To whom it concerns:

We have been getting a huge amount of inquiries about SWORDZ collaborating on other artists projects. SWORDZ is available for featured apperances on independent/unsigned artist and producers projects. There is a $500 performance fee involved to compensate SWORDZ for use of his name/likeness and for appearing on your commercial project. Before contacting us about SWORDZ appearing on your project, please have a budget together.

Serious inquiries only should reply to:

D Marley
TEAM SWORDZ
904hiphop@gmail.com





note: Apperance fee subject to change w/o notice.

Ozone Magazine: Patiently Waiting


SWORDZ - Jacksonville, FL

"Rock and Rap, it's the same thing. We saying the same thing, same picture, different frame." - Swordz

Every once in a while there comes an artist who can't help but to break stereotypes. Jacksonville, Florida's SWORDZ is one of those artists.


"I'm a breath of fresh air. It may be a cliche, but as a fan I think the game is real watered down," says the superstar in the making. "You get a lot of sugar covered stories. Its fashionable to be a thug and trap nigga but at the same time when I was coming up we had people like 'Pac, UGK, and Spice 1 that would put you up on game telling you that the streets are ugly. Now you just hear niggas talking about slanging big bricks and fucking some one's baby momma."



Even though Swordz dabbles with occasional street record himself, he is sure to stress that anything that comes out of his mouth is said with responsibility. "It's my responsibility to show the consequences," says the Florida native who credits everyone from Run-DMC to Pastor Troy as an influence. "Current hip-hop is like Spike TV: people take what they want from it, but it's up to us as artists to be raw as possible so people will see the truth."

While he doesn't boast a decade's worth of experience, Swordz is still at liberty yo speak on hip-hop as if he's been around for a long time. Why? Because he can look at t he genre as an outsider as well.


His mixtapes have afforded him a strong fan base throughout the Southeast, and he's worked with everyone from BloodRaw to Wayne Wonder. But it's his shows that have set him apart from the competition.


Known to regularly perform with a live rock band rather than have the standard 100 man crew on stage, Swordz demands to be looked at differently.


"I do it because I can," he says, dismissing the claim that he is mimicking Limp Bizkit and Korn. "If you take rock and rap, it's the same thing. We saying the same thing, same picture, different frame. I wanted to use that energy. If you go to a rock show or a Pastor Troy show, it's the same thing. People are getting frustration off their chest."


One listen to Swordz's music and it becomes evident that he is frustrated with the stereotypes of the music form he is associates with. But instead of complaining, he's going to do something about it.

Rapper: 'The words should hold weight'
SWORDZ aka Nathan Bowers

By MADELEINE PECK, Special to the Times-Union

On stage at San Marco's Endo Exo nightclub, rapper Swordz fronts an unlikely band.


"I'ma try this white-boy - -," Swordz shouts to the crowd, which hollers back its approval. The musicians, all skinny and pale, tear into Dope Bwoy, their hard-driving guitar licks offering a perfect complement to Swordz's gutta approach. His performance is loaded with vitriol that seems personally aimed at every person in the crowd. Perhaps it's the shots of tequila he's been taking on stage.

I'm a dope bwoy, dope bwoy, dope bwoy
I'm sittin' on a brick
I gotta couple mo' -
It's money on the flip
And money on the low.

"He's not a rapper," said Damian Marley, Swordz's co-manager. "He's a rock star."





Swordz is one of the most visible gansta rappers on the Duval scene. His music, which deals with death, drugs and violence, has garnered a following and generated controversy. But Swordz defends his art. "There should be content, and the words should hold weight."



Marley talks about the blame that hip-hop artists such as Swordz get in the media for promoting and glamorizing violence. "It's not the hip-hop community that's killing each other. It's not us. And anyone that insinuates that it is is disingenuous and is guilty of lazy thinking."

Swordz (real name Nathan Bowers) is one of the biggest defenders of the Duval hip-hop scene. "If I'm up in New York, and I'm talking about Jacksonville, I'm always reppin' for Duval. You never air dirty laundry in front of strangers."

Of course, Duval is more than just a place; it's a state of mind. For Swordz, it is dirty, grimy, gritty and "gutta as hell."

He grew up in Atlantic Beach and said he was kicked out of school before he could graduate. "Even then, I was worried more about music than classes," he said with a slow smile. But for all of his swagger, there's a lightness and charisma about him that makes it clear that he truly loves what he does. "It's not about being Super Thug. It's just up to the artist to shine a light on things."

Swordz spends his days as a part of the Cool Runnings Crew. He works in street promotions and marketing, and though he says he works hard, it's also the kind of position that allows him constant access into the world of his choosing.

On stage, the trappings of the day are left behind as he and his hype man, FB, radiate unbridled high-energy enthusiasm. They careen around the stage, like two tiny out-of-control airplanes, all muscle, sweat and adrenaline. Alternately addressing the crowd like a latter-day hip hop preacher and a straight thug, Swordz says the kinds of things that instill pride and sense of place in the crowd. "No matter where you are, even if you're at the beach, in a mansion, you're still in Duval."

Name: Swordz
Reppin': Jacksonville, Florida...AKA Duval County, Da Bangem
Favorite Spot: Da' Real Ting Cafe, Cool Runnings, Gateway Center

My favorite spot in Duval for eats is Da' Real Ting Cafe because its got the perfect Caribbean vibe and roots reggae bumping and sometimes a live show in the back room.

To party: it's Cool Runnings because DJ Bigga Rankin is tha Truth!

To chill: out in Duval we have beautiful beaches where the females like to show off their tan lines.

To shop: hood style its the Gateway Center for them bargains. For GQ style it's got to be the St. Johns Center (200 stores).

For tunes: you need to go see Ray at Music & Memories.

Post a comment: http://blogs.sohh.com/myspot/archives/2006/05/swordz_from_flo.html

..

BIGGA RANKIN: FLORIDA'S A&R

Interview By Julia Beverly
Ozone Magazine



Why do you call yourself an A&R?


Because everybody comes to me to do their mixtapes. I'm basically the only person that sends out their music to everybody else. I think its our turn, because Florida has so much talent.

Even though your well known in Florida for breaking music, your not really recognized on a national scale yet. Are you trying to keep it on the underground?

I think I'm less underground than I use to be. Being with the Hittmen DJs and playing everywhere else I've gotten a little further, but I think I could be more national just by doing more promotions. Doing this Real Nigga Radio mixtape series took me a long way. Now we get calls from all over the country about it, and since so many people that didn't live in Florida are inquiring about it, I would like to have all my Florida artist on Real Nigga Radio so they can see what we have down here. I call myself the Florida A&R because I push Florida people. My mixtapes are the hottest thing in Florida right now. Everybody wants that Real Nigga Radio shine, and I'm jumping on all the artist that's hot...


..
Do you consider yourself a mentor, a hock, a comedian, an entertainer, or what?

I'm everything. I'm a DJ, a promoter, a record breaker, basically everything. I don't know what to call myself. I do know that we have all this talent here and I don't see a whole lot of other people trying to help them get out there. Most of these DJs don't really play good music, they just play what's on the radio or what's on 106th & Park. They don't know how to take a good record and make it hot.

Let's talk about those three hot unsigned Florida artists that appear on the cover with you. Tell me about Papa Duck

He's a producer, first and foremost, and he's a rapper too, which gives him a bonus. He produces real good and he raps real good. Papa Duck got a real down SOuth style, that Florida style. I honestly think he can make it to the top if he just stays consistent with what he's doing. These guys are hungry, they're out there every day pressing up CDs and trying to do whatever to get out there.

What about SWORDZ?

He's from Duval, Jacksonville. Throughout the years he's gotten better and better and better. He's very versatile and he's got a hellafied (LIVE) performance. His show is very hype. He takes it to another level when he does his show.

Okay, what about Triple J?

Triple J is one of the rappers in Florida right now that's making a lot of noise. He's another rapper that is very versatile. He's got good lyrics. It's a good thing when you can listen to a rapper and understand every single word they say. Some (rappers), you can't understand them. Now that Young Cash got signed, I think most of these underground artist feel like they got hope now. A lot of them felt like everybody forgot about Florida. When was the last time you heard about somebody getting signed from Florida?

Any last words?

We need all indie artist to go out every Tuesday and buy each other's stuff. We need to show each other love. That;s really the movememnt for Florida, all the indie artist throughout Florida. Whenever somebody drops something, go out and pick it up, Show Love! We're not buying each other's stuff, that's for sure. We keep complaining that we're not getting nowhere, but we ain't buying each other's stuff.

BIGGA RANKIN'S FLORIDA NAMES TO WATCH:

Jacksonville, FL

*904 CLICK, MOB

*DA FEW

*FULL OF DRAMA

*LEFTY GUNZ

*RED ROCK

*THE VILLAGE

*YOUNG CASH, SRC UNIVERSAL