Fast-rising sensation Swayvee dissects his debut EP, 'PersWaysion'

14th September 2026 marks exactly one month since Swayvee released PersWaysion, his debut EP. I spent much of that month returning to the project and finding new things to appreciate with each listen. Now, I have the opportunity to speak with the singer about a body of work I've thoroughly enjoyed.

This is my second time interviewing Swayvee, so I have a fairly good idea of how our conversation is likely to unfold. He approaches his craft with intentionality, paying attention to every detail, no matter how small. With an artist like him, a conversation about the music almost always becomes a conversation about the philosophy that informs the craft, the details the listeners might overlook, standards and influences, and the process that brings his ideas to life.

PersWaysion is a project that has been years in the making. Across eight tracks and twenty minutes, the EP explores themes of romance and intimacy through the lens of his lived experiences. He brings together the qualities that have endeared him to longtime listeners while offering a more complete picture of the artist behind the music.

Over the next hour, we dissect the project, examining its themes, artistic choices, creative decisions, and the processes that shaped its eventual arrival. Beyond the songs themselves, I attempt to uncover the thinking behind them and what it means to make a body of work on one's own terms.

Congrats on the project. Is PersWaysion the EP you've always been teasing?

Well, PersWaysion has been what I've been teasing for years, but the songs were not. The songs have changed. The songs that I dropped were all recent songs. It just needed timing. So I'm happy I dropped it now. Now I've grown. I don't think it would have been this good if I dropped it initially when the idea came. I had to go through processes, setbacks, and everything to grow up to the level of mastery that I am right now, and it told well on the craft and the quality of the project.

What does PersWaysion mean?

PersWaysion is basically being persuaded by Swayvee. It's me saying that I have a sound I would like to show the world. I know how artists are always about giving the fans what they want. PersWaysion is about me giving the fans what I want and persuading them to actually like what I want and accept what I want.

What is it that you are offering that you wanted the fans to buy into?

I wanted them to yearn. The project is about yearning for a love that is out of reach. A kind of love that we feel doesn't exist. I wanted the audience to feel that feeling of yearning. It's about getting that feeling of love, but you're not reaching it. So you keep wanting it. So that's what the sound is like. You don't actually figure out the sound; it just takes you.

I think you established that very quickly with the opening track, You're Mine with Wizard Chan. Is it fair to say that the songs on this EP are all rooted in personal experiences?

I don't lie in my music. Whatever I sing, just know that it happened. I sing about my experiences and things that happened in my life and around me.

Tell me about "You're mine.”

If you deep the song You're Mine, I was telling my love interest about a girl named Anita. I said, "Anita say she wan dey solo / But make I find another she go cry / And if I still go dey tomorrow / Make I tell her so that she go fly." I was telling my love interest what Anita said to me. Anita is someone who was with me, but it's my love interest I want. I was saying basically, "I have Anita, but it's you that I want. So I'm telling everybody that you're mine." The whole project is like a one-night experience that starts from like 10 p.m. ish.

You're Mine is just like having that phone call with that girl who does not want you guys to be seen together in public. It's a secret relationship. And you're tired of it being secret because you want to see her more often. You want people to know, and you're telling her you're going to tell everybody that she's yours.

That's how Get Lucky happens because she pleads and she's like, okay, we can go out together tonight. You don't need to do that. We can go out together tonight. So I'm excited, which is why I sing "We up all night to get lucky, baby." Again, the first time we're actually going out together in public. We're outside, having fun. You notice there's like a voiceover at the end of the song (Get Lucky). That's our first time outside.

Then we move to Selense. Selense is me actually trying to convince her that aside from this thing we are doing, we actually make a good couple. She still keeps resisting, and Selense is me trying to convince her. I was trying to let her know that it's not just about us having fun.

How did you bring Wizard Chan on board?

I initially had two verses on it. I just felt like we needed someone else on the record. I sent it to Kaestyle; he did not get back to me. I also sent it to Minz but didn't get a response. When I sent it to Wizard Chan, I did not get a response. One day he just replied with the verse. He did not even respond to the message. He just responded with the verse.

What do you mean when you say "we up all night to get lucky?"

Well, the luck is that you're finally getting what you want, which is to spend time with the woman. You get to spend time with the woman that you've been yearning for. You get to see her in real time. You guys have been doing this thing over the phone. Now you get to actually spend time with her and have fun with her. It's an interpolation of Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams' Get Lucky.

What do you make of the fact that we live in a generation where people seem very reluctant to be open about how they feel about somebody?

That's why I made PersWaysion. It is to help you not do that. It is a go-for-it project. Persuade her. It helps you speak to your love interest. To tell them your feelings. To help you communicate your feelings. That's what I tried to do for the audience. There's a song for any moment you want to speak to your loved one about. That's where PersWaysion comes in. That's why I made this project. For people who are not vocal about how they feel.

Moving to Selense and Intoxica. These are two feel-good records cut from the same cloth.

I wanted to give people what they are going to dance to. I did not want the project to just lean on the emotional side. I wanted to make sure that while you're feeling the emotion, you can also vibe to it. I was so big on bounce when it came to the project. I wanted the bounce to be distinct. At the same time, I still wanted it to be familiar. That run from Selense, Intoxica, and G Shock was to make the audience feel good about the night.

You are such a romantic because on G Shock, you said: "for you to leave, I'd rather stay dead." It seems like when you love, you love very hard. Is it healthy to be a romantic in this day and age?

Congratulations on being signed by G-SHOCK. The first African brand ambassador. How did that happen?

It was just me being a businessman. When I was in South Africa, I realised that they had just opened a new G-SHOCK store in South Africa. My goal was just to shoot a video there. So I reached out to them to seek permission. So while I did that, they were like, "Oh, I don't think this should be the end of our partnership. You have a license to shoot a video, but I don't think this should be the end of our relationship. We'd like to sign you and work with you long term as an ambassador." So that's how it just worked out. So it's basically me taking my chances and sending that DM.

The EP closes with Spaceship, which features JayJay from South Africa. This is your second collaboration with a South African act because you did the Us remix with Young Stunna. You also signed the deal with G-SHOCK in South Africa. So it seems like you have a special relationship with South Africa.

I've also been on multiple South African features this year. There's one called Weh Lavo; there's one called Closer (Sondela). My second largest audience is South Africa. South Africa supports and treats me nicely. That's why I always go there. And whenever I go there, they support me.

So the last time that we spoke, you said we were in the Jaw Dropper era. Are we still in the Jaw Dropper era or in a different era?

Yes. After PersWaysion is my Jawdropper EP. That's going to be a whole different side of me.

Is that this year or next year?

Swayvee: I can't really say; it could be this year, it could be next year. Just stay hopeful.

Jacob Philemon is a Nigerian pop culture commentator and writer with a keen eye for detail and a deep passion for African pop culture, entertainment, and sports.

As a pop culture writer, Philemon brings a fresh perspective to the latest trends and releases, providing insightful analysis and commentary that resonates with fans and industry insiders alike.

You can reach him on X @JacobPhilemon_