K Swayz – “1st Born” – a tremendous compendium

Twenty three year old Brandon Nelson aka K Swayz, has been producing for about 8 years now, while he’s been an artist for a one year. The Charleston, SC creative is currently promoting his 11 track project, entitled, “1^st Born”. Since this album is meant as an embodiment of the artist’s skillset, it only makes sense that he shows a lot of flexibility. He delivers a lot more than the obvious slide between rapping to singing and juxtaposition of up-tempo vibes and down-tempo tunes. Right from the opening track, “No Matter The Cost” ft. Colossal Capone, he drops mind-blowing switches in his flow and continues to drop more bars without allowing listeners to recover from the shock.

If there’s anyone who for some reason hasn’t listened to K Swayz until now, “1^st Born” is the perfect project for them to begin their adventure into the rapper’s multicolored performances. It is a tremendous compendium of everything you want from a Trap infused album.

By the time we hit on the layered head nodding cinematic grooves of “5^th Quarter” and “Too Bad”, it’s clear that K Swayz is riding a seemingly unstoppable and forever-cresting wave of mood-inducing music. You can listen to it at maximum possible volume in your car or at a club and it’s lit, but at the right moments you can also hear K Swayz’s otherworldly delivery, full of nuance and emotion.

It’s fair to say that these beats also provide the perfect frame for K Swayz’s rapping. “Blind Can See” ft. Lobg, keeps the momentum going, as we move on to the impressive vibe on “Personal”. “1^st Born” competes with the year’s best rap and trap records, with K Swayz sticking to a winning formula of melodic rap and delivering an exciting amount of material.

We bump into many highlights along the journey, such as the back-to-back triad, “Soul Bleeding”, “Too Real” and “Don’t Understand”. However, apart from the album’s highlights, what puts this among 2019’s best underground urban recordings, is the clear absence of tracks easily skipped. Instead we’re given eleven fire cuts. K Swayz has mastered his sound and delivered to fans exactly what they want from this genre.

It’s clearer than ever that K Swayz in a rare echelon of comfort with these tracks. Note how effortlessly he syncs up with “Holy Spirit”, and the album closer “L.C.O.”. He seems to slide over the tracks like it’s been slathered in butter. K Swayz’s gift, the thing that puts him far beyond the vast majority of his contemporaries, is that he comes across as emotionally honest to a fault.

Listeners will find what they want from this album, and simply luxuriate in K Swayz’s ability to make music that just sounds satisfyingly beautiful. There are many rappers who can spit a thousand compound syllables without really saying anything.

K Swayz on the other hand, has relatable narratives, which contribute heavily to the success of this album, along with the carefully constructed beats and unrelenting atmosphere. The quality of the production is essential for this music to work and K Swayz’s ear for sharp, inventive beats is as good as you’ll find in the genre.