There’s been tons of interesting hybrid content coming out in 2023, but on the pop end of the spectrum, few singles have grabbed my attention the way rapper Donae’o’s “Swaggy” has. A collaborative track with O.G. Relli, “Swaggy” could be the most-buzzed release that Donae’o has attached his name to thus far, but it doesn’t feel like a selling-out point in his career at all.
In this most recent studio dispatch, he lets the grooves do most of the communicating for him, holstering his slick poeticisms in favor of pursuing gilded releases that tell a story more through tone than they do literal linguistics. This isn’t the first time that he’s turned in something captivating that has had critics around the underground talking, but as far as I’m concerned, this is one of the more important recordings he’s been a part of since coming onto the scene so many years ago. It doesn’t take more than a cursory listen to understand what all of the fuss surrounding this single has been about, but truth be told, it’s far too addictive a track to be spun only one time.
This bassline isn’t quite as large and in charge as the standard trap recipe would usually call for, but I like the fact that its minimalistic spot in the mix produces a minimalistic effect in the big picture. In the grander scheme of things, the tension that comes at us ahead of the breakdown in “Swaggy” is incredibly sharp, and I would even say that it feeds the narrative in the lyricism a little more than the vocal delivery does.
Donae’o’s execution is as smooth as it’s been for a couple of years now, but the detailed texture he renders out of the backing beat here makes his vocal stylings even more emotional in every way that counts for something. O.G. Relli is obviously into pimping out the intricacies in anything he can get his hands on, and in this song, they make it hard for the audience to walk away without feeling something deep and sonically quaking coming through the speakers.
Try as you might, I do not believe you’re going to find anything quite like what Donae’o is cooking up in the amazing new single “Swaggy” this July. Comprised of blistering beats and pouncing vocalizations that can’t be contained by even the heaviest of basslines, “Swaggy” is a song that doesn’t ask a lot out of us in exchange for some tuneful pop treasures in its four minutes of play you won’t soon forget. Donae’o and O.G. Relli make for one heck of a smart team, and if they can bring this caliber of performance onto the stage with them, I think theirs would be a collaborative force strong enough to take this sound from the studio to a live concert environment. I would go out of my way to get tickets to that show, and I doubt I’m the only one among critics and fans the same right now.
