PREMIERE: SWANNY.95 ‘PRIMAL’
“Let’s break things down from the noisy, complicated ideas and thoughts of modern society all the way back to the simple concept. Who are we? What are we each meant to do? How are meant to face our shortcomings, improve upon them and then group into our full potential?” SWANNY.95 on Primal
Photo credit: Tre Bennett
Primal is a project that gets under your skin. As a creative parallel to SWANNY.95’s personal story with hip hop, pouring out thoughts and captivating melodies, Primal reminisces Eminem’s 8 Miles movie in the different sonic ground.
Documenting city noise with an iPhone. The familiar surroundings faint into the blurry background of Primal. “Whether it's a car alarm that I turned into a riser for a transition or an ambulance siren tucked in the back of the mix to provide ambiance, my city's fingerprints are all over the production of this album,” said SWANNY.95.
“Totem” is a one-way street divulging the suppressed thoughts and feelings with no remorse. The poised, stirring lo-fi instrumental loop and vaguely taped city noise bring you to a murky, moldy basement, eating two-dollar ramen, staying low, building an empire from the ground up with sweets and hard work. Putting hours into improvement and getting better, while others live a high life, always having an opinion but no clue what you’re doing. “Totem” is about the lonely, challenging initial stage of fighting for the dream.
When the mantralike vocal line surfaces in the starry surroundings in “Empire” and “Sundown. Interlude,” there was a special moment of poise. "Can we build it from the ground up?” “Will you find me when the sun goes down?”
Photo credit: Tre Bennett
Rolling back the tape to when changes started to happen, “I’m Through” spirals down to the beginning of the story. Unsatisfied with the planned-out life slowly moving towards death and tax lawyers, trapped in a dead-end job, the disruption of covid has intensified the conflicts.
“So I woke up and I wrote until I drained my soul, then I chopped this beat, stop, drop, and roll […] everyone I know is tryna find themselves, well everyone that’s hating on them tryna finds more wealth. Asking me what I do, I seem so well, to tell you the truth, I feel like I’m in hell. If hell’s even real, that means heaven is too.”
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