Episode 06 - DJ Rob Swift Interview

Episode 6 - DJ Rob Swift Interview *September 2025*   Tracks Played DJ Platurn- The Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar -Chains & Whips (Amen Edit) Clipse-Birds Don't Sing - Grace for the World Concert. St Peters Square Clipse - P.O.V. Clipse -F.I.C.O. Aesop Rock - John Something DJ Hollywood - To Whom It May Concern Con Voi - Planet Rock Freestyle DJ Girl Talk - All Day (Album) X-Ecutioners / DJ Rob Swift various live performances  DJ Rob Swift Interview You may know our guest, Rob Swift, as a pioneering DJ, a recording artist, a professor, a radio DJ, a collaborator with such artists as Herbie Hancock, Linkin Park, and Portugal the Man. You may have seen him rock a dance floor, spin on ESPN, David Letterman, or on Sesame Street where he helped teach the concept of “forward and backward.” In 1992, Rob won the DMC DJ East Coast Title. The year before, he had entered his first battle and also joined the X-Men turntable crew, which featured Steve D, the late Grandmaster Roc Raida, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista. They performed around the globe, rocking audiences and battling DJs, including against a crew in Russia. The X-Men became the X-Ecutioners and released two records, their debut on the Asphodel record label and their second, Built from Scratch, on the historic 90s label, Loud, the same one that introduced the world to the Wu-Tang Clan. It was his major label debut as the album was distributed by the legendary label Columbia. In 1995 his track “Rob Gets Busy” appeared on the Bomb Hip-Hop record label’s Return of the DJ, which helped start the DJ movement of the late 90s. In 2001, he appeared in the great documentary Scratch along with Grand Wizard Theodore, Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Shadow, Q-Bert, Z-Trip, Jurassic 5, Grandmaster Flash, and Madlib. He has released 16 albums, starting off with Soulful Fruit on the Stones Throw Record label. The list of hip-fop artists who Rob has collaborated with is dizzying. It includes Cypress Hill, DJ Premier, Fat Joe, Everlast, Large Professor, Cannibal Ox, and Rahzel. He toured as Akinyele’s DJ. He has taught the art of DJing, including a stint as a professor at the New School in New York City. In 2008, Swift was the first hip hop DJ invited to perform at the Savannah Jazz Festival in Georgia. This year the book he co-authored with Rasul Mowatt, The City of Hip-Hop, was released.