Swabski Is Building “Chill Drill” Into a Whole New World

Member Spotlight Feat Swabski

Swabski’s story starts with a question a lot of artists quietly carry for years.

Where is home, really?

Born in Orange County, raised in Austin, shaped by time in China and Hong Kong, and rooted in Vancouver for the last 13 years, Swabski has lived the “third culture kid” reality in full. Home becomes less of a place and more of a feeling. A frequency. A room you build for yourself when the world keeps moving the furniture.

For him, music became that room early.

His parents kept a proper sound system at home, and the soundtrack was wide and deep: Mariah Carey, Kenny Rogers, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, plus Korean classics. Rap and R&B grabbed him hardest. He remembers friends with older siblings burning Eminem CDs, and that feeling of hearing something completely otherworldly for the first time. Even as a kid, he found ways to make music the language of whatever he was doing, rapping book reports in fifth grade, then rapping speeches while running for school President in high school, and winning.

That matters because it shows the pattern.

Swabski has never treated music like a hobby he picked up later. It has been the through-line, the constant place where he could fit in, process life, and build identity when everything else felt in motion.

The sound: “chill drill” as a new lane, not a gimmick

“Chill drill is the best of both worlds. You can chill, but still turn up properly.”

If you ask Swabski what he makes today, he’ll tell you something he has been actively shaping over the past year: chill drill.

The DNA comes from UK drill, but the intent is different. He takes the bounce and rhythmic intensity of drill, then pulls the energy into a more laid back pocket so he has room to bring in R&B and soul, smoother harmonies, and a calmer voice that still cuts. In his words, it’s the best of both worlds: you can chill, but you can still turn up properly.

That approach lands in a real lineage.

Drill has a history of raw urgency, built from Chicago’s early 2010s wave, then evolving into UK drill’s Brixton-rooted identity. Over time, drill has travelled globally and morphed in different cities. Swabski is doing what the best independent artists always do: taking a known structure and bending it until it sounds like his life.

Not copying a genre, but claiming a corner of it.

The path: range first, then a signature

Before chill drill, Swabski made a point of proving he could move.

In 2025, he released his first EP, I Went to an Alternate Universe to Find Myself, an experimental four-track project where each song lives in a different genre. It is a statement of range: alt pop, pop punk, breakbeat, drum and bass rap, all in one entry point. It’s also a very Swabski way to introduce himself, because it matches how he grew up listening. His dad is a country connoisseur, his mom prefers calm ballads, and he gravitated toward rap, R&B, funk, EDM, and metal.

And metal is where a big part of his structure comes from.

Swabski credits bands like System of a Down, Avenged Sevenfold, and Slipknot for influencing the way he thinks about movement inside a song, tempo changes, energy shifts, unexpected transitions. That “keep it fresh without losing intensity” mindset shows up in how he builds his records, even when the vibe is smooth.

Then chill drill arrived and everything clicked.

He released “Hamanuh” as an experiment, and it became a turning point. People connected with it, and instead of treating that as a one-off win, he used it as a signal. That is what real growth looks like: you notice what resonates, then you go deeper on purpose.

The moment: “OOAAOOEE” and the start of the mixtape era

Swabski’s next step is less about proving range and more about locking identity.

His single “OOAAOOEE” released on February 12, 2026, and he frames it as his first fully original chill drill record built from scratch with his close collaborator and producer Lomax in da Cut. The tone is soulful and playful, with a Brian McKnight kind of warmth, but grounded in hip hop elements and a mid-song switch that changes the energy.

He calls it an introduction to what chill drill can be, and more importantly, an announcement that this is the sound he plans to build a full world around.

He is currently working on his first mixtape in this lane, releasing singles leading up to the full project later this year.

The visuals: storytelling without oversharing

“My biggest challenge has been myself, overthinking, self doubt, and finding my story.”

Swabski is a visual thinker. When he’s writing, he often imagines the scenario playing out like a film. That ties directly into one of the most honest challenges he named: learning how to tell his story while staying largely private.

A lot of artists get stuck here. The internet rewards vulnerability, but not everyone wants their whole life online. Swabski is working that muscle in real time, sharing what’s authentic without turning his music into a diary entry with no boundaries.

That balance also shows up in his milestone moment.

One achievement he’s proud of is winning Backpac’s Rap Competition for Social Justice, where he wrote a rap, self-directed, and shot his first music video encouraging youth voters during a tense political moment. It was his first global competition, and it pushed him deeper into directing and editing, skills that now feed his visual identity and DIY consistency.

The community: Beatcave as the room where momentum happens

Swabski connected with Beatcave through an ice breaker and networking event, heard strong feedback from CAMP attendees, and decided he needed to experience the community first-hand.

What stood out most was the education, the breadth of topics, and the feeling of being surrounded by people with good intentions. He describes Beatcave as a safe place where artists can learn, connect, and figure out their next steps, even if they do not yet know what they need.

That mindset fits his next goals perfectly: solidifying a recognisable sound and visual identity, booking bigger shows, touring, landing a sync placement, and reaching 100,000 consistent monthly listeners.

The name: Swabski, and the philosophy behind it

“Swabski comes from wabi-sabi, finding beauty in imperfection.”

Swabski is not just a stage name. It is a reminder.

He took it from the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, the idea of finding beauty in imperfection. He came up with the name during a difficult period in his life when giving up was not an option, and it became a personal mantra: without darkness there would not be light.

That philosophy is also why his long-term supporters still connect with songs like “King of the Land,” a SoundCloud release from nearly a decade ago. The message is simple and timeless: we are all kings and queens in our own right, keep your head high. Even now, he says he sometimes has to remind himself of his own words.

That is the real story underneath the sound.

Swabski is not chasing perfection. He is building proof. Song by song, visual by visual, room by room.

And if chill drill is the lane, the bigger goal is clear: make music that feels like a world you can live in.