In 1991, Swift joined the groundbreaking turntablist crew the X-Men aka
X-ecutioners (
Roc Raida,
Total Eclipse, and
Mista Sinista). Also in 1991, he won the
DMC East Coast title. In 1997, the
X-Ecutioners debut their album '
X-Pressions' (Ashpodel), marked the ascent of Swift as a recording artist, evident in the dirt-funky tracks like "Word Play." Five years later, their major-label debut '
Built From Scratch' (Loud/Columbia) propelled the group to stardom with the massive hit "It's Goin’ Down," featuring
Linkin Park. "Following the success of '
It's Goin Down,' our label reps aimed to shift us into a Rap-Rock group, not grasping our core aim of using the turntable as a tool to continually push musical boundaries." — says Swift. Swift decided to pursue a solo career due to the pressure from the label, which aimed to force conformity for commercial success, ultimately straining the
X-Ecutioners' creativity. His debut in 1998, '
The Ablist,' marked the beginning of his solo journey. '
Sound Event' (2002) further showcased his diverse production style, seamlessly blending dark jeep beats, Latin Jazz, and ambient-electronic funk with seasoned studio craftsmanship. “Venturing off into my solo career helped me realize I was just beginning to scratch the surface of my true potential.” Swift says, “the worst thing one can do to an artist is limit them and I started to feel stifled creatively. My departure from the
X-Ecutioners was a necessary one cause it freed me from all constraints.” Swift's post-9/11 beat collage
War Games (2005), his third solo album, (featuring guest shots from The Large Professor and Bob James) “is an ominous soundtrack to the DJ's perspective on the state of the contemporary world today. It's complex, intelligent, and provocative…” In 2001, he was featured in the DJ documentary
Scratch (
Palm Pictures). He has appeared on
ESPN, the
Late Show with David Letterman and
Sesame Street. In 2008, Swift was the first hip hop DJ invited to perform at the Savannah Jazz Festival in Georgia. He has collaborated with artists from many genres including
Blue Man Group,
Herbie Hancock,
Scritti Politti,
Bob James,
Linkin Park,
Good Charlotte,
Dan The Automator,
Fat Joe,
Cypress Hill and
Bill Laswell. He currently works solo, as part of the group
Ill Insanity (featuring former X-Men
Total Eclipse and
Precision), or collaborating with other like-minded artists. In January 2010, Swift hosted the online hip-hop radio show
Dope on Plastic on Scion A/V Streaming Radio 17 on which he plays mixes and interviews with guest turntablists. Guests have included J-Smoke & DJ Element, Tim Martells, and DJ Platurn. In February 2010, Swift's solo 18-song turntablism-classical music fusion album
The Architect was released by
Mike Patton on
Ipecac Recordings, which Swift dedicated to Roc Raida who died in 2009. In June 2008, Swift's girlfriend played a piece by
Chopin for him on her iPod while he was shaving. In July, he began work on a new album and a month or two into the recording process. He was heard quoting "I listened back to see how to album was starting to shape up. After sitting down and listening to it I started realizing that I was being influenced by this genre of classical that I had a new found love for... I then started creating my music in a way that was reflective of the way that the composers created their pieces. So I started working in movements. I was using sounds and then reintroducing the sounds in other songs. And I sat down and went, 'wow!' All this time, artists like Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven were influencing me on this album subconsciously without me knowing. So once I realized that, then I decided that this album would be a take on what I feel classical composers like Mozart and Chopin would have done if they had turntables." One guest MC,
Breez Evahflowin, rhymes about the album's concepts on "Principio" and "Ultimo". On March 20, 2012, Swift released the album
Roc for Raida, a collection of songs (some unreleased) and battle style routines that defined the late fellow X-Ecutioner
Roc Raida as an artist, lost interview archives (from John Carluccio), and other material, with proceeds going to Raida's family. In August 2012, Swift became the resident DJ for UNITE, a late-night college sports television talk show on ESPNU. His role involved scoring highlights from college sports games while the cast discussed sports and current topics. In September 2014, Swift became a Professor at
The New School in New York City and while there taught the course DJ Skills & Styles. Smith's research includes Hip Hop History and culture as well as Musical Composition via turntable techniques. ==Discography==