There was a time when Belton, TX had no representation or any participation in the underground music scene. When underground rappers were freestyling before the bell would ring in the school yard and producers were beat boxing or pounding on the gym bleachers to show their skills. Until one boy stepped up and brought life to the music world in the small town of Belton, TX. Meet the man who started it all.
(NO-KEY SWAH-ZAY)
Noki was born on June 24 at Scott and White Hospital. He grew up in a small town in Texas called Belton, about an hour north from the capitol, Austin. He stayed with his Mother and older sister. Noki attended St. Mary's Catholic School throughout his younger years, finding God and what it means to have faith. In the third grade, he found himself at Sparta Elementary, a public school in Belton. He went on to later graduate in 2000 at Belton High School.
Music has always been a part of Noki's life, being only three years old when he first touched a piano. On his sixth birthday, his Mother bought him his first keyboard, a Casio SK-5, which was capable of sampling and playback of your voice. His Uncle James showed him how to sample his voice and play it back. Noki was astonished of what the keyboard could do. He later upgraded and practiced more on the keyboard, mocking everything he heard, movie scores, the radio, you name it, Noki could play it by ear. He then knew music was going to be his career, but he had no guidance as to what to do.
In late 1999, Noki gathered up a gang of highschool buddies that had the same talents as he did and named the group Nappytown, based on Belton's legendary nickname. At this time, Noki had a Boss DR-202 Drum machine, a Yamaha PSR-530, a Tascam 4 track recorder, and the love for music that even professionals didn't have. They dropped the first album to ever hit Belton streets, "Rising and Surprising." The album was a local hit, but they could no longer duplicate it due to a fire where they had the CD'S duplicated. Noki was then introduced to Moni Johnson of Cix7 Records, the man who built studio's and sounds for local artists starting out. Noki joined theGrindLab in 2004 and met up with some of the hottest local artists in the area. Dolla $ign Gold was one of them and would become the artist who went to Noki for his production. After D.S.G. dropped the album "Street Grind", Noki's name was now in the public's ear, because of Dolla's hard hustle in the streets, they started to ask, who this Noki Swazay was.
In 2005, Noki began his underground debut, producing tracks for No Limit Sounds, a local record shop based in Temple, Texas. He later went on to produce the track "Pop In Your Gray Cassette", one of the last songs that H.A.W.K. rapped on before he passed away. The song made it to mixtapes around Texas and was helping the 254 area gain the respect they had been waiting for. Noki went on producing Spark Dawg's "Dro By tha Pound" and later "Slide Thru Killeen", which appeared on Green City's debut album "Brand New Money" presented by Scarface himself, which was later reviewed in the XXL Magazine. Noki also produces for his group Nappytown and Plane Money Ent. (formerly P.M.T.)
Noki's year became in 2007, after meeting up with Juan Gonzalez, the CEO of 3rd Degree. There was no song to boost Noki's name up more than "Coughin", 3rd Degree's General Kyle Lee featuring Donnie Cross. To name some more hits that came from the dedicated Beltonian would be the phenominal phone song, "Dial Tone" by Spark Dawg, "Buss It Open" by Yung Texxus of Greencity, Desert Storm's South new representative, which features Bad Boy South's hard hitter Yung Joc. "Hustle Hard" by Jokaman, "Ain't Part Timing" by Kenedy, Texas' own Young C, and "Dolla Bill" by Lil Lee, The Talk of V.A., and Mike Hee's "Do It Like I Done It.", which also appeared on "Brand New Money."
Now, after being nominated a two time"Independent Producer of the Year", and not to mention being a three time nominee at his debut at the 2008 Southern Entertainment Awards, SEA'S, Noki Swazay has no plan on stopping his reign and has tricks under his sleeve that the game and A&R'S aren't ready for. You will be hearing "Noki Swazay on the beat boy" on radio stations real soon.
WHAT IS SWAY?
A signature that can be stamped on Central Texas, our own trademark of music founded by the one and only Noki Swazay of Nappytown/theGrindLab. Like many discoveries, it was found by accident while Noki was mixing out "Headbanga," one of Nappytown's singles off the upcoming album "Twincities." It caters to anyone who likes the Legendary Screw music or the fast, explosive lyrics of tongue twisting. Simply by "swaying" your music data, Noki can have your music on a different level, sounding completely different than the original. At the same time, you can enjoy slow music and fast lyrics, you have just been Swayed. If you have any questions about Sway or how to have your music Swayed, leave a comment or a message on this page.
