SWIDT’s next chapter begins today with their latest project STONEYHUNGA: The Bootleg EP. Not only did the new record drop at short notice, it arrives only six months since the guys taglined “The Most Electrifying Rap Group in Entertainment” dropped their award-winning debut.Don’t expect to them to slow down anytime soon, either. They’ve already begun shaping up their second album, with an aim to get it out this year. Meanwhile, The Bootleg EP is a chance to hear some of the leftovers that didn’t fit with the theme of their first record. “We had so much content and stuff that we really rated,” SPYCC & INF told us over the phone as they were celebrating the release of the record early this morning. “We were like, at the top of the year let's just drop an EP to hold everyone tight until we drop the sophomore mid-year.”VICE: 2017 was a breakout year for you. Do you feel like it lived up to your expectations
SPYCC: Last year was crazy. It was definitely a rollercoaster ride, and with everything that's happening, sometimes it's hard to fully see because we're so lost in it. We're just trying to progress and get better and do bigger things. We never really have time to reflect on the achievements. But in looking back at it, it was a crazy year for us. We got two Tuis, dropped an amazing album, toured, and went to Australia.There's a line in your new song 'Conquer' where you reference Aaradhna's speech at the 2016 music awards where she spoke out against being categorised as “urban” . Was that something that you can relate to?
SPYCC: I think that's just a thing with hip-hop, really. I just think it was really cool that she spoke up about it, especially because the genre of music that she makes is not even hip-hop. It didn't really make sense for her to receive that award when the genre is completely different.Was that moment was a turning point for you?
Definitely. That was a historical moment. It was crazy, in a way, that we were part of it. You can see last year how they changed the awards; that in itself says everything.Did you feel like there was some backlash after all that went down?
It wasn't like there was a super backlash. It was just comments from people who weren't aware of us and don't know who we were. It was just people saying ‘these dudes are ungrateful’–that kind of thing. This was the first time we'd ever gone to the awards and been nominated and then Aaradhna’s on stage doing this massive speech and then says ‘I want to give it to SWIDT’. It's like, how are you supposed to respond to that in that moment? It wasn't until afterwards when we were backstage when we were like did that just happen?It must feel pretty special, like you say in the song, to double back and win two awards the following year.
For sure, because it's facts. It's a factual line. I always crack up because we're just like ‘Radz is a prophet’. The fact that she was like ‘SWIDT's the future of NZ hip-hop’ and the next year we came back and got two.I was watching on TV and you guys looked like you were one of the only ones in the room really having fun.
Man, that's just us in general. People gotta remember that we're all childhood friends. We grew up houses apart from each other our whole life and we get to go on this journey together. To us, it's always fun. It's not like we need other people there. We can just have fun on our own. So being at the awards was us just being us, pretty much.How did you guys celebrate your wins that night?
INF: I don't think any of us can remember.C’mon, you've got to give us more than that.
We got completely turnt at the after party. I mean, so much was happening, you can't really think properly. You don't know what to say and you don't know what to do. Something just takes over and you become a whole different type of entity.
When you rolled up to the awards that night, it was in a Discount Taxi van, which is something else you reference in ‘Conquer’. Most people splash out and show up in a limo to those events. What made you decide not to?
We don't need to be flashy. We don't come from flash backgrounds or anything. We didn't really grow up in a fancy neighbourhood. They offer artists a limousine, but of course, us being us, we just stick to our true form. It was the right thing to do, showing up in a taxi. Just like how we show up to a house party in a taxi.You've talked in the past about wanting to have the same impact on New Zealand hip-hop that Scribe had back in the day. Do you feel like you're there yet?
SPYCC: Nah, I don't feel like we're there. We're definitely climbing, though. I don't think we'll ever know if we're there. That stuff is for the public to decide, but the wave that Scribe had was definitely something to aspire to. It's not so much that we want to be exactly like Scribe, just something of that stature.You must have some die-hard fans already. Have you ever had a strange run-in with one of them?
INF: I don't know if we have any crazy fans. It's just people that really, really love to talk your ear off. You can't really hear what they're saying because of the loud music. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying I can't hear what you're saying, bro. All you can do is go ‘thanks man, thanks for spitting in my ear’. It's all love, though. They easily could've not known who we are and not been fans of our music, so we appreciate it and we're humbled that people feel the need to actually come up and share their feelings about how much they like our music. Respect to that.You're relentlessly motivated. Is there anything that gets you down?
SPYCC: I think the only thing that gets us down is seeing Boomer with his shirt on. We get anxiety. Nah, we're all just on the same wavelength in terms of what we want to do, what we want to achieve and stuff like that. First off, this is our passion. This is what we love doing. Secondly, we're doing it with the people that we love, that we grew up with and that are our friends. It's just this continuous force of bouncing energy off each other and just being like, yo, let's take this to the top.I feel motivated just from having this conversation.
That's our next step: we're going to start a motivational group, Stoney Robbins.I gotta say, waving your Tuis around in the video for ‘Conquer’ feels like an iconic moment in NZ music history.
That shit was fun. We had to do it. It's like you get these great achievements and awards and stuff, and it's like you're supposed to hide them away or something. It's so funny, people's attitudes towards it. It's like, do you know how much work we put in behind the scenes to get to that place where we even got nominated? To us, it's like why not? People wear expensive clothes and expensive jewellery. They get tattoos to show off. It's like, why can't we show off an achievement?Now that you've won all of these awards, what's on the top of your to-do list?
It's just to take this music international. That's the goal.
Advertisement
SPYCC: Last year was crazy. It was definitely a rollercoaster ride, and with everything that's happening, sometimes it's hard to fully see because we're so lost in it. We're just trying to progress and get better and do bigger things. We never really have time to reflect on the achievements. But in looking back at it, it was a crazy year for us. We got two Tuis, dropped an amazing album, toured, and went to Australia.There's a line in your new song 'Conquer' where you reference Aaradhna's speech at the 2016 music awards where she spoke out against being categorised as “urban” . Was that something that you can relate to?
SPYCC: I think that's just a thing with hip-hop, really. I just think it was really cool that she spoke up about it, especially because the genre of music that she makes is not even hip-hop. It didn't really make sense for her to receive that award when the genre is completely different.Was that moment was a turning point for you?
Definitely. That was a historical moment. It was crazy, in a way, that we were part of it. You can see last year how they changed the awards; that in itself says everything.Did you feel like there was some backlash after all that went down?
It wasn't like there was a super backlash. It was just comments from people who weren't aware of us and don't know who we were. It was just people saying ‘these dudes are ungrateful’–that kind of thing. This was the first time we'd ever gone to the awards and been nominated and then Aaradhna’s on stage doing this massive speech and then says ‘I want to give it to SWIDT’. It's like, how are you supposed to respond to that in that moment? It wasn't until afterwards when we were backstage when we were like did that just happen?
Advertisement
For sure, because it's facts. It's a factual line. I always crack up because we're just like ‘Radz is a prophet’. The fact that she was like ‘SWIDT's the future of NZ hip-hop’ and the next year we came back and got two.I was watching on TV and you guys looked like you were one of the only ones in the room really having fun.
Man, that's just us in general. People gotta remember that we're all childhood friends. We grew up houses apart from each other our whole life and we get to go on this journey together. To us, it's always fun. It's not like we need other people there. We can just have fun on our own. So being at the awards was us just being us, pretty much.How did you guys celebrate your wins that night?
INF: I don't think any of us can remember.C’mon, you've got to give us more than that.
We got completely turnt at the after party. I mean, so much was happening, you can't really think properly. You don't know what to say and you don't know what to do. Something just takes over and you become a whole different type of entity.
We don't need to be flashy. We don't come from flash backgrounds or anything. We didn't really grow up in a fancy neighbourhood. They offer artists a limousine, but of course, us being us, we just stick to our true form. It was the right thing to do, showing up in a taxi. Just like how we show up to a house party in a taxi.
Advertisement
SPYCC: Nah, I don't feel like we're there. We're definitely climbing, though. I don't think we'll ever know if we're there. That stuff is for the public to decide, but the wave that Scribe had was definitely something to aspire to. It's not so much that we want to be exactly like Scribe, just something of that stature.You must have some die-hard fans already. Have you ever had a strange run-in with one of them?
INF: I don't know if we have any crazy fans. It's just people that really, really love to talk your ear off. You can't really hear what they're saying because of the loud music. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying I can't hear what you're saying, bro. All you can do is go ‘thanks man, thanks for spitting in my ear’. It's all love, though. They easily could've not known who we are and not been fans of our music, so we appreciate it and we're humbled that people feel the need to actually come up and share their feelings about how much they like our music. Respect to that.You're relentlessly motivated. Is there anything that gets you down?
SPYCC: I think the only thing that gets us down is seeing Boomer with his shirt on. We get anxiety. Nah, we're all just on the same wavelength in terms of what we want to do, what we want to achieve and stuff like that. First off, this is our passion. This is what we love doing. Secondly, we're doing it with the people that we love, that we grew up with and that are our friends. It's just this continuous force of bouncing energy off each other and just being like, yo, let's take this to the top.I feel motivated just from having this conversation.
That's our next step: we're going to start a motivational group, Stoney Robbins.I gotta say, waving your Tuis around in the video for ‘Conquer’ feels like an iconic moment in NZ music history.
That shit was fun. We had to do it. It's like you get these great achievements and awards and stuff, and it's like you're supposed to hide them away or something. It's so funny, people's attitudes towards it. It's like, do you know how much work we put in behind the scenes to get to that place where we even got nominated? To us, it's like why not? People wear expensive clothes and expensive jewellery. They get tattoos to show off. It's like, why can't we show off an achievement?Now that you've won all of these awards, what's on the top of your to-do list?
It's just to take this music international. That's the goal.
