Posted by “Honestly, I didn’t really have a plan, usually I write songs and send them out to different artists to see if they want to record them,” muses the instantly infectious Pink Sweat$.
“But when I wrote ‘Cocaine’, it just connected with how my life was at that moment in time living out in L.A.”
That song sparked a journey that has seen the Philadelphia-born superstar-in-waiting go from songwriter extraordinaire to music’s next hottest thing, all within the space of a couple of years.
Now sitting with two (albeit short) projects under his belt, Sweat$ has built up a loyal and dedicated fan base and amassed millions of streams in the process.
Both of his EPs (‘Volume 1’ and ‘2’), are often boxed in as R&B due to the soulful nature of his voice, but he is quick to break out of any kind of genre restrictions.
“When I was a songwriter I could write several different genres in just one day,” he asserts. “I could be in a session with a rapper, then I could go into a country session in the SAME day. As an artist, I don’t see the barriers.
Some people don’t realise that you can make whatever kind of music you want to. All you gotta do is just listen to my track ‘I Know’, that’s nowhere near sounding like R&B; it couldn’t be further from it.”
Sweat$ started out life in a “mad Christian” household, where his parents didn’t allow him to listen to any explicit music, only managing to listen to the likes of 50 Cent at his uncle’s house.
So, what do his parents make of their son’s chosen career? “Man, it’s typical shit,” he laughs, “they’re hype and excited! There’s a lot of people who came from a similar background, they just don’t speak about it. The parents ALWAYS come around, they hope you do something that shows them it’s not just a fling.”
What’s next on the Sweat$ journey to global domination? “I’ve got a couple of singles that aren’t related to the album that I might drop,” he reveals, “just so people aren’t waiting around for new music.”
Where: Philadelphia
What: Genre-bending R&B
Get 3 Songs: ‘Body Ain’t Me’, ‘I Know’, ‘Cocaine’
Fact: Pink Sweat$ used to play drums at his local church group.
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BTS Next Wave Issue 113 with Tommy Jeans
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Words: Mike Wood
Photography: Sophie Mayanne
Fashion: Zarina Shukri
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