Move aside, y’all – AMERIKA’S NEXT TOP PARTY! is here. From child stars to the hottest Stateside music duo of the moment, Jadagrace and SWIM are throwing the best shindig in town, and we’re all invited.
We all dream of succeeding at the things we love most. To do so alongside the people we love – that’s an achievement reserved for a very special few; in this case, for a PARTYOF2. ‘Shout out to Jada, she my saving grace,’ SWIM, one half of the LA-based duo, emphatically speaks on the opener of their mid-October-released debut album, AMERIKA’S NEXT TOP PARTY! It’s a savvy bit of wordplay, emblematic of the sharp lyrical prowess shown across the body of music. But it’s also a sincere declaration of the significance of his artistic counterpart and best friend, Jadagrace.
This sizzling moment of prosperity – an inaugural record launching Jada and SWIM to the front lines of American hip-hop’s progression – has been 15 years in the making. Both raised in the entertainment industry, child actors from a tender age, they first crossed paths at 9 or 10 years old. “We had a bunch of mutual friends,” SWIM says, as the pair spare some time for an early morning Zoom in late October. “And being a young, Black actor and singer, the circle of who you know in the industry is very tight knit. It’s a pretty isolating position to be in as a kid, you don’t really go to school so it’s tough to make friends, and it’s just hard to relate to other kids. So we clung on to each other from pretty early on. And I think that’s why we started making music, to discover ourselves more.”
“Rough” but “educational”, a childhood in the spotlight fasttracked SWIM and Jada to maturity, allowing them to form an instinctively close friendship and much needed support system – a lifeboat in choppy waters. They’d transfer the catharsis of their bond into a joint creative endeavour from their mid-teens, working together on a mixtape for SWIM before forming grouptherapy. – a BROCKHAMPTON and Odd Future inspired music collective.
grouptherapy.’s critically lauded 2023 breakthrough, i was mature for my age, but i was still a child, was “a way for us to experiment and figure out what we wanted to do as artists,” Jada says. It’s a brilliant body of work that earned them a signing to one of rap’s totem labels, Def Jam. But, in circumstances Jada and SWIM unpack but don’t enjoy visiting, their stop-gap, soft launch 2024 EP, “we owe you an explanation”, three became two. And so with the heat on to not let the occurrence dampen their momentum, Jada and SWIM had to reinvent themselves – and fast.
SWIM:There was definitely a lot of pressure.
Jadagrace: Yeah, but we tried to let go of that pressure because it can really influence the way you create. So we grounded ourselves and had to block the noise out.
What better way to do so than to have a party? And that’s exactly what Jada and SWIM did with their debut album. The key to making it? Letting go. “Once we did that, we realised that this is a reset, it’s a reintroduction,” SWIM says. “You only really get to do it one time, so we quickly decided to just enjoy it. And I think that’s the energy people are feeling from the record as well.” He’s not wrong – gone is the understated, esoteric complexion of grouptherapy. – PARTYOF2 is a completely different beast. As much inspired by The Black Eyed Peas as Clipse or Outkast, the new look two-piece are sonically maximalist and tastefully gaudy, visually whetted and artfully cinematic.
The skill and intention on the album is clear to see: a fine balance of style with substance, and satire with sophistication. Musically, it’s heavily eclectic. An A-Z of classic and modern hip-hop, with plenty of genre-hopping blended within. “OUT OF BODY”, the second cut in the track list, is perhaps the clearest example of the range – from the distorted walls of guitar in the rock-induced opening passages to, in under three minutes, a vivacious poppy R&B climax that momentarily transports you back to the mid-noughties. “I think it was important for us to have something for everybody on this album,” Jada says. “We are just not capable of making a song that sounds like another song we made.”
Aptly titled AMERIKA’S NEXT TOP PARTY! , the album is a bouncy, feel-good record, but also a riotous, rousing manifestation that’s unafraid of political sprinklings – because “being a Black artist right now in America feels very strange; it feels very difficult to not comment on the state of not only our country but the world.” The visual language, specifically the striking album cover, signifies the depth of thought – the two headed dog related to the dual political party system in the States, the blue of the US flag ominously, piercingly, turned to black.
It’s thoroughly enjoyable for a surface level listen, but if you dig a little deeper, the release is a statement beyond artistry. “That’s what this album is about,” SWIM says. “About dancing and having fun through a time that’s difficult. Like – I’m having a good time but I’m also scared and worried about what’s happening.”
Succeeding has never come easily for Jadagrace and SWIM, but the duo always seem to come out on top – this new reintroduction album proving just that. It feels like merely the beginning of a long career in the spotlight. There’s plenty of road left ahead. But nothing has or will change one thing: their love, respect, and reliance on each other.
“It’s been fifteen years,” sighs SWIM meditatively. “We’ve been there for each other in some of the most difficult times. We’ve been to funerals, weddings, baby showers together. We’ve shown up at each other’s houses at 3am when shit is hitting the fan. We’ve driven cross-country together, gone all over the world to play our music. It’s still difficult to believe that we get to do this together. As creative and dynamic as we are, behind the scenes, our friendship is the most important thing. We’re constantly just kicking it doing random shit, just like we were as kids.”
Photography by Hannah Sider
Styling by Michy Foster
Words by Ben Tibbits
Hair by Virginie Pineda at The Visionaries
Make-up by Shea Hardy at Wildflowers
Fashion Assistant Diana Valdovinos
Makeup Assistant Janelle Detina
Videography by Mykyta Demydko
Special Thanks to Amato Studio