Born in Philadelphia, shaped by Los Angeles, and now immersed in Brooklyn, DJ Swisha is known for his high-octane, cross-genre approach to club music. His fast-paced sets and productions span footwork, house, jungle, Jersey/Baltimore club, ghetto house and more. Over the past decade, he has built a reputation for polyrhythmic, nostalgic, dancefloor-ready tracks that never compromise on a hard-hitting beat. On April 11, the beat hits Bucharest as aim+wall presents DJ Swisha at Control Club.
DJ Swisha initially made waves under Swisha Sweet, releasing bootleg edits and footwork tracks on his Bandcamp and SoundCloud. (He would later add the “DJ” to avoid a trademark dispute with the Swisher Sweets cigar company.) Born into a musical household, he became a drummer as a child. His earliest tracks began surfacing online around 2015, catching the attention of artists in the Juke Bounce Werk crew – a collective of uptempo, bass-heavy dance producers (including founders DJ Noir, Jae Drago and others) - who provided an early platform for his footwork and Jersey club experiments. By 2016–2017, he was contributing box-fresh footwork beats and club edits to JBW compilations and honing his DJ skills in the online underground, refining a style blurring the rapid-fire drums of Chicago footwork with the booty-shaking bounce of East Coast club music.
By 2018, Swisha had emerged as one of the underground’s most intriguing new voices. Releases like the Digital Space and the sample-heavy Weird Flex EP showcased his range from 160 BPM footwork to sleek techno. By this time, he had relocated to New York City, plugging into a network of young producers who were revitalizing the local scene. The move put him in close company with friends and future collaborators like Kush Jones, MoMA Ready, and AceMo, forming a tight-knit circle of DJs/producers pushing a new hybrid sound.
In 2020, Swisha reached a milestone, signing with A-Trak's Fool’s Gold Records. The resulting EP, Nothing But Net, delivered a fast, rude, and infectious record. Its standout track, Crypto, featuring Philly MC Bahamadia, proved Swisha’s consistent ability to bridge musical worlds, acting as a bridge between rap’s golden age and a future-facing club sound.
Despite this breakthrough, Swisha hasn’t strayed from the independent DIY spirit. He continues to drop projects via Bandcamp, often bundled with exclusive merch or DJ tools. His long-running Assorted Flavors series is a lab for experimentation. His playful approach to sampling—drawing from classic hip-hop, quirky internet memes, and iconic pop-culture snippets—produces anthems that balance humor with dancefloor credibility, exemplified by tracks like his infamous Jersey club flip of the Crazy Frog ringtone.
Even as his solo work garnered attention, DJ Swisha remained deeply collaborative in New York’s electronic landscape, notably through the collective HAUS of ALTR alongside AceMo and MoMa Ready. Their energetic, collaborative DJ sets at places like The Lot Radio see effortless tag-teaming through genres at breakneck speed. In 2022, all four teamed up on a production: Good One, a track that contributed to the HAUS of ALTR's 21st release.
Swisha’s more recent output reflects an artist increasingly confident. His 2023 collaborative EP (Respectfully) with Kush Jones plays like a love letter to the club, full of rolling breaks, lush chords, and a 160-BPM groove. Similarly, his joint project with AceMo, the Expert Level EP, saw the two going head-to-head on crunchy Brooklyn techno, juke, and hardcore breaks.
As a DJ, Swisha is a firestarter. His sets at Poland’s Unsound Festival, Berlin’s HÖR, Belgium’s Horst Festival, and countless North American venues showcase speed, technical flair, and a love of tension and release. His style is unbound. Without warning, he might pivot from Baltimore club to jungle to Miami bass, but the throughline is always rhythm. Locally, he and his peers represent a new vanguard of Black and POC artists redefining what East Coast dance music can be. Internationally, Swisha carries the torch for a reimagined club lineage.
Looking ahead, Swisha’s creative trajectory remains dynamic. His recent release, YUNG OLDHEAD, further refined his footwork/hip-hop fusion. He has also hosted shows on London’s Rinse FM, a nod to his growing influence across the Atlantic.
