Swing Ting

Manchester crew Swing Ting rejuvenated their city's club scene with a vibrant, inclusive mixture of U.K. bass and Caribbean sounds, including garage, grime, dancehall, and reggaeton. Established as a radio show and club night in 2008, co-founders Ruben Platt and Balraj Samrai became a production duo in 2011, and the Swing Ting label launched in 2014, quickly earning major accolades from throughout the international dance music press. After releasing well-received collaborations with producers and MCs such as Equiknoxx, Florentino, and Fox, Swing Ting released their debut full-length, 100 Dances, in 2020. Platt and Samrai started a specialist radio show called Swing Ting in 2008, and began hosting parties by the end of the year. Influenced by Caribbean soundsystem traditions, the duo and their guests played bass-heavy rhythms from a wide spectrum of genres, blending American rap and Jamaican dancehall with the elastic rhythms of U.K. garage and bassline. The Swing Ting duo released an instrumental club 12" called Creepin on Fat City in 2011, and they remixed Mosca's single "Tilt Shift" the same year. The party moved to the third Saturday of the month at Manchester's 200-capacity Soup Kitchen club. MC Fox, Murlo, and Joey B became an integral part of the crew in 2012, and Swing Ting gradually earned a buzz as one of Manchester's most exciting parties. The Fox-featuring single "Head Gone" was released that year, and the Swing Ting label was launched in 2014, issuing singles by party regulars such as Brackles, Madd Again!, and Famous Eno. 2016 was a breakthrough year for Swing Ting, with the release of singles like Equiknoxx's "Bubble" and Alexx A-Game's "A-Game Everyday." Resident Advisor selected Swing Ting as Label of the Month in September, and FACT crowned them Label of the Year. The Junction EP, featuring Gemma Dunleavy as well as several of the crew's previous collaborators, appeared in 2017. Swing Ting continued their celebrated parties as well as their monthly NTS Radio program, and their first album, 100 Dances, appeared in 2020. ~ Paul Simpson