</i> 2000 studio album by Roc Raida

Crossfaderz is the second album by turntablist Roc Raida. It was released on July 11, 2000, for Moonshine Music and featured production from Roc Raida, DJ Q-Bert, D-Styles and The X-Ecutioners.

The San Francisco-based Bomb Hip-Hop Records has evolved since its humble beginnings in 1991 as a hip-hop publication to "one of the fifteen independent labels that matter" according to Rolling Stone. Bomb’s Return of the DJ series was ranked by Spin Magazine as #25 in their “The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90’s”. Having been credited with the revival of the D.J. as an artist in their own right for the Return of the DJ series, featured in the movie Scratch, the label is also known for spotlighting hip-hop from around the world. With a total of 77 releases to date, some of the artists that have appeared on releases from Bomb Hip-Hop include Dilated Peoples, Blackalicious, J-Live, Cut Chemist from Jurassic 5, Qbert, DJ Craze, Z-Trip, Rob Swift & Roc Raida from X-ecutioners, Noisy Stylus, Mr. Dibbs of Atmosphere, DJ Honda, DJ Format, Peanut Butter Wolf, Swollen Members, Defari, Paul Nice and AG of D.I.T.C., Jedi Mind Tricks, Mystik Journeymen, Kid Koala and Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys.

<i>Ground Xero</i> 2008 studio album by Ill Insanity

Ground Xero is the first studio album by the American DJ group Ill Insanity, which consists of three members of the New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and DJ Precision. It was released on February 11, 2008, by Ablist Productions and was produced by Swift, Total Eclipse and DJ Precision, with additional production by Roc Raida of The X-Ecutioners and DJ Q-Bert.

<i>HII</i> (album) 1997 studio album by DJ Honda

h II is the second album by Japanese producer DJ Honda. It was released on November 12, 1997 via Sony Records in Japan and on March 24, 1998 via Relativity Records and Epic Records in North America and Europe. Audio production of the album was solely handled by DJ Honda, except for three tracks of its worldwide version produced by Mista Sinista, Roc Raida and V.I.C. respectively. It featured guest appearances from various hip hop artists, including Camp Lo, Cuban Link, De La Soul, KRS-One, Mos Def and The Beatnuts among others. With DJ HONDA'S production and scratching, other hip hop artists continue to drop verses.

The International Turntablist Federation (ITF) was an organization which held a series of DJ battles during the rise of turntablism in the late 90s and early 2000s. The ITF is notable for introducing the concept of category competitions. The categories included advancement, scratching, beat juggling, and team.

References

  1. ↑ John Bush. "Rob Swift Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  2. ↑ "New Scion A/V Streaming Radio Offers 17 Cutting Edge Broadband Radio Stations". PRWeb. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  3. ↑ McLeod, Rodd. "Rob Swift Does the Wicki-Wicki", Rolling Stone , May 6, 1999. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Swift lives in Jackson Heights, Queens, very near where he grew up."
  4. ↑ "An Open Letter to Big Ghost Fase", January 9, 2012. Accessed May 10, 2012. "I actually started DJing 6 years before that at age 12."
  5. ↑ "Bio – Rob Swift" . Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  6. ↑ "Bio « DJ Rob Swift". www.djrobswift.com. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  7. ↑ "The X-Ecutioners Biography". OLDIES.com. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  8. ↑ "2017 Toyota Scion | Keep it wild". www.scionav.com. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  9. ↑ "2017 Toyota Scion | Keep it wild". www.scionav.com. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  10. ↑ Soulsta (2012-06-01). "Funk - DJ Platurn - Dope On Plastic' Guest DJ Mix | Mixtapes And Mixes". Funk - DJ Platurn - Dope On Plastic' Guest DJ Mix | Mixtapes And Mixes. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  11. ↑ Matthews, Aaron (February 20, 2010). "'The Architect' - Review". Exclaim! . Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  12. ↑ Heaton, Dave (August 12, 2010). "'The Architect' - Review". PopMatters . Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  13. ↑ Lymangrover, Jason. "'The Architect' - Review". Allmusic . Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  14. ↑ Billy Jam, Interview with Rob Swift about The Architect (Ipecac), Amoeba.com, March 1, 2010
  15. ↑ "Q&A: DJ Rob Swift Looks Back On His Work With The Late Roc Raida | Village Voice". 22 March 2012. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  16. ↑ "Bio – Rob Swift" . Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  17. ↑ MIT, Arts at (2019-12-10). "Two Hip-Hop Legends Break Ground on New Musical Territory At MIT". Arts at MIT. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
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