Swollen Members is a four-time JUNO Award-winning Canadians hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only (who actually helped form the group in the mid-1990s, left, and then joined again from 2002 to 2005) along with the other former members Easy Roc & Zodak who were only in the group for a few years and producer Rob the Viking, an official group member since 2002. Swollen Members has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits album and 2 compilations, as well as numerous other singles. From 1996 to 2016, Swollen Members were the second best-selling Canadian hip hop artist in Canada (behind Drake) and were the best-selling Canadian hip hop group in Canada.
History
Foundation and single releases
Swollen Members was founded in 1995 by Vancouverites Madchild (Shane Bunting), Prevail (Kiley Hendriks) & Moka Only (Daniel Denton). Having begun a solo career while living in
San Francisco, California, Madchild returned to Vancouver to work. In Vancouver, he met Prevail and Moka Only, who had been working together earlier and joined them.
Moka Only jokingly suggested Swollen Members as a group name and it stuck, though he soon left the group to pursue solo efforts.
The group began testing the international hip-hop waters by releasing four 12-inch vinyl singles on Madchild's own indie label Battle Axe Records initially distributed by New York-based Fat Beats; the singles sold approximately 10,000 copies each.
In 1999, the group released their debut album “Balance” to positive reviews, with features from Del the Funky Homosapien, Aceyalone, and Evidence, who also produced on the album, along with The Alchemist and others. The album peaked at #40 on Canadian alternative albums and #43 on Canadian rap albums.
2001-2002: Second album and mainstream success
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 Moka Only. It appealed to both underground and mainstream audiences, reaching platinum status in Canada.
The album earned Swollen Members their second Juno Award and four MuchMusic Video Awards including best rap video, best director and best independent video.
[ "Swollen Members Clean Up At MuchMusic Awards" Billboard June 2002]
2002-2003: Monsters in the Closet
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, "Breathe" which featured Portuguese Canadian pop singer,
Nelly Furtado. Production credits include Evidence from Dilated Peoples. In January 2003, Swollen Members signed with
Virgin Records.
The album earned a Gold certification and peaked at #7 in Canada.
2003-2004: Heavy
In 2003, the band released
Heavy. The album includes Moka Only on every song, for the first and only time. In the same year the songs "All Night" and "Deep End (
Utah Saints Remix)" were featured in the video game
SSX3. In 2004, the song "Bottom Line" was featured in the
WWE Day of Reckoning and
WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw.
2005-2006: Black Magic
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 Madchild and Prevail made an attempt to return to their previously critically acclaimed style and method. Their previous album
Heavy was unlisted on their official site discography. A single from the album, "Put Me On (feat. Everlast)", was released in August 2006. Later that year, Nettwerk Management dropped the group due to Madchild's affiliation with the Hell's Angels.
[Woo, Andrea. "Conversations: Swollen Members" , "Exclaim!" November 2009.]
2009-2010: Armed to the Teeth, Greatest Hits
Armed to the Teeth was released October 27, 2009 through Kottonmouth Kings label Suburban Noize Records. Featured artists on the album include La Coka Nostra,
Talib Kweli, Tech N9ne, Tre Nyce, and a return of Moka Only on the previously released track, "Red Dragon". This release was followed by a North American tour with Australian Hip-Hop group Bliss 'n' Eso.
In 2010, Swollen Members released their greatest hits album, which reached #110 on the Canadian Albums Chart.
2011-2012: Dagger Mouth
Swollen Members scheduled the release of a studio album,
Dagger Mouth, for April 2011, under Suburban Noize. Its first single is "Mr. Impossible".
The second single released off
Dagger Mouth is "Bring Me Down" which features rapper Saigon. A compilation album titled
Monsters 2 was released August 2, 2011.
2013: Beautiful Death Machine
On March 19, 2013, their ninth studio album,
Beautiful Death Machine was released, and had debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, making it the group's highest charting album in Canada to date.
2014: Brand New Day
June 17, 2014 brought their tenth studio album
Brand New Day to store shelves across the world.
In mid-February 2015, Madchild was listed on the
King of the Dot BO5 card against the battle rapper by the stage name of
Daylyt. Footage of his trailer for this event can be found on the KOTD Entertainment channel on YouTube.
The footage of the battle can be seen on the KOTD YouTube channel.
2018: "Bank Job" + other projects
In 2018, the Swollen Members single "Bank Job" was released on all platforms, followed by several solo releases by Madchild and Prevail and Rob the Viking's new project XL The Band.
In 2021, Swollen Members released a single and music video for "Tetris" featuring Neph. Since then, Madchild has been focused on solo releases, and Prevail and Rob the Viking have been focused on XL The Band.
Group members
- Current members
-
Madchild – (1995 – present, but now focusing on solo music)
-
Prevail – (1995 – present, but now focusing on XL The Band with Rob the Viking)
-
Rob the Viking – (2002 – present, but now focusing on XL The Band with Prevail)
- Former members
-
Moka Only – (1995, 2002 – 2005)
-
Easy Roc – (1995 – 1996)
-
Zodak – (1995 – 1996)
Discography
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
|
|
| 1999
! scope="row" | "Front Street" | — | Balance |
|
| 2000
! scope="row" | "Camouflage" | — |
|
| 2001
! scope="row" | "Take It Back" | — | Bad Dreams |
|
| 2002
! scope="row" | "Bring It Home" | 3 |
|
|
|
| 2003
! scope="row" | "Watch This" | — | Heavy |
| 2006
! scope="row" | "Black Magic" (featuring DJ Swamp) | — | Black Magic |
|
|
|
| 2009
! scope="row" | "Warrior" (featuring Tre Nyce and Young Kazh) | 94 | Armed to the Teeth |
|
|
| 2010
! scope="row" | "Pornstar" (featuring Tre Nyce) | — |
| 2011
! scope="row" | "Mr. Impossible" | — | Dagger Mouth |
|
|
|
|
| 2013
! scope="row" | "Kings of Diamonds" | — | Beautiful Death Machine |
|
|
|
| 2018
! scope="row" | "Bank Job" | — | TBA (2018) |
|
| 2024
! scope="row" | "Triple Aces" | — | TBA (2024) |
|
| 2024
! scope="row" | "Faceless Kings" | — | TBA (2024) |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
|
Guest appearances
Music videos
|
|
| 2000 | "Lady Venom" | Trevor Cornish | Balance |
| 2001 | "Take It Back" | Wendy Morgan | Bad Dreams |
| "Deep End" | Jason Goldwatch |
| 2002 | "Bring It Home" | Wendy Morgan | Monsters in the Closet |
| "Fuel Injected" | Wendy Morgan | Bad Dreams |
| "Steppin Thru" | Wendy Morgan | Monsters in the Closet |
| "Breathe" (feat. Nelly Furtado) | Todd McFarlane |
| 2003 | "Watch This" | | Heavy |
| 2006 | "Too Hot" | | Black Magic |
| "Put Me On" (feat. Everlast) | Margaret Malandruccolo |
| "Pressure" | |
| 2009 | "Warrior" (feat. Young Kazh) | Chad Archibald & Philip Carrer | Armed to the Teeth |
| "Bollywood Chick" (feat. Tech N9ne) | |
| 2010 | "Pornstar" | Chad Archibald & Philip Carrer |
| 2011 | "Mr. Impossible" | Mr. Invisible | Dagger Mouth |
| "Bring Me Down (Swollen Mix)" (feat. Saigon) | Mr. Invisible |
| "Night Vision" | |
| "Do or Die" | |
| 2013 | "King of Diamonds" | D-Shot | Beautiful Death Machine |
| "Mercenary" | D-Shot |
| "Inception" | D-Shot |
| "Almost Famous" | D-Shot |
| "BAX WAR" | D-Shot |
| "Death Warrant" | D-Shot |
| "Fear" (feat. Snak the Ripper) | D-Shot |
| "Juggernaut" | |
| 2014 | "Power" | | Brand New Day |
| "Brand New Day" | Dale Resteghini |
Awards and recognition
Juno Awards
MuchMusic Video Awards
Western Canadian Music Awards
Additional awards
-
2003 – COCA Campus Entertainment Awards Entertainer of the Year
-
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
See also
-
Canadian hip hop
-
Music of Canada
-
List of songs recorded by Swollen Members
External links
-
http://www.xltheband.com/
