DJ Swale: The Carolina Ambassador

DJ Swale aka Carolina’s best-kept secret, has been one of the hardest working and most creative industry professionals in the game. Swale, real name Chris Tolbert, released the official video for his first single ‘Her Song’ last November. The track is currently sitting at just under 10K views on Youtube.

The track won ‘Best Collaboration’ at the Upstate music awards and garnered a lot of attention.

This year the Elevated Daze founder looks to build on that success with his new project, ‘The Carolina Ambassador.’ a full-length EP featuring some of the dopest up-and-coming talents in the Carolinas.

Inspired by the new release we at Thrive Indie decided to reach out to the DJ for an interview. Below we discuss the music business, social media branding, and what the future has in store for DJ Swale.

DJ Swale Interview: Inspiration, education, and branding

What inspired you to get started in music?

“My uncle is a DJ. Throughout middle school and high school, I would shadow him. College is when I get serious with my craft. I started doing the Carolina mixtapes, trying to put Carolina artists on. The Carolinas are overlooked… Badly.” 

Swale is right. The Carolina market has historically been underrepresented. Artists who were able to break through whose origins are from the Carolinas had to do so elsewhere. DaBaby’s rise to stardom has put the market on the map, giving artists like Stunna4vegas, Morray, and Toosii a chance to shine. However, many industry professionals from the area still feel like the Carolina market is undervalued.

How important is education in the music business and how has it helped you guide your career?

“Education in business is very important. Someone once told me, and it was great advice, that if you don’t own it, you can’t control it.” 

Great advice indeed. In 2022 there are artists still searching for their ‘big break’ by rapping on Youtube beats and putting them out on streaming platforms. This method, while it may gain the attention artists so desperately desire is bad business on multiple levels.

“Once I figured that out I started to take music BUSINESS part of it more seriously. I didn’t own my brand, Elevated Daze, or my name for the longest. So when I heard that I was like ‘Oh man! I got to trademark this, LLC that and register this.” Because you know, we’ve seen time after time artists who don’t own their name or their music. These companies, corporations, and labels can put it on anything. I might be a vegetarian but if I don’t own my name, they could put me on a Burger King commercial. They’re going to put me in a KFC commercial, a Popeyes commercial, and that’s not my brand. So you have to own your name, your likeness, and your music. I could be a gospel artist and they use my content on Pornhub ads. If you don’t own it you don’t control it.

I love the way you utilize your IG stories. How important is it for brands to capture attention via social media?

“Crafting your brand on social media is just as important as the music business part. For me, to tell you a secret, as much as I use social media and Instagram I don’t like social media at all. I’m not the guy who posts a lot of pictures of myself. I don’t post pics of me out here in my newest fit or new car or on vacation because I’m a very private person. I had to find a way to utilize social media to grab people’s attention. That’s why I use stories, whether it’s funny stories, serious stories, or news updates to capture people’s attention. From there I might have three funny videos in a row but the fourth is going to be a flyer, it’s going to be a mixtape, it’s going to be something that I’m promoting because you’re already watching my story. It’s very important. You have to capture people’s attention and social media is the biggest tool we have for that. It’s how we stay connected. I’m doing this interview with you right now because of social media.”

DJ Swale: The Carolina Ambassador

What is your goal with your upcoming project, ‘The Carolina Ambassador’?

“To show people I know what good music is. II know how to make music. I know what a club hit is, I know what a radio hit is, I know what a hit is. I know what music is. If you look back at my old mixtapes I had a lot of artists on there before they popped. RIP Speaker Knockers but when he was alive I had him on all my mixtapes, I had Dababy on all my mixtapes, Blacc Zacc, and more, years ago. I know what good music is. This album is to show you guys on a bigger platform, on a mainstream platform that I know what good music is. If you want a hit, come to me, I got you, I know music.”

What influences went into the creation of this project?

“Influences are really across the board. Just music period is probably DJ Drama and Kanye. Both of them influence me when it comes to music. You know DJ Drama had (Lil) Wayne. Wayne didn’t miss those years with Drama. Kanye don’t miss. Say what you want to say about him personally, that’s cool. But if we just focus on music these guys don’t miss. Even outside of mixtapes, Drama had Uzi and Jack Harlow on his label. So me watching them, how they move who they work with, how they release music I’m like, cool, I’m going to do it the exact same way.”

What’s next for you after this project?

“After this project drops, I’m going to do 3-5 track EPs with different artists. So how I did this tape, I’m going to do the same thing with individual artists. So I want songs the artists like songs that I like, and songs we both like. It’s going to be radio hits on there, mainstream hits on there. I want to continue to work with individual artists. When the mixtapes are done then we’re going to make money off what we’re doing. So you’re going to see a flood of EPs with different artists. Like I said earlier, like with DJ Drama and Gangsta Grillz, it’s going to be DJ Swale with Elevated Days. Looking for my Wayne right now though! Once I find my Wayne it’s going to be over, I’m gone!”

What advice would you give independent professionals getting started in the music industry?

“The advice I have for upcoming artists is that you need to drop music. I don’t know why, but you see artists drop one song in January, one song in June, and one song in December and it doesn’t work like that. Especially for up-and-coming artists. You need to find your sound and get different opinions. Russ, people don’t remember but years ago, Russ was dropping like every day or every week. If you look at his catalog his a ton of music and then he dropped, ‘What They Want,’ and boom, it blew. He found a sound, he found a wave, and now look at him. That’s the only advice I can give because that’s one of the biggest issues I see. Artists are dropping one EP a year and they are lucky I can’t rap or sing because I’d be dropping every day until something pops.”

The Carolina Ambassador available on all platforms

Enjoyed our interview with DJ Swale? Then click the link provided to download his latest EP ‘The Carolina Ambassador.’ Also, follow him on social media for the latest on everything Elevated.