| Swollen Members | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Years Active: | –present |
| Label: | Battle Axe Records, PCP Productions, Suburban Noize, Virgin Records |
| Associated Acts: | Rock Steady Crew, Moka Only, Dilated Peoples, La Coka Nostra |
| Current Members: | |
| Past Members: |
|
Swollen Members is a Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of rappers Madchild and Prevail, and producer Rob the Viking (since 2002). Former group members include vocalists Moka Only, Easy Roc, Zodak. Swollen Members has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits album, and two 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] [2] They have won the JUNO Award four times.
Swollen Members was founded in 1995 by Vancouverites Madchild (Shane Bunting), Prevail (Kiley Hendriks), and 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.[3]
The group (without Moka Only, who left to work on his own music) released four 12-inch vinyl singles on Madchild's indie label Battle Axe Records, initially distributed by New York-based Fat Beats. The singles sold approximately 10,000 copies each.[4]
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, #43 on Canadian rap albums, earned gold status in Canada [5] and won the 2000 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year.[6]
Following Balance, Swollen Members released Bad Dreams on November 13, 2001, 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.[7] The album earned Swollen Members their second Juno Award and the song “Fuel Injected” won four MuchMusic Video Awards.[8] [9]
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. The song "Breath" featuring Portuguese Canadian pop singer, Nelly Furtado won a MuchMusic Video Award for Best Rap Video.[10] Production credits include Evidence of Dilated Peoples. The album earned a gold certification and peaked at #7 in Canada.[11] The group also won their third consecutive Juno Award. [12] In January 2003, Swollen Members signed with Virgin Records.[13]
In 2003, the group 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.
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.[14] The album would go on to win the group their fourth Juno Award in 2007.[15]
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.[16]
Swollen Members scheduled the release of a studio album, Dagger Mouth, for April 2011, under Suburban Noize. Its first single is "Mr. Impossible".[17] 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. The album was nominated at the 2012 Juno Awards.[18]
On March 19, 2013, their ninth studio album, Beautiful Death Machine was released, and debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, making it the group's highest charting album in Canada.
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.[19] [20]
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.
| Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | U.S. | U.S. Ind. | ||||
| Balance |
| – | – | – | – |
|
| Bad Dreams |
| 34 | – | – | – | |
| Monsters in the Closet |
| 7 | – | – | – |
|
| Heavy |
| 14 | – | – | – | |
| Black Magic |
| 22 | – | 19 | 21 | |
| Armed to the Teeth |
| 19 | 146 | 5 | 23 | |
| Dagger Mouth |
| 15 | – | 3 | 41 | |
| Monsters II |
| - | - | - | - | |
| Beautiful Death Machine |
| 3 | 167 | 3 | 26 | |
| Brand New Day |
| 8 | – | 7 | – | |
| Album | Year |
|---|---|
| Greatest Hits: Ten Years of Turmoil |
|
| 1997 |
|
| The Best Of |
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [22] | ||||
| 1999 | "Front Street" | — | Balance | |
| "Strength" | — | |||
| 2000 | "Camouflage" | — | ||
| "Lady Venom" | — | |||
| 2001 | "Take It Back" | — | Bad Dreams | |
| "Fuel Injected" | — | |||
| 2002 | "Bring It Home" | 3 | ||
| "Steppin Thru" | — | Monsters in the Closet | ||
| "Breath" (featuring Nelly Furtado) | — | |||
| "Fuel Injected (Remix)" (featuring Saukrates) | — | |||
| 2003 | "Watch This" | — | Heavy | |
| 2006 | "Black Magic" (featuring DJ Swamp) | — | Black Magic | |
| "Too Hot" (featuring DJ Babu) | — | |||
| "Put Me On" (featuring Everlast and Moka Only) | — | |||
| "Pressure" | — | |||
| 2009 | "Warrior" (featuring Tre Nyce and Young Kazh) | 94 | Armed to the Teeth | |
| "Red Dragon" | — | |||
| "Bollywood Chick" (featuring Tech N9ne and Tre Nyce) | — | |||
| 2010 | "Pornstar" (featuring Tre Nyce) | — | ||
| 2011 | "Mr. Impossible" | — | Dagger Mouth | |
| "Bring Me Down (Swollen Mix)" (featuring Saigon) | — | |||
| "Night Vision" | — | |||
| "Do or Die" | — | |||
| "War Money" | — | |||
| 2013 | "Kings of Diamonds" | — | Beautiful Death Machine | |
| "Mercenary" | — | |||
| "Inception" | — | |||
| "Almost Famous" | — | |||
| 2018 | "Bank Job" | — | TBA (2018) | |
| 2024 | "Triple Aces" | — | TBA (2024) | |
| - | 2024 | "Faceless Kings" | — | TBA (2024) |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
| Year | Other artist(s) | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "S and M on the Rocks" | 1999 | Blazing the Crop | ||
| “Planet Alignment” | 2000 | Buc Fifty | Bad Man | |
| “Crunch” | 2001 | Moka Only | Lime Green | |
| "Chewing Concrete" | 2002 | DJ Murge | Search and Rescue | |
| “Get Live” | 2003 | Abstract Rude & Tribe Unique | Showtyme! | |
| “Summer Lightning” | 2003 | Mr Brady | Dirty | |
| “Warriors” | 2004 | Fat Jack | Cater to the DJ 2 | |
| "Artillery" | 2007 | Infected Mushroom | Vicious Delicious | |
| “The High Road” | 2010 | One Big Trip | ||
| "Lost in the Music" | 2012 | Insane Clown Posse | Mike E. Clark's Extra Pop Emporium | |
| "Falling Down" | 2013 | Twiztid | A New Nightmare | |
| "The Plague" | 2015 | Prozak, Ubiquitous | Black Ink | |
| “Fun House” | 2016 | Robbie G | Inner Outer Space |
| Year | Song | Director(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Lady Venom" | Trevor Cornish | Balance |
| 2001 | "Take It Back" | Wendy Morgan | Bad Dreams |
| "Deep End" | Jason Goldwatch | ||
| 2002 | "Bring It Home" | Wendy Morgan | Monsters in the Closet |
| "Fuel Injected" | Wendy Morgan | Bad Dreams | |
| "Steppin Thru" | Wendy Morgan | Monsters in the Closet | |
| "Breathe" (feat. Nelly Furtado) | Todd McFarlane | ||
| 2003 | "Watch This" | Heavy | |
| 2006 | "Too Hot" | Black Magic | |
| "Put Me On" (feat. Everlast) | Margaret Malandruccolo | ||
| "Pressure" | |||
| 2009 | "Warrior" (feat. Young Kazh) | Chad Archibald & Philip Carrer | Armed to the Teeth |
| "Bollywood Chick" (feat. Tech N9ne) | |||
| 2010 | "Pornstar" | Chad Archibald & Philip Carrer | |
| 2011 | "Mr. Impossible" | Mr. Invisible | Dagger Mouth |
| "Bring Me Down (Swollen Mix)" (feat. Saigon) | Mr. Invisible | ||
| "Night Vision" | |||
| "Do or Die" | |||
| 2013 | "King of Diamonds" | D-Shot | Beautiful Death Machine |
| "Mercenary" | D-Shot | ||
| "Inception" | D-Shot | ||
| "Almost Famous" | D-Shot | ||
| "BAX WAR" | D-Shot | ||
| "Death Warrant" | D-Shot | ||
| "Fear" (feat. Snak the Ripper) | D-Shot | ||
| "Juggernaut" | |||
| 2014 | "Power" | Brand New Day | |
| "Brand New Day" | Dale Resteghini |
| Year | Organization | Award | Result | Ref(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Juno Awards | Rap Recording of the Year"Dagger Mouth" | [23] | |||
| 2007 | Juno Awards | Rap Recording of the Year"Black Magic" | [24] | |||
| 2003 | Juno Awards | Group of the Year | [25] | |||
| 2003 | Juno Awards | Rap Recording of the Year"Monsters In The Closet" | [26] | |||
| 2002 | Juno Awards | Best Rap Recording "Bad Dreams" | [27] | |||
| 2001 | Juno Awards | Best Rap Recording "Balance" | [28] |
| Year | Organization | Award | Result | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Western Canadian Music Awards | Outstanding Rap/Hip Hop Recording"Dagger Mouth" | [39] | ||
| 2004 | Western Canadian Music Awards | Outstanding Rap/Hip Hop Recording "Heavy" | [40] | ||
| 2003 | Western Canadian Music Awards | Outstanding Rap/Hip Hop Recording"Monsters In The Closet" | [41] | ||
| 2003 | Western Canadian Music Awards | Video of the Year "Breath" (feat. Nelly Furtado) | [42] |
