Swingfly
| Swingfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Stockholm, Sweden (New York City) |
| Genres | Hip hop, alternative rock, electronic music |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Years active | 1991 – Present |
| Labels |
EMI Sweden Dolores Recordings |
| Associated acts | Teddybears, Blacknuss, ADL, Dr Alban |
Ricardo DaSilva II better known by his stage name Swingfly is an American-born and Swedish naturalized rapper and singer. He is also known by other aliases like Swing-Fly, Richie Pasta and Swing. He started lending his vocal talents to other artists' records, but has also developed also a solo career. He also appeared in Melodifestivalen 2011 with "Me and My Drum" finishing fifth. It became his most successful single reaching the No.2 position on the Swedish Singles Chart.[1]
Early career
Ricardo DaSilva II was born in New York. He has also lived in Trinidad & Tobago and Panama before relocating to Stockholm, Sweden in 1991.[2] In Stockholm, he became involved in the emerging hip hop scene and joined the Timebomb collective, together with producer Christian Falk, rapper ADL, DJ Sleepy among others. Three singles were released and one of them was Swingfly's "Smoke 'em Swing", a jazzy number produced by Christian Falk.[3] A series of albums was planned when the record label bailed out.
Under the name Swing, he teamed up with Dr. Alban in 1995 and recorded Euro-disco hit "Sweet Dreams" featuring Dr. Alban (a cover of the classic Eurythmics' song) which peaked at No.12 in Sweden.[4] This took him into the pop charts in number of European countries including the Netherlands where the singles peaked at No.44.[4]
In 1996 Swingfly appeared on several tracks of ADL’s "Absent Minded" project. Due to a small hit via a Hugo Boss commercial, "Absent Minded" hit the road supporting Fugees European tour in 1996.[5] Swingfly was featured on several tracks on all three albums with soul-jazz collective Blacknuss All-Stars (later known as Blacknuss), as well as being a frequent contributor to their live shows around Europe and the UK.[6]
He achieved his biggest success, through a collaboration with the electro/dub/punk trio Teddybears on their 2004 single "Hey Boy".[7] This song became one of the most played tracks on Swedish radio that summer. The song "Hey Boy" has been listed for 21 weeks on the Sweden Singles Top 60 and peaked at #13.[8] Swingfly has since then toured Sweden, Europe and the United States with Teddybears and their spin-off project Teddybears STHLM Soundsystem.[9]
Solo career
This led to him landing a record deal with the largely rock oriented label Dolores Recordings. The label had been responsible for launching several Swedish-based artists international career such as Caesars, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and I'm From Barcelona. Through Dolores, he released a few singles and an album was planned for 2006 but was stalled. The singles he released had relative success in the Scandinavian charts.[10] A reworked version of the album was planned to be released in 2008 featuring production from RamPac, Klas Åhlund of Teddybears fame, Kleerup, Rampac and Thomas Rusiak with a rock and punk flavour and electronica influences. But again it was shelved after his arrest on drug charges.[11] The album God bless the IRS finally came out on 29 April 2009.[12]
Melodifestivalen 2011
He participated in Melodifestivalen 2011 with the song "Me and My Drum". The song prominently featured the vocals of Christoffer Hiding but without crediting him specifically in the competition credits. Swingfly placed second in the first semi-final, and advanced to the Final and where he came fifth overall.[13]
Despite failure to win, the song gained great popularity and was released as a single reaching #2 on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart.[14]
In popular culture
- Swingfly has contributed rap vocals on many artists songs. A few of them are Dr. Alban, Taro, Blacknuss, Robyn, Freddie Cruger,[15] Absent Minded, Looptroop, Ken, Lutricia McNeal, The Compilation album Sidewalk Headliners and Teddybears.
- The track "Singing That Melody", came out in summer 2008. One year before its European release, Korean artist Tony An recorded a Korean language cover of the song. This has led to a confusion as to whose version is the original. "Singing That Melody" is written by Ramstrom/Magnusson/Swingfly/Beal
- His songs has been featured in an episodes of Private Practice, One Tree Hill, broadcasts from NASCAR, Fox Sports, ESPN, NFL, and the video game FIFA Street 2[16]
- His songs were also used in ads for T.G.I. Friday's, Captain Morgan and Cingular Wireless and also in Tic Tac’s East European commercials.[17][18]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [19] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | God Bless the IRS | – |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Awesomeness - An Introduction to Swingfly | 12 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singles
(as Swingfly except where indicated)
| Year | Single | Credited as | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [19] |
NED [20] | ||||
| 1991 | "Smoke 'em Swing" / "Timebomb" | Swing Fly | – | – | Non-album release |
| 1995 | "Sweet Dreams" | Swing feat. Dr. Alban | 12 | 44 | Non-album release |
| 1997 | "Street Life" | Swingfly* | 46 | – | Non-album release |
| 2000 | "S.W.I.N.G - Fly" | Swing-Fly | – | – | Non-album release |
| 2002 | "Come Get It" / "It's Alright" | Swing-Fly feat. 8-Off Agallah & AYO / Swing-Fly feat. Dappa Don |
– | – | Non-album release |
| 2006 | "Something's Got Me Started" | Swingfly | 22 | – | God Bless the IRS |
| "Save the Trees" | – | – | |||
| 2008 | "Singing That Melody" | 12 | – | ||
| "Winner" | – | – | |||
| 2009 | "Touch and Go" | 45 | – | ||
| 2011 | "Me and My Drum" | Swingfly* | 2 | – | Awesomeness - An Introduction to Swingfly |
| "Little Did I Know" | Swingfly* | – | – | ||
| 2013 | "God Damn Beautiful" | Swingfly | – | – | TBA |
*Uncredited on release -
Featuring Lutricia McNeal (on "Street Life"),
Featuring Christoffer Hiding (on "Me and My Drum")
Featuring Pauline and Christoffer Hiding (on "Little Did I Know")
- Featured in
| Year | Single | Credited to | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [19] | ||||
| 1991 | "Hard Copy" / "Safe Sex" | Twin Tower Records feat. MC Swing Fly | – | Non-album release |
| 2004 | "Hey Boy" | Teddybears STHLM feat. Swingfly | 13 | Non-album release |
References
- ↑ "Swingfly: Me and My Drum (Single)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
- ↑ Dolores Recordings: DaSilva biography
- ↑ Majestic Flow: TIMEBOMB
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Swing Feat. Dr. Alban (Single)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
- ↑ hd.se - Hajpad och hemlig veteran (Swedish)
- ↑ «Planet Of Hits» // Artists // Blacknuss
- ↑ Teddybears - Home
- ↑ Teddybears Sthlm and Swing Fly - Hey Boy - Music Charts
- ↑ Amplifier Magazine: TEDDYBEARS (LIVE)
- ↑ aCharts.us: Swing Fly - Music Charts
- ↑ Realtid: Fängelse för Sanna Bråding (Swedish)
- ↑ Refrängstark elektrohiphop av Swingfly (in Swedish)
- ↑ Siim, Jarmo (2010-10-07). "First four entries for Sweden announced". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ↑ [SwedishCharts.com Swingfly - "Me and My Drum" page]
- ↑ inthemix | Features | Freddie Cruger: A better dancer than Fred Astaire?
- ↑ HEXUS.gaming - Press Release :: Fifa Street 2's International soundtrack : Page - 1/1
- ↑ Commercial Break / Listeria: Ten Commercials I’ll Be Glad Not to Have Rammed Down My Throat Anymore « Intensities in Ten Suburbs
- ↑ SMFF | Swedish Music Publishers Association | December 2005
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Swingfly discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ↑ "Swing discography". sutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2013.