AK-SWIFT

AK-SWIFT , also AK Swift or AK Swift , is the pseudonym of the American rapper Burnell Keith Herring Jr. (born July 15, 1969 in Chicago ).

biography

Herring Junior's father, Keith Herring Sr., worked in the military , which involved traveling a lot. Herring Jr. spent the first half of his childhood mainly with his mother Cornelia in Arkansas . At the age of 13 he moved with his family to Frankfurt am Main , where he started dancing at the age of 15. He also learned the viola , violin , cello and double bass , was a member of the school orchestra and took part in several competitions.

First Herring Jr., who was now familiar with the hip-hop culture , gave himself the pseudonym "BK". Because he was then often called "Burger King" or "British Knights", he changed the first letter, "B" became "A", and added "Swift" because it sounded good. The newly created name AK Swift he interprets as " A siatic K nowledge S winging w ith I ncredible F orce T otally".

In 1983 Herring Jr. became a member of the Frankfurt Breakdance Crew Floor Masters, began working as a DJ and perfected his rap and songwriting skills . He later returned to the United States and joined the Army , but did not stay there long because he could not stand the racism of some officers and found the military discipline absurd. From 1990 he worked again as a DJ and breakdancer. When his interim marriage was divorced and his son, Anthony Joshua, who was born there, lived with his mother in Germany, he also lost his job and became homeless.

After a long dry spell, Herring Jr. recovered and released his first single , Underground Prophet , as a guest vocalist for the True Minds project, which consisted of producers Oliver Lieb and Marcus Ghoreischian. In 1993 he worked as a rapper and co-producer for the hip-hop duo Cella Dwellas and sang Evolution of a Mind Flow for Jazz Con Bazz.

After producer Mike Staab became aware of him, AK Swift was a rapper on his dance project Magic Affair from 1994 to February 1996 . His partner was the singer Franca Morgano, whom the 183 cm tall Herring Jr. described as tiny, but who was very impressed by her powerful voice. After disputes, Swift left the project, but returned when his successor proved unsuitable.

When he was finally fired from Magic Affair in 1996, he released the single Shake That Ass with C-Block . He then sang a new version of the chic classic Good Times with Franca Morgano , signed a contract with Booya Records and rapped on Toni Cottura's single Party Boom .

AK Swift's first own single Light in Me was released in 1997 and entered the top 20 of the German charts . In the game , which is included on the soundtrack for a lifetime of 14 days , made it into the top 40 a little later.

In addition to music, AK Swift was also committed to a good cause , for example, he took part in a basketball tournament with artists such as Backstreet Boys , 'N Sync , DJ Bobo , Masterboy and Nana , the proceeds of which went to children's cancer research . After differences, Swift separated from Booya-Music in 1997 and produced a breakbeat track for the world record celebration of inline skater Dirk Auer, called Pick Up the Speed and published under the name Inline featuring rapper Mad Flava.

In 1998 there was a collaboration with Rico Sparx, Alley Cat and Greg MCcoy. The resulting project, the result of which was the single The Professional , also included the singers Will Williams, Leidra Jones and Kosta Wilson. The common song So in Love with You was never released. With Cloud 9, AK Swift recorded the title You Spin Me Round . He then returned to Booya Music in 1999 and took part with Mazaya feat. Craig Smart released the single It's On , which reached number 75 in the German charts. In mid-May 2000, the successor Do U Wanna Die was released .

In 2001 a new contract was signed with IN-motion AG. The single You Know the Names was released with the s.Oliver BBL Allstars, which became the official anthem of the Basketball Bundesliga. Swift's first album was planned for fall 2001, but did not appear. A comeback came in 2003 when Here We Come , a song for the American football team Frankfurt Galaxy , was released. As a studio singer he worked a. a. for Simon Collins .

In 2004 AK Swift started his own label called Hoodkatz and worked with Danny Sullivan and Martin Prodwhiz. The result of the collaboration was the single Pussycat , which was released in the summer of that year. A solo album, entitled 13 , was also planned, but did not appear.

To this day, AK Swift has been very busy. He produces u. a. other artist and works as a DJ and actor . In 2007 the singles I Growl (Step Back) (feat. Iz) and I Wanna Pussycat (feat. My Linh) were released. In 2008 the Magic Affair project was revived - a remix of Omen III was released . 2009 occurred AK Swift and Franca Morgano in the RTL telecast The Ultimate Chart Show on. While working on a new Magic Affair album, recordings were also made for an AK Swift album called Chronicles of a Ghetto Ninja .

Together with the Russian rapper Struggle da Preacher and his Californian colleague Young Noble, the single 365 Grind was created in 2014 .

Discography

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK
1997	Light in Me	DE19 (14 weeks) DE	AT30 (9 weeks) AT	-	-
	In the game	DE33 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-
1999	It's on	DE75 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	with Mazaya

More singles

• 1998: The Professional
• 2000: Do U Wanna Die?
• 2001: Whassup !! (as AK the Panther)
• 2001: You Know the Names (vs. S. Oliver BBL Allstars)
• 2003: Here We Come (feat.Frankfurt Galaxy )
• 2004: Pussycat
• 2014: 365 Grind (with Struggle da Preacher and Young Noble)
• 2015: Still ... (with Struggle da Preacher and Young Noble)
• 2018: Let The Rhythm Take Control (JOYCE feat.AK-SWIFT)

Guest Posts

• 1991: True Minds - Underground Prophet
• 1993: Cella Dwellas - Rugged Discipline
• 1993: Cella Dwellas - hip-hop hurray rap against right
• 1993: Jazz Con Bazz - Evolution of a Mindflow
• 1994: MBO - For Your Love
• 1996: Blaxone - Good Times
• 1996: C-Block - Shake That Ass
• 1997: Toni Cottura - Party Boom
• 1998: Playstations - Bust-a-Groove
• 1999: Cloud 9 - You Spin Me Round
• 2005: Simon Collins - One Nation
• 2005: Simon Collins - Sunburn

As a member of Magic Affair

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK
1994	Omen - The Story Continues	DE8 (22 weeks) DE	AT11 (15 weeks) AT	CH7 (16 weeks) CH	-

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK
1994	Omen III	DE1 (25 weeks) DE	AT2 (17 weeks) AT	CH3 (17 weeks) CH	UK17 (5 weeks) UK
	Give Me All Your Love	DE6 (17 weeks) DE	AT13 (10 weeks) AT	CH8 (14 weeks) CH	UK30 (2 weeks) UK
	In the middle of the night	DE16 (13 weeks) DE	AT14 (8 weeks) AT	-	UK38 (2 weeks) UK
	Fire	DE20 (13 weeks) DE	AT17 (6 weeks) AT	CH23 (2 weeks) CH	-

More singles with Magic Affair

• 2008: Stigmata (Of Love)

swell

1. ↑ Vocals
2. ↑ Blaxone - Good Times
3. ↑ Chart sources: Singles
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Magic Affair Singles / Albums / UK

Web links

• AK-SWIFT at Allmusic (English)
• AK-SWIFT at Discogs (English)
• Biography at eurokdj.com