Sway Calloway

Last updated
Sway Calloway
9.13.11SwayCallowayByLuigiNovi1.png
Calloway in 2011
Born
Jonathan Ahmad Calloway

(1971-07-03) July 3, 1971 (age 53)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Journalist, radio personality, producer, rapper
Years active1986–present [1] [2]
Notable credit(s) Radio Hall of Fame, [3] MTV, SiriusXM, VH1, Billboard Music Awards, Grammy Awards
Children1

Jonathan Ahmad Calloway (born July 3, 1971), known as Sway, is an American radio personality, journalist and former rapper known for hosting music, news, and culture programming. He was an on-air reporter and host for MTV News and occasional non-news hosting, including numerous red carpet MTV award pre-shows, and reports on major events, concluding his tenure with the network as host of the short-lived TRLAM . [4] He is co-hosting the nationally syndicated radio show The Wake Up Show as as one half of the duo Sway & King Tech; and hosting Sway in the Morning on SiriusXM Shade45.

Contents

Early career

As a teenager growing up in Oakland, California, Sway became a locally known rapper and b-boy performing on San Francisco's Pier 39. [5] He teamed up with DJ King Tech after high school and the duo performed at various San Francisco Bay Area clubs. They also released independent albums. A major label record deal with Giant Records followed. The resulting album, Concrete Jungle in 1990, got them the job of co-hosting their own show on radio station KMEL.[ citation needed ]

President Barack Obama adjusts Calloway's hat after a 2012 interview for a Live MTV special at the White House. Barack Obama and Sway Calloway.jpg
President Barack Obama adjusts Calloway's hat after a 2012 interview for a Live MTV special at the White House.

Another album, Back 2 Basics was released in 2005 on Sway and Tech's own record label, Bolo Entertainment, which is distributed by Universal Music.[ citation needed ]

Radio

The Wake Up Show featured music and interviews with well-known hip hop artists as well as up-and-coming ones. The show became very popular and began simulcasting to Los Angeles on KKBT in 1993 and to Chicago on WEJM by 1996. [6] Ras Kass, Chino XL and Eminem are among the rappers who made their broadcasting debuts on the show. Soon, Sway was also hosting his own morning drive time show on the station.[ citation needed ]

The popularity of the show helped Sway and Tech get another record deal, this time with Interscope Records. Their album, This or That, reached #30 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart in 1999. [7] The album featured contributions from hip hop artists such as RZA, Eminem, Xzibit, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Tech N9ne, Pharoahe Monch and The Roots. [6] [8] [9] Sway also made an appearance on Jennifer Lopez's DVD, The Reel Me in late 2003.[ citation needed ]

Sway hosts a weekday morning show on Eminem’s Shade 45 channel on SiriusXM! “Sway in the Morning” launched on Monday, July 18, 2011 on Shade 45 (SiriusXM channel 45) and airs Monday-Friday from 8am-12 noon ET. The second week he was there Ludacris phoned in on the show and they talked about his music and movie career. In an interview with The Source in 2012, Sway talked about his experiences in both satellite and terrestrial radio. [10]

In November 2013, Kanye West appeared as a guest on his show and had an infamous meltdown on air, uttering memorable lines like "You ain't got the answers Sway, You ain't been doing the education". [11]

Television

In 2000, Sway was approached by MTV to join the network as a correspondent, becoming a regular reporter for its music video shows and news specials, including Total Request Live and the hip-hop music video show Direct Effect . [8] Because MTV's studios are based in New York City, King Tech and The Wake Up Show went along with Sway in his move. Sway's prominence on MTV made the radio show even more popular than it was before. This inevitably led to a TV version of the show on MTV running briefly in January 2004. Sway and Tech also have a popular series of mixtapes that feature freestyles performed on the show. Sway recorded the voice introduction for the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. [12]

In September 2005, Sway decided not to renew his contract with MTV. However, in 2006, Sway signed a new contract that included an ability to bring new projects to MTV, making him the first TV personality since Carson Daly to negotiate such a deal (Daly turned down a similar contract). He established the opportunity to produce programming with King Tech on MTV and other Viacom channels as well as continue to host programs. [13] He hosted coverage of Michael Jackson's death for the network. [14]

Sway appeared in cameo role voicing "Sway" in "The Story Of Gangstalicious", the December 11, 2005 episode of the animated series The Boondocks . [15] [16]

He appeared as a guest star on the MTV sketch comedy show Short Circuitz in 2007.[ citation needed ]

Discography

YearTitleArtistType
As a rapper
1988Flynamic ForceKing Tech & MC SwayExtended play (EP)
1991 Concrete Jungle Sway & King TechLong play (LP)
Various artists
1999 This or That Sway & King TechLong play (LP)
2005 Back 2 Basics Sway & King TechLong play (LP)

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014 Top Five Himself
2015-2018 Empire HimselfThree episodes
2016, 2018 Luke Cage HimselfEpisodes: "Soliloquy of Chaos", "Can't Front On Me"
2018 Death Wish Himself

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shady Records</span> American record label

Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of The Slim Shady LP that same year. The label's name comes from the last name of Eminem's alter ego, Slim Shady.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather B. Gardner</span> American rapper

Heather B. Gardner, billed professionally as Heather B., is an American rapper, reality television personality, and a radio host who first gained fame as a member of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions before becoming a cast member on The Real World: New York, the 1992 inaugural season of MTV's reality show The Real World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tech N9ne</span> American rapper (born 1971)

Aaron Dontez Yates, better known by his stage name Tech N9ne, is an American rapper and singer. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two million albums and his music has been featured in film, television, and interactive media. In 2009, he won the Left Field Woodie award at the mtvU Woodie Awards.

James Roberts, better known as Ed Lover, is an American deejay, radio personality, actor, musician, and former MTV VJ. He hosted "The Ed Lover Show" on SiriusXM's old-school hip hop station BackSpin. As of April 12, 2018, he hosts the morning show at classic hip-hop "104.3 Jams" WBMX in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eminem</span> American rapper (born 1972)

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as influencing many musical artists. His most successful songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 include "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me", "Lose Yourself", "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie", "The Monster", "Godzilla", and "Houdini".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rosenberg (manager)</span> American music manager

Paul Rosenberg is an American talent manager and former entertainment attorney from Detroit, Michigan.

Sway & King Tech is an American hip hop duo composed of Bay Area rapper Sway and DJ King Tech.

<i>This or That</i> 1999 studio album by Sway & King Tech and DJ Revolution

This or That is the collaborative album by American hip hop artists Sway & King Tech and DJ Revolution. It was released on June 15, 1999, through Interscope Records. Production was handled mostly by King Tech & DJ Revolution, except for several tracks were produced by Cut Chemist, DJ Nu-Mark, KutMasta Kurt, Main Source and RZA. It features guest appearances from Big Daddy Kane, Canibus, Chill Rob G, Chino XL, Crooked I, Dilated Peoples, Eminem, EPMD, Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr, Heltah Skeltah, Inspectah Deck, Jayo Felony, Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, KRS-One, Main Source, Malik B., Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Pharoahe Monch, Planet Asia, Redman, RZA, Tech N9ne and Xzibit among others.

Rod Sepand, better known professionally as King Tech, is an American DJ, B-boy, VJ and audio engineer. He is one half of the duo Sway & King Tech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ras Kass</span> American rapper (born 1973)

John R. Austin II, better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop supergroup The HRSMN, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is also a member of the group Golden State Warriors with Xzibit and Saafir. About.com ranked him No. 30 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), while Pitchfork Media called him "one of the best rappers of all time".

Davood Ali Asgari, better known by his stage name Locksmith,, is an American rapper from Richmond, California. He is half of the former underground duo The Frontline, which pioneered the "New Bay" resurgence movement in the Bay Area in the 2000s.

"So Far..." is a song by American hip hop recording artist Eminem, taken from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). The song discusses Eminem meditating on the pitfalls of fame and the tendency for things to go wrong at the worst possible moment. The song was produced by the album's executive producer Rick Rubin. "So Far" features samples from the Joe Walsh recording "Life's Been Good" and also contains samples of "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" as performed by Schoolly D, Change the Beat by Beside, as well as "The Real Slim Shady" and "I'm Back" by himself. The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics upon the album's release and debuted at number three on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles.

<i>When Music Worlds Collide</i> 2015 studio album by Jonathan Hay, Mike Smith, King Tech and Various artists.

When Music Worlds Collide is the debut studio album from Jonathan Hay and Mike Smith that features notable names in the hip hop music genre. Hay and Smith, the producers behind the indie hip-hop compilation When Music Worlds Collide decided to put their release to a Tidal vs. Spotify challenge and see which one better served their album. The story of their independent streaming music album was featured on Billboard, Fox News and Business Insider. King Tech co-produced the majority of the songs on the album. Deluxe: When Music Worlds Collide was released on July 26, 2016 through SMH Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manny Phesto</span> Hip-Hop musician from Minneapolis, MN

Manuel Levins Holden better known by his stage name Manny Phesto, is an Underground hip hop musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Manny is also an entrepreneur and business owner in the cannabis and CBD space. Pitchfork Media listed his music amongst their "Best MN Hip-Hop Releases". City Pages named his debut album Southside Looking In one of "The Best Minnesota Rap Albums of 2014". 89.3FM The Current awarded it their "Album of the Year" title XXL magazine also recently jokingly credited him with "getting Action Bronson and Ghostface to agree on one thing." after their recent altercations. The Mexican magazine Me Hace Ruido named him one of their "Artists to Follow".

Axel Dahlen, better known by his stage name Axel Foley, is an American underground hip hop musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jabee</span> American rapper

Jonathan Blake Williams Jr., better known by his stage name Jabee, is a hip hop artist and actor from Oklahoma. His rhymes have been recognized by Chuck D of Public Enemy who has stated “Jabee's music has the potential to change the world” and Sway Calloway on Sway In The Morning. In 2014, his commercial work earned Jabee a regional Emmy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shade 45</span> Hip hop digital radio station

Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killshot (song)</span> 2018 diss track by Eminem

"Killshot" is a diss track written and recorded by American rapper Eminem. It was released on September 14, 2018, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records, amidst his feud with American musician Machine Gun Kelly. It serves as Eminem's response to Kelly's diss track "Rap Devil".

Terry Parker, known professionally as MC Juice, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The B.U.M.S. (Brothas Unda Madness)</span> American hip hop group

The B.U.M.S. or The B.U.M.S is an American West Coast hip hop duo from Oakland, California composed of emcees D'Wyze and Evocalist. Following the footsteps of west coast rappers such as The Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Souls of Mischief, Ahmad and Sway & King Tech, the group had little success with releasing their only debut album Lyfe 'N' Tyme, releasing two of their singles "Elevation " and "Take a Look Around" before disbanding in 1995 altogether after the album's commercial failure.

References

  1. ↑ Jost, Matt (July 24, 2007). "King Tech & MC Sway Flynamic Force All City Records". RapReviews.com. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ Christopher O'Connor (1999-06-17). "RZA, EMINEM PAY HOMAGE TO HIP-HOP ON THIS OR THAT". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  3. ↑ https://www.radiohalloffame.com/2020-inductees "2020 Inductees"]. Radio Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 19, 2020
  4. ↑ "Sway Calloway Joins VH1 Family and Some Big Things Are Coming". Vh1. March 17, 2016. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  5. ↑ Entzminger, Angela. Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting Hosts Second Annual Careers in Television Event The Animator's Journal: April 28, 2007.
  6. 1 2 "Wake Up Show about page". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  7. ↑ Sway & King Tech singles charts history at Allmusic
  8. 1 2 Sway Calloway biography at MTV
  9. ↑ Conaway, Matt. "This or That" overview. Allmusic: 1999
  10. ↑ Osorio, Kim.Sway Talks About Revolutionizing Radio. The Source: May 9, 2012
  11. ↑ "Kanye West Flips Out During Interview". Rolling Stone . 26 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Revisiting the Justin Timberlake-Janet Jackson Wardrobe Malfunction, Minute by Minute". 2 February 2018.
  13. ↑ Rashbaum, Alyssa. MTV's Sway Calloway Considered Leaving The Network. VIBE : January 10, 2006.
  14. ↑ Graham, Mark (June 26, 2009). "MTV Shines in Its Coverage of Michael Jackson's Death". Vulture. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Sway Calloway". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Sway Calloway". TV Guide . Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Sway Calloway at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.