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Swing Mob was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included…
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Swing Mob (sometimes known as Da Bassment Cru) was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included Missy Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major and the rest of Playa, Darryl Pearson, Mike "Funky Mike" Jackson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy…
Swing Mob was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included Missy Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major and the rest of Playa, Darryl Pearson, Mike "Funky Mike" Jackson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy Douglass, Stevie J, Maija Max, Renee Anderson, Bazaar Royale and Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott among others, although the group's full membership has never been documented comprehensively. A list of some known artists in Swing Mob at the time
Swing Mob (sometimes known as Da Bassment Cru) was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included Missy Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major and the rest of Playa, Darryl Pearson, Mike "Funky Mike" Jackson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy Douglass, Stevie J, Maija Max, Renee Anderson, Bazaar Royale and Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott among others, although the group's full membership has never been documented comprehensively. A list of some known artists in Swing Mob at the time of the group's activity can be found in the liner notes of Jodeci's third studio album, The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel (1995).
In the early 1990s, DeVante Swing decided to assemble a large crew of rappers, singers, instrumentalists and producer to sign to his Swing Mob label and collaborate with. He auditioned many local groups and acts. The performers met in Swing's basement studio in Rochester, a location that inspired the moniker "Da Bassment Cru" (also a pun on bass). The group brainstormed and recorded music together in Swing's studio, ultimately aiming to produce a VHS compilation project that could market the group members to record labels. Acts who were recruited into Da Bassment Cru included Jodeci, the R&B groups Fayze (later renamed to Sista) which was a group Missy Elliott was in, Playa, the rap duo Timbaland & Magoo, R&B group Sugah which members included famous singer Tweet, rock artist Baazar Royale, solo underground rappers Mr.Brendal & Accion, solo female rapper Reeboc and singer Ginuwine. Swing Mob also recruited record producers and audio engineers such as Jimmy Douglass and Stevie J. During this time, Swing also met Rochester School Of The Arts graduate Renee Anderson through Paul Boutte, a prominent figure in the Rochester gospel scene, producer Reginald Moore and Dave Schumaker. Anderson was a member of Colorz, a local R&B girl group at the time. Moore played Anderson's demo for Swing backstage during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Swing then flew back to Rochester to meet Anderson, agreeing to produce an album for her.
From 1993 to 1995, the collective crew released multiple collaborative EPs, though many of these were commercially unsuccessful. In 1994, Sista released its sole album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World; this album received positive reviews but was shelved due to a lack of commercial success. Swing Mob members also featured on film soundtracks during this period, with their music appearing in titles such as Above the Rim and Dangerous Minds.
Source: Swing Mob (CC BY-SA)
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The Swing Mob label dissolved in 1995. Artists such as Missy Elliott (who had been a member of Sista) Timbaland & Magoo, and Ginuwine had begun to leave the group and pursue musical careers elsewhere, and other artists from the collective stated that they felt Swing was underpromoting or mismanaging them. Smoke E. Digglera of Playa has stated that artists were forced to choose whether they wanted to sign directly to Def Jam or through Swing Mob instead, weakening some acts' loyalty to the Swing Mob brand. Since the disbandment of the collective, Swing has also been accused of physically abusive behavior toward his artists. Stevie J has described an incident in which Swing purportedly entered the studio with his entourage and began slapping the artists, a situation which devolved into an all-out brawl.
After the dissolution of Swing Mob, its former artists collaborated, with Playa, Elliott, Timbaland, Magoo and Ginuwine forming the collective Superfriends in 1996. The founding members would add a few more members to the new roster which included Nicole Wray, N.E.R.D., the Clipse, Shaunta Montgomery, Sebastian, Danja Mowf, DJ Lonnie B, Tweet, and rising R&B artist Aaliyah. The collective began working with each other and collaborating on each other's recordings, keeping the features within the group, and often appearing in each other music videos.
The first collaboration under the Suparfriendz name took place on Timbaland & Magoo's 1997 single "Up Jumps da Boogie", in which Elliott and Ginuwine provided background vocals and made appearances in the music video. Also providing background vocals was Aaliyah, who had become affiliated with the former Swing Mob roster after Timbaland produced her 1996 album One in a Million. Missy Elliott, who had served as a writer and background vocalist on One in a Million, went on to release her debut solo album, Supa Dupa Fly, in 1997. A critical and commercial success that featured production from both Elliott and Timbaland, this album helped to raise the profile of the collective. While affiliated with the Supafriendz collective, Playa released the 1998 album Cheers 2 U. Playa member Static Major also served as a songwriter for many other members of the collective, contributing writing to Ginuwine's "Pony" and many of Aaliyah's songs from this period. Nicole Wray and Tweet also released music during the Supafriendz' period of peak activity.
Aaliyah, who had become a core member of the Superfriends due to her commercial success, died in 2001. This loss shook the collective, and its members gradually began to drift apart in the aftermath.
Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and Static Major were actively been involved in majority of the collective works, with Timbaland serving as the predominant producer on majority of the songs on multiple albu
