Hailing from Atlanta, Swavay, one of Def Jam’s most recent signees through Giant Music, has released his first single ‘JUGG’, complete with an official music video directed by Bobby Lee Palmer. Cosigned by the likes of multi-platinum artists like Metro Boomin and James Blake, with even a Grammy nomination already under his belt, SwaVay has marked himself as a rising artist with a blindingly bright future.

‘JUGG’ comes to the scene as an imprint of Swavay’s unique sound — sometimes trap, sometimes soulful, sometimes both. In this particular case, the artist’s single is a display of his writing prowess, describing his environment through a storytelling lens. The song’s hook is a prime example of this: “I’m in Atlanta sun beaming on my back/Ain’t talking drugs when I say my n– crack”. Every bar and frame of the track and its video are littered with motifs that feel personal to the artist’s background. Though the production, courtesy of 20 Rocket and WhatupKali, and bars are minimal by nature, SwaVay’s skill as an artist lies in communicating complex concepts in accessible ways.

After detailing with poetic ease an upbringing of violence, drugs, and struggle, SwaVay ends the tracks in this powerful manner: “And that’s just what it is/Ain’t no point in judging or discussing it/Came from nothing ain’t nothing to hustling/Came from nothing ain’t nothing but suffering/Promise I’m uppin it”. There is profound intelligence in the matter-of-fact manner in which SwaVay states the reality of who he is, where he comes from, and where he plans to grow from here. To honour his words, we won’t discuss it – we’ll just point out its brilliance.

Watch the music video for JUGG below.