{"id":48606,"date":"2025-11-25T21:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/hiphopmagizine\/how-bay-swag-flipped-unexpected-fate-into-fire-music\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:12:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:12:17","slug":"how-bay-swag-flipped-unexpected-fate-into-fire-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/hiphopmagizine\/how-bay-swag-flipped-unexpected-fate-into-fire-music\/","title":{"rendered":"How Bay Swag Flipped Unexpected Fate Into Fire Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt Hip Hop Magizine News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9431463036\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Show &amp; Prove: Bay Swag<\/span><br \/><em>Words:\u00a0Georgette Cline\u00a0<\/em><br \/><em><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Editor\u2019s Note: This story appears in the\u00a0Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands\u00a0now and available for sale on the XXL website.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a bold choice to bring Harriet Tubman into rap conversations, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/tags\/bay-swag\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Swag<\/a> is up for the challenge. Inside the offices of his label home, Standard Records in midtown Manhattan, he\u2019s watching the music video for his song named after the great freedom fighter who defied slavery by using the Underground Railroad to escape in 1849.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time I make a 10, put six to the side and tuck it\/They need to free all the bros, where the f**k is Harriet Tubman?\u201d the 24-year-old rapper asks in the video, flanked by his friends. Anyone who respects her plight could easily answer that question. As the cloudy sky erupts into a downpour outside the office windows, the bad weather on this muggy summer day in early August does nothing to rain on Bay\u2019s parade. He\u2019s eager to drop the visual in a week to keep his name and music top of mind with fans, following the release of his debut album, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/0ShmUyGC785pMDaRdP5Sap?si=SDaD1h4uTcqpvcLmc9bh8w\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Damaged Thoughts<\/em><\/a>, in July.<\/p>\n<p>The Queens native, who proudly reps the New York City borough with QGTM (initials for Queens Get The Money) tattooed across his neck, has been preparing for moments like this ever since he started grinding 10 years ago. \u201cYou just gotta wait your turn and be patient,\u201d Bay insists. He did just that when <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1FvR1pLpbXc?si=2umHPGKxFxkwoTBb\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cFisherrr,\u201d<\/a> a flirty, sexy drill track he collaborated on with Cash Cobain last February, took off in the Big Apple and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Over 40 million Spotify streams later, a remix with Ice Spice helping bring in 17 million YouTube views, and his lyrics soundtracking social media posts for plenty of baddies across platforms have allowed Bay Swag\u2019s slick-talking lifestyle raps and sticky melodies to fall on more ears. The rising rhymer is part of a rap renaissance in New York City that pushes positivity rather than popping off.<\/p>\n<p>Before he was outside bringing his music to the masses, Bay Swag, born Lloyd McKenzie Jr., was a fun-loving kid who was really outside back in Jamaica, Queens, running around, playing tag and Manhunt with his friends on the block. Music was always heard in his household, where he lived as an only child with his mom, who worked at Geico selling insurance for over 20 years. At 5, thanks to car rides with his dad, little Lloyd was listening to Jay-Z\u2019s hustler mentality through his rhymes. As Bay got older, Juelz Santana and Dipset\u2019s swag drew him into the Harlem rap scene. He also latched onto Trey Songz\u2019s R&amp;B melodies.<\/p>\n<p>By 12, Bay was witnessing the rap lifestyle unfold right before his eyes. His uncle, Windsor \u201cSlow\u201d Lubin, who launched the popular New York clothing line SlowBucks, had a warehouse in Queens for the brand, where rappers, actors and athletes often came through. \u201cThey all loved me \u2019cause I was just ahead of my time,\u201d Bay recalls. \u201cI was fly. So, I\u2019m like, you know what, why not just start making music? I\u2019m around it, so why not take advantage of it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He made his first song in a friend\u2019s basement studio. With the help of his father, Lloyd \u201cBay Lloyd\u201d McKenzie, a former party promoter who worked with artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Junior started hitting the studio consistently. At first, his dad would have the beat and songs already written. \u201cEverything was already ready for me,\u201d shares Bay, who graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. \u201cAll I had to do was show up. So, now when he goes to jail, I don\u2019t have that no more. So, I\u2019m kind of like lost a little bit, you know?\u201d Bay began writing his own bars out of necessity.<\/p>\n<p>For the next few years, the self-described \u201cyoung OG\u201d was putting in work. In 2017, his father was convicted for allegedly ordering the 2012 hit on law student Brandon Woodward, who was moonlighting as a drug courier. McKenzie Sr. was sentenced to 85 years to life for second-degree murder and operating as a drug trafficker. Bay Swag put his pain into his music. \u201cDaddy got locked \u2019cause my daddy was trappin\u2019\/They tried to say he killed a ni**a in Manhattan\/Jury believed the ni**a that was rattin\u2019\/I\u2019ma get you out, Pops, swear I ain\u2019t cappin\u2019,\u201d he raps on the 2017 track \u201cSaucin.\u201d \u201cMusic is my therapy,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>By that point, he was locked in on his career. There were local performances, connecting with Diddy\u2019s son King Combs as part of the CYN collective in 2015, Bay\u2019s track \u201cRumors\u201d getting him some early buzz online in 2016, and his mixtape, <em>Leader of the New School<\/em>, the same year, earning him a short-lived Interscope Records publishing deal, which all increased his potential. He continued dropping more loosies and connecting with the right people, like rapper-producer Cash Cobain, in 2020. After Bay released his <em>Ahead of My Time<\/em> project in 2022, a mix of different sounds to see what would stick, the Auto-Tune-drenched \u201cQuagen\u201d did the job. \u201cThat brought me back to life,\u201d Bay admits.<\/p>\n<p>Tracks like the emotionally-driven \u201cTherapy\u201d in 2023, and the gold-certified hit \u201cFisherrr\u201d followed a year later. \u201cNot only is it positive, but we bringing everybody together,\u201d he tells of the latter song\u2019s success. \u201cGood feelings and positive vibes.\u201d To capitalize on the track\u2019s impact, Bay joined Cash as the opening act on Ice Spice\u2019s Y2K! World Tour in the U.S. last summer.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear Bay Swag has never stopped working\u2014rapping is the only job he\u2019s ever had. There\u2019s a deeper meaning to his motivation. \u201cMy dad being incarcerated, and also my mother just beat cancer,\u201d he reveals. \u201cHow can I give up? I got people depending on me.\u201d His work ethic is what Deon Douglas, cofounder of Standard Records, noticed when he signed the rapper in 2024. \u201cHe sticks to what he\u2019s doing,\u201d says Douglas, who\u2019s also the cofounder of 11AM management, where he helps guide the careers of artists like Lil Tjay. \u201c[Bay Swag] does the work. He keeps getting better, he keeps learning. You always meet him in the studio or a video shoot, at an interview. So immediately, that\u2019s what I appreciated about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That dedication carries over into everything Bay Swag does. He delivered his debut album, <em>Damaged Thoughts<\/em>, this past July, featuring Cash, Young Thug, Meek Mill and Quavo, among others. Songs like \u201cRich Junkies\u201d with Kyle Rich and \u201cBillie Jean\u201d with Sheff G are going up. Bay finished his\u00a0Damaged Thoughts Tour in November and unleashed the new album<em> Swiggity<\/em> in<em>\u00a0<\/em>the same month. &#8220;Cafe Regal&#8221; and &#8220;Proceed&#8221; with Zeddy Will are a few of the tracks getting play from the project. Plans for the future include releasing more videos and focusing on\u00a0his own label. Bay Swag launched Nothing Bout Us Regular, in 2024, and has four artists signed to him. \u201cIt\u2019s just young CEO time, man,\u201d he affirms.<\/p>\n<p>For sure.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:center\">Listen to Bay Swag&#8217;s <em>Damaged Thoughts<\/em> Album<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:center\">Listen to Bay Swag&#8217;s <em>Swiggity<\/em> Album<\/h3>\n<p><em>The fall 2025 issue of XXL magazine featuring Bay Swag<em>&#8216;s<\/em>\u00a0interview\u00a0is available to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.xxlmag.com\/products\/xxl-magazine-fall-2025-issue\" target=\"_blank\">purchase here<\/a>. The issue also includes\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/joey-badass-interview-lonely-at-the-top\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joey Bada$$<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/jid-interview-god-does-like-ugly\/\" target=\"_blank\">J.I.D&#8217;s<\/a>\u00a0cover story interviews,\u00a0<\/em>conversations with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/chance-the-rapper-interview-star-line-album\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chance The Rapper<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/currensy-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Curren$y<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/hit-boy-interview-new-album\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hit-Boy<\/a>, Rob49, KenTheMan, Wallo267, Hurricane Wisdom, Hanumankind,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/babyfxce-e-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Babyfxce E<\/a>, Ghostface Killah, Conway The Machine, Pluto, TiaCorine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/isaiah-falls-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Isaiah Falls<\/a>, comedian Josh Joshson, Vice President of Music at SiriusXM and Pandora Joshua \u201cJ1\u201d Raiford, a look at the change in album rollouts over the years highlighted by Clipse&#8217;s Let God Sort Em Out album and more.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><h2 class=\"photogallery-title\">See Photos From Joey Bada$$ and J.I.D&#8217;s <em>XXL<\/em> Magazine Fall 2025 Cover Shoot<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"branded-app-shortcode-inarticle\">\n<div class=\"logo-wrap\" rel=\"fwef\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/townsquare.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/www.xxlmag.png?w=100\" alt=\"XXL logo\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script 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