The Cold Cut

Derek Andrew Safo, also known as Sway (DeSafo), is a multi-talented 25 year old who is destined for big things. A Muslim hip hop rapper who was born in London from Ghanian descent, even at the age of 25 Sway has still had huge amounts of success in the music industry; Initially a producer, Sway started his career by writing beats for up and coming rappers, but then set about becoming one himself by entering rap battles on the London MC circuit. In 2005, Sway won the MOBO for Best Hip-Hop Act even before he had released his first album, beating critically acclaimed people such as 50 Cent and The Game to the title, before going on to release 'This Is My Demo', his first album- an underground success in its own right.

Another remarkable trait that Sway possesses (other than the obvious ability to rap/freestyle) is his ambition. Whilst writing his first album, Sway set up his own record label, recording at his home using his own equipment and a computer. His first set of mixtapes, such as 'This Is My Promo', are excellent, and received play on the UK's pirate radio stations, as Sway had no record label to market him- It's really great that someone can succeed without the aid of a record company: last year Sway was nominated for the Mercury Award- he lost out to the Arctic Monkeys- but I thought that he had a fair chance of winning. His music is so good purely because of the raps on it; sure, the production is good, but it wouldn't mean anything if you couldn't understand and connect with what Sway was saying.

I have included a couple of Sway's best tracks off of 'This Is My Demo': if you like them, be sure to let me know, as I think Sway is a huge talent which is relatively undiscovered...

Sway- Download.mp3
Sway- Sick World.mp3

You can buy Sway's excellent first album over at Play.com