Swollen Members

Swollen Members

Swollen Members are a hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting principally of the duo Mad Child and Prevail. They have been called "two of the most innovative people in hip-hop". Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only and producer Rob The Viking, an official group member since 2002. Since the group's formation in 1999, Swollen Members has released four studio albums and one compilation, which consists mainly of B-sides as well as three new songs.

History

Swollen Members was founded in the mid-1990s by Vancouverites Mad Child (Shane Bunting), Prevail (Kiley Hendriks), and Moka Only (Daniel Denton). Having begun a solo career while living in San Francisco, California, Mad Child returned to Vancouver to work. There he met Prevail and Moka Only, who had been working together. They joined together under the name Swollen Members. Soon after, however, Moka Only decided he wanted to pursue a solo career and left the group.

In 1996, Mad Child and Prevail went to the B-Boy Summit in San Diego, California, where Mad Child won several rap battles and was initiated into the Rock Steady Crew. The crew is held in great respect as hip hop's highest collective - to join one must win a contest of skill against one of the highest ranked members. Swollen Members is one of only three rap groups affiliated with Rock Steady, Others include Dilated Peoples and The Arsonists.

That same year, the duo began recording their first tracks, with help from many of their friends from the scene - MCs, DJs, and producers, including Rob the Viking. Rob would continue to work with the group through the years, eventually joining them officially. Their first releases were three 12" singles on Mad Child's record label Battleaxe Records, then came the debut album Balance in 1999.

Balance received wide critical acclaim and has been claimed by the band to have sold in excess of 50,000 copies. Featuring collaborations with artists such as Everlast, Divine Styler, and Dilated Peoples, the album received the 2001 Juno Award for Best Rap Recording.

Following Balance, Swollen Members recorded and released Bad Dreams, released on November 13, 2001, and featuring guests such as Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Son Doobie, Joey Chavez, and former member Moka Only. It appealed to both underground and mainstream audiences, with several singles reaching platinum status in Canada. The album earned Swollen Members their second Juno Award and four MuchMusic Video Awards.

2002's Monsters In The Closet, their third release, brought official group membership for Moka Only and Rob The Viking to Swollen Members. Monsters In The Closet was a collection of B-sides and outtakes along with three new songs, one of which featured British Columbian Nelly Furtado. Production credits include Evidence from Dilated Peoples.

2003 brought Heavy, again released to critical acclaim and good sales, though many fans felt that Swollen Members had removed many elements of the style which had been so rewarding in the past. In the same year the songs "All Night" and "Deep End" were featured in the videogame SSX3. In 2004, the Swollen Members song "Bottom Line" was featured in the videogames WWE Day of Reckoning and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw.

In 2005, Moka Only decided to break off from the group for a second time and continue work on his solo career. The following year, Swollen Members released their fifth full album, Black Magic. It is understood that Mad Child and Prevail made an attempt to return to their previously critically acclaimed style and method. Their previous album Heavy is unlisted on their official site discography. A single from the album, "Put Me On (feat. Everlast)", was released in August, 2006.

Swollen Members are currently in the studio with the Dust Brothers, working on their latest album, Beautiful Death Machine, featuring Nathan Flannery. It is scheduled to be released in September 2009. According to Swollen Members' website, Mad Child will release a solo album in 2009 also, with Prevail following with his own solo album after this under CannonBallCrush.

Swollen Members are currently touring with Kuruption Camp, and have created a super group with Kuruption Camp called Battle Axe Warriors. They have released three new songs via Swollen Member's MySpace page, entitled "Bang Bang", "U Not 1", and "Reclaim the Throne".

Discography

• Balance - September 28 1999
  • Balance: Extra Tracks - November 23 1999
  • Balance Re-Release - May 1 2001
• Bad Dreams - November 13 2001
  • Bad Dreams Instrumentals - June 17 2003
• Monsters In The Closet - November 12 2002
  • Monsters In The Closet Instrumentals - April 29 2003
• Heavy - October 27 2003
  • Heavy Bonus DVD - November 18 2003
  • Heavy Instrumentals - May 4 2004
• Black Magic - September 12th 2006
• Beautiful Death Machine - September 2009
• Swollen Mashups -TBA

Collaborations

• 2007 - Vocal credits for "Artillery" on Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom's 2007 album release, Vicious Delicious

Awards and Recognition

Juno Awards

• 2001 - Best Rap Recording (Balance)
• 2002 - Best Rap Recording (Bad Dreams)
• 2003 - Rap Recording of the Year (Monsters In The Closet)
• 2007 - Rap Recording of the Year (Black Magic)

MuchMusic Video Awards

• 2002 - MuchVIBE Best Rap Video ("Fuel Injected" feat. Moka Only and directed by Wendy Morgan)
• 2002 - MuchMusic Best Director ("Fuel Injected" feat. Moka Only and directed by Wendy Morgan)
• 2002 - MuchMusic VideoFACT Award ("Fuel Injected" feat. Moka Only and directed by Wendy Morgan)
• 2002 - MuchMusic Best Independent Video ("Fuel Injected" feat. Moka Only and directed by Wendy Morgan)
• 2003 - MuchVIBE Best Rap Video ("Breathe" feat. Nelly Furtado and directed by Todd McFarlane)

Additional Awards

• 2002 - Canadian Radio Music Awards Breakthrough Artist ("Fuel Injected" feat. Moka Only)
• 2002 - West Coast Music Awards Best Urban Release (Bad Dreams)
• 2002 - The Georgia Straight Readers Choice Best Urban Act
• 2003 - COCA Campus Entertainment Awards Entertainer of the Year
• 2003 - Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Rap/Hip Hop Recording ("Monsters In The Closet")
• 2003 - Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video ("Breath" feat. Nelly Furtado)
• 2004 - Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Rap/Hip Hop Recording ("Heavy")

See also

• List of bands from Canada

External links

• Swollen Members' official homepage
• Battleaxe Records' homepage
• Swollen Members' official MySpace
• Cream Magazine interview with Moka Only