****SWANNI SWISHA AUTO BIOGRAPHY & TRUE STORY****

Swanni Swisha began making music the old fashioned way, in his mom's garage. At the young age of 10 years old, he played clarinet, was a record-holding track runner, church choir singer at Union Baptist Church , an A+ student, and began performing at elementary talent shows at Casa Loma Elementary School by lip singing to old school rap tunes by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock . While attending School at Curran Junior High , Swanni, then named AshTrey, linked with with music friends De'Monte and a neighborhood kid named Troll. In 1989, Troll and Swanni would spend the day during JR high school freestyling and writing lyrics in the park. Though it was a short-lived friendship after Troll landed time in jail, Swanni continued to develop his freestyle and writing skills. Still developing his own style, he wasn't yet ready to take his songs to the stage.
During the summer before high school, he befriended 'Monte, a nearby BMX bike racer who lived on the next block who also had an interest in music. Living in Bakersfield at the time, there weren't many music opportunities for young artists. Though Hollywood was only 1 1/2 hours south, it seemed light years away from a city where only a handfull of Hip Hop acts ever made it to the big time, such as DJs The Baka Boyz . In fact, the odds were slim for young minorities. The area he grew up in called, The Country, was run by the notorious gang Country Boy Crips (C.B.C.). Gang feuds, drive-by shootings, and drugs were rampant. With the advice of his protective older brother, a street boss at the time, Swanni managed to avoid many of the pitfalls of the neighborhood. Being one of the few kids from the neighborhood who was accepted in all neighborhoods, including feuding gang territories, because he was known for making good music, Swanni grew to appreciate the freedom music provided him.
Swanni and 'Monte began hanging out with Groove City, a team a local famed Disc Jockeys who deejayed large parties throughout California. Groove City was led by Vernon Green, a DJ and producer. Vernon introduced Swanni and 'Monte to the art of mixing and making music. Swanni was most intrigued by making music and but, production equipment was expensive so they both formed a DJ duo, known as AshTrey and DJ Gold, with two old turntables, one from each of them, and tower speakers they built using old speakers they bought at pawn shops and wood they constructed using their old wood shop class skills and began deejaying house parties for $200 per gig. It didn't take long for word to spread that this DJ duo was hot. They gained recognition by playing the latest hits and underground rap no other DJ would play at the time. In no time they were in high demand in the city and the youngest DJs on the scene. With that demand came local fame and enough money to invest in better equipment. Jay and Butch, neighborhood gang leaders approached Swanni and offered to build a studio so Swanni could produce records for neighborhood artists. Swanni saw this as an opportunity to help the hood do something positive and took the offer. Unfortunately, the streets were so active at the time, he had a hard time getting artists out of the streets and into the studio. The studio was closed so Swanni decided to save his own money to buy equipment and produce his own CD. 'Monte and "Ashtrey" would later disolve their friendship. Swanni changed his name from Ashtrey and took on his nickname, "Swanni" as his stage name, added Swisha to the end and developed himself as a solo rap artist.
At the age of 17, Swanni began lighting up the California music scene winning talent competitions and landing opening performances for artists like DJ Quik , Mary J. Blige , Jay Z , Warren G , and Ludacris . He then completed his first musical work by the age of 19 titled, LOW DIRTY WAYZ. This first release was a Mini-LP release on self-owned WildWildLife Records and Diamond Boy Records owned by Charles "Mugie" Dickerson, a lead guitar player from the band Black Diamond. Musician and lifelong friend, Mugie, provided the studio and music direction which developed Swanni into a solo artists. LOW DIRTY WAYZ was a self-produced 4-song CD which Swanni produced while he studied Communications & Mass Marketing at California State University-Bakersfield . LOW DIRTY WAYZ was financed and bar coded with the help of his family. It was manufactured by DiscMakers and distributed through Blockbuster and Music Warehouse retail outlets as well as mom and pop stores in California. Though the CD wasn't a platinum seller, it did get the attention of music industry execs and opened the door for many opportunities. Taking a grass roots approach, Swanni took his music to any stage available, traveling throughout California and Nevada to perform. During this time, Swanni featured on many independent releases such as releases by 8oz. , Swerve Records, D-Rock, and JD to name a few. His second official CD release, came years later after being introduced to a Los Angeles business owner named KP.
In 2002, while performing at a Los Angeles event, Swanni's music manager Kreshell Ramey of K!R Management, introduced Swanni to Tamara Fisher, a dynamic songwriter and author. Tarmara was currently writing R&B music for Sixela Records and introduced Swanni to her boyfriend KP, the CFO and financial backer of the label. Soon after, Swanni would graduate from college and move to West Los Angeles to live his uncle in South Central Los Angeles. After landing a lucrative job with WorldCom, he would relocate to West LA's Culver City and begin negotiations with Sixela Records. After signing a partnership with Sixela Records in 2003, it changed his direction in music.
Swanni was use to being a one-man show, from producing to performing to marketing and distribution, he was doing it all himself. With Sixela he was now a part of a hotbed of talent with a roster of rappers, singers, and writers. Sixela (the backward spelling of Alexis, the first daughter of the founding CEO, Eric Jefferson) was an independent label, but it operated like a major label with nationwide music connections, an online music distribution partnership directly with CD Baby owner Derek Sivers and movie soundtrack placements. The record company held weekly meetings, balanced the financial books, performed regularly, with a busy studio of artists recording constantly back-to-back to complete their albums. The label was growing and their flagship artists LAX who released FROM SCRATCH and G-Quest who released HUMBLE BEGINNINGS had already released explosive albums and gained notoriety on the music scene. LAX, though a rapper, was the only producer on the roster and he was working diligently on his second release. Artists were waiting in line to release on the label. Although there were plenty of artists, the label needed another producer who could fill in the gaps and deliver a variety of hip hop and R&B for their many acts. Swanni was brought on to fill in this gap and in return offered a deal to complete his long-awaited full album THE PROFESSIONAL.
Swanni's music business knowledge he gained from promoting himself caught the attention of CFO, KP who advanced Swanni up the ranks and offered him the CEO position and business partner at the label. It was at this time Sixela Records incorporated into Sixela, Inc. giving the new entity the ability to expand into other business ventures on the horizon. In 2005 Sixela, Inc. did what many independent labels couldn't do, it released and distributed five timeless albums at once. The shotgun campaign release launched the careers of R&B artists John Williams, Anduwan Jackson, Mocha, and Lewis Carter, Rap group The Leftovers, and marked Swanni Swisha's first full album release. The successful releases were distributed online as music was exploding on the internet with sites such as CDbaby.com, Myspace.com, and Amazon.com. Hard copy CDs were distributed using an inside connection KP had with an international distributor to ship CDs to China and Japan. With so much talent on the roster, Swanni decided the label needed its own nightclub in Los Angeles. He negotiated a deal with a LA club owner his brother introduced him to named named Bene' who owned Mixed Nuts. Located on Washington Blvd just off Crenshaw Blvd, it was a perfect central location to house Sixela's talent. Sixela now had a place to showcase its talent every weekend. This was a strategic move to strengthen Sixela artists' fan base where fans could interact with different Sixela artists every week and provide a stage for new up-and-coming artists to show their talent. Though business was good, Swanni saw other ventures in the horizon and after years in the music industry was ready to step out into new territories.
Sixela, Inc's CFO KP shared a vision to now venture into real estate during one of the largest Real Estate booms the country had seen. Swanni stepped down as CEO or the label and the two developed a new branch of Sixela, Inc investments. With property in Los Angeles, Houston, and Missouri, the two are planning new locations such as nightclubs, restaurants, and other properties. As for music, Swanni has since moved from California to Houston, Tx in 2006 and put away his music production equipment and turned off his microphone. Though music will always be in his heart, he will tell you, he never saw music as a lifelong career. Music, for Swanni, is an adventure and a gateway to even more possibilities. This page features cuts from his most recent recordings such as DRIVE ME CRAZY and GROWN MAN. These were recorded in 2009 at his home studio, tracks he chose not to promote or release. Perhaps we haven't seen the last of Swanni the rap artist and producer. But, you can bet you have not heard the last of Swanni the artist. A film company is in the works and you may soon see his work on a big screen near you. Stay tuned.
For Music Related Inquiries Contact: Linda Palmieri of T.O.C. at Email [email protected].
LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES OR PURCHASE "THE PROFESSIONAL" AT WWW.cdbaby.com/cd/swanniswisha