Before any local rapper’s polished samples were fueling Dubai rap’s transition into the not-so-underground in the early aughts, The Recipe’s urban-inspired beats inspired the city's hip-hop trajectory to a laudable level in the 2000s. The pillars of the Dubai hip-hop community continue to carry the baton after more than a decade—whether together or as solo artists—of bang-on releases. Lucky Schild aka Swerte, flaunts his fair share of solo stardom with the full circle of his track 'Ballin’ in Bali'.
The Swiss-Indonesian rapper revealed that 'Ballin’ in Bali' was written after a trip back to Indonesia. "I hadn’t been back home in 3 years then so it was really special and showing my wife and my friend around made it extra special," Swerte recalls. According to him, the lyrics started taking shape while zipping around on scooters. "The chorus really stuck with me the whole trip and I had to just key it down as soon as I got back to Dubai," he adds.
The chorus really stuck with me the whole trip and I had to just key it down as soon as I got back to Dubai
The release of the song, however, was scrubbed temporarily. Credits to the world-halting pandemic. Swerte, however, maximized the quiescent lockdown into two years of content planning of the roll-out and putting together a "solid team" that could bring his vision to life. "To see it executed was so dope," the rapper proudly shares.
While other spitters abhor the grunt work of trawling for rarity or cutting and stitching bars into something fresh, Swerte expressed the nonnative experience as nothing short of a "breath of fresh air". "Normally my songs are more serious and talk about overcoming [something] but this song was just about having fun both for me and hopefully my listeners."
"To play 'Ballin’ in Bali' in Bali in the middle of rice fields surrounded by the local hip-hop heads, b-boys, b-girls and other artists from the island was a dream come true." It was the culmination of the tour that made the performances even more extraordinary.
From the moment Swerte produced the song with Tac (a Dubai-based singer), he knew instantaneously that it was going to be one hell of a ride. "It offered me a vehicle that I could do so much with creatively in terms of how I wanted to present the project gamut to the world: the visuals, content, interviews, live band version, performances, tour and now a documentary in the works (paraphrased)," he adds. Every part of the journey has allowed him to toil with remarkable people. "Those [accomplishments] were as much their work as it is mine," he explains. "'Ballin’ in Bali' is a chapter in my life that I will never forget and will hold close to my heart," he concludes.
Ballin’ in Bali' is a chapter in my life that I will never forget and will hold close to my heart
Swerte hopes to transport his listeners to a new dimension with these lines from the song. "Scooter Gang, Nasi Gang, Rendang. 'Cus I love my people and when we‘re cruising around on our scooters it means we’re happy. Nasi is life so that goes without saying and it's always a good time to eat rendang!"
