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Swollen Members
Canadian hip hop group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Swollen Members is a Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only, Easy Roc, Zodak 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. From 1996 to 2016, Swollen Members were the second best-selling Canadian hip hop artist in Canada and were the best-selling Canadian hip hop group in Canada.[1] They have won the JUNO Award four times.
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History
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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.
The group released 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.[2]
In 1999, the group released their debut album “Balance”, with features from Del the Funky Homosapien, Aceyalone, The Alchemist and Evidence, who also produced on the album. The album peaked at #40 on Canadian alternative albums and #43 on Canadian rap albums.[citation needed]
2001-2002: Second album and mainstream success
Following Balance, Swollen Members recorded and released Bad Dreams, released on November 13, 2001, and featuring guests 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.[3] The album earned Swollen Members their second Juno Award and four MuchMusic Video Awards including best rap video, best director and best independent video.[4]
2002-2003: Monsters in the Closet
2002's Monsters In the Closet, their third release, brought group membership for Moka Only and Rob The Viking. 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.[5] The album earned a Gold certification and peaked at #7 in Canada.[6]
2003-2004: Heavy
In 2003, the band released Heavy. The album includes Moka Only on every song, for the first 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 video games WWE Day of Reckoning and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw.
2005-2006: Black Magic
In 2005, Moka Only left the group for a second time and continued work on his solo career. The following year, Swollen Members released their fifth full album, Black Magic. 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.[7]
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.[8]
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".[9] 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.[citation needed]
2014: Brand New Day
On June 17, 2014 the group released their tenth studio album Brand New Day. 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.[10][11]
2018: "Bank Job" and other projects
In 2018, the Swollen Members single "Bank Job" was released, 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.[citation needed]
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Group members
Discography
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
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Guest appearances
Music videos
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Awards
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Juno Awards
MuchMusic Video Awards
Western Canadian Music Awards
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See also
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References
External links
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