VH1 star talks new music

VH1 star talks new music|VH1 star talks new music
Jaypix Belmer|Jaypix Belmer

A newly recognizable face on VH1’s hit reality show “Love and Hip-Hop,” Brooklyn music producer Swift On Demand is making a buzz for his career, but now more so as a rapper. The artist is known as a cast member on the show, but now he has some new music of his own with his debut mixtape.

Raised in Crown Heights and East New York, the Brooklyn rapper did not intentionally set out to be in the music industry, he said. He once had hoop dreams and first entered his love for music with dance.

“That’s the crazy part — I wanted to play basketball,” said Swift. “But I always did beat-making and dance. I was making dance beats that my group and I can dance to.”

Last summer he released the video to his year-old song “LyveBounce,” a catchy dance song named after a dance of the same name. He wrote and produced the song in 2015 and even made a video for it. But when the songs popularity skyrocketed last year, his team decided to recreate it.

“We saw how much attention it was getting, so we shot it again,” he said.

His upcoming mixtape “On Demand” will feature music that explores his diverse tastes and sound.

“There’s going to be a variety of different stuff,” he said. “You’re going to have a little bit of everything — inspirational music, turn up and slow music.”

And being on the show has helped more people become more familiar with him, giving him 20,000 new followers on social media when he made his debut on television, he said. But the fame does not always come with the good. His appearance on the show may have given viewers a different perception of him, but Swift says he hopes people can walk away with a good impression of him despite antics and drama that come with reality television.

Currently working his way up in the music industry, he hopes to see his career flourish. He also said his unique talent that separates him from the rest is boosting that because he is getting collaborative offers.

“I see myself in a better position next year. I think having a gift to produce, write music, and rap — I think I bring value to the game,” he said. “There are now a whole bunch of artists who want to work with me, but at the same time I got music I’m working on — so next year I see things getting better.”

Reach reporter Alexandra Simon at (718) 260–8310 or e-mail her at asimon@cnglocal.com.
The rapper and producer, who also goes by Swift, is an up-and-coming artist who got his start in music by making his own beats and rapping over them.
Jaypix Belmer