, better known with his stage name SWAY (stylized in all capitals) is a Japanese rapper and actor. He is signed to Def Jam Recordings and is a member of the group Doberman Infinity, of EXILE's theater company (Gekidan EXILE).
Early life Shuhei Nogae was born on June 9, 1986, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. Growing up, Shuhei was a huge fan of basketball, especially the NBA. He would regularly buy the sports magazine Hoop and at one point, he read an article about Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant doing some rapping. Since they were his idols during his junior high school years, he became interested in rap music and hip-hop culture. For this reason he started singing and DJing as a hobby. In the 3rd grade of junior high school, he started learning graphic design and break dance besides his other activities. He also produced a dance track, wrote lyrics and started to rap.
At the age of 16, his mindset changed and he became serious about a career as a rapper after watching the movie 8 Mile. The impact of the movie led him to choose a stage name by searching through an English-Japanese dictionary. The word 'sway' stuck with him since its sound was close to his birth name and he also liked the meaning. However, he faced a huge problem starting as a rapper: He didn't know what he should write about in his lyrics and felt like his experiences didn't matter since his life had been so different from the American rappers he listened to. He overcame this obstacle by realizing there were also famous rappers who talked about fairly normal things in their lyrics, such as Kanye West for example.
Sway formed a group called Wild Style with his close friend Shokichi when he was 17 and they performed together during their late teens until Sway moved to Toronto, Canada where he lived and studied for two years from 19 to 21 years old while doing various part-time jobs including waiting tables at a Japanese restaurant.
After returning to Hokkaido, he worked at a clothing store while rapping in the evenings. Despite enjoying both jobs, he envisioned his future differently. In his mid-twenties, he decided to move to Tokyo and perform there at clubs. During that time, Shokichi, who was now a member of famous J-Pop boygroup Exile, called him and stated he wanted to make music together again. Therefore they wrote three songs and Shokichi presented them to Exile leader Hiroyuki Igarashi who approved of their work.
Career Subsequently, Sway signed with LDH, the company founded by Exile.
In August 2012, he debuted as an actor in the stage play Attack No. 1 and in September, he joined Gekidan Exile (Exile's theater company). Since then he started to work both in music and acting.
In June 2014, he joined the group Doberman Infinity. Two years later in April 2016, he also joined the hip-hop group Honest Boyz.
On September 16, 2017, he announced his major solo debut with single "Manzana", which was released on November 1 under Universal Music Japan's sub-label Def Jam Recordings. On November 11, Sway formed the creative unit "N0IR (Noir)".
On August 29, 2018, he released his debut album titled Unchained. On December 12, 2018, he announced that he would use "Sway" also during acting activities that used his real name.
Participating groups GroupPeriodGekidan Exile(September 2012 – present)Doberman Infinity(June 2014 – present)Honest Boyz(April 2016 – present)N0IR(November 2017 – present)
Discography Studio albums Year Title Release date Chart positionsOriconAlbumsChart2012The SJune 15 –2018UnchainedAugust 2911
Singles Year Title Release date Chart positions Album OriconSinglesChart BillboardJapanHot 1002017"Manzana"November 1516Unchained
Digital singles YearTitleRelease dateAlbumRef. 2018"Perfect Love"July 18 Unchained"Never Say Goodbye"August 22 2019February 14"On Fire"October 10"Angels"December 18
Participating works YearRelease dateSongArtist and Album2009December 2I Like It feat. SWAYHiromi "Hot Chocolate" 2013February 27Cazal feat. SWAY & YOU THE ROCK☆DJ Ken Watanabe "Cazal feat. SWAY & YOU THE ROCK☆"August 7Summer Vacation feat. SWAYKlooz "Summer Vacation feat. SWAY" 2014March 5Signal Fire feat. SWAYExile The Second "HE II AGE"March 5Movie Star feat. SWAYSuper Sonic "SCRATCH YOUR WORLD"March 26S.A.K.U.R.A.Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE "S.A.K.U.R.A."April 9Amazing Girl feat. SWAYKoudai Sato "Magic Carpet Ride" June 4BACK TO THE FUTURE / EXILE Shokichi feat. VERBAL (M-Flo) & SWAY Exile Shokichi "BACK TO THE FUTURE"THE ANTHEM / EXILE SHOKICHI, DOBERMAN INC, SWAY, ELLY (Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE)June 11LIGHTSSway × Hiyadam "LIGHTS"June 18Organ Donor 〜 OFF DA HOOK 〜 / DJ Makidai feat. Generations from Exile Tribe & SWAYDJ Makidai from Exile "EXILE TRIBE PERFECT MIX"August 6Pop!! feat. SHUN, SWAY, KLOOZ / KEN THE 390V.A. "DREAM BOY BEST MIX vol.1- MIXED BY DJ HIRORON"October 22Rock the party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-Kun, KIRAShimotaku "Rock the party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-Kun, KIRA"December 10WANNA SAY feat. SWAY & MATT CABJolly-Tip a.k.a DJ Keizi "WANNA SAY feat. SWAY & MATT CAB" 2015January 14ONE feat. SWAY & Koudai SatoJolly-Tip a.k.a DJ Keizi "JOLLY-TIP STORY"May 20Call Your Name feat. SWAYMatt Cab "Call Your Name feat. SWAY"September 9Orenojikan (feat. SWAY)MAD "Orenojikan (feat. SWAY)"September 16REVOLUTION (PKCZ Remix feat. SWAY)Crystal Kay feat. Namie Amuro "REVOLUTION"September 16Heart Breaker feat. SWAYThelma Aoyama "GRAY SMOKE" 2016April 27Rock City feat. SWAY & Crystal KayExile Shokichi "THE FUTURE" June 15MIGHTY WARRIORS / PKCZ feat. CRAZYBOY, ANARCHY, SWAY, MIGHTY CROWN (MASTA SIMON & SAMI-T V.A. "HiGH&LOW ORIGINAL BEST ALBUM"FUNK JUNGLE / ANARCHY, SWAY & CRAZYBOYBBFL / SWAY & ANARCHY 2017February 24CLAPTIME feat. ANARCHY, VERBAL, SWAY, DABOCrazyboy "NEOTOKYO EP" August 2Beauty Mark feat. Hiroomi Tosaka, SWAY PKCZ "360° ChamberZ"Mighty Warriors (Album Ver) feat. Afrojack, Crazyboy, Anarchy, Sway, Mighty Warriors (MASTA SIMON&SAMI-T)August 30Baby Baby Baby feat. SWAYKoudai Sato "Baby Baby Baby feat. SWAY" October 25Dream Boys Mighty Warriors "HiGH&LOW THE MIGHTY WARRIORS"Good Life 2018January 19Alive feat. SWAYCrazyboy "NEOTOKYO III EP"September 19Kissing Pt.2 feat. SWAYCream "Sounds Good" 2019January 19RUN 100 feat. Miliyah Kato & SwayRun The Floor "RUN 100 feat. Miliyah Kato & Sway"November 6SuperstarV.A. "Another Voice -Full Of Harmony Tribute Album-"
Lyrics SongArtistFUNK JUNGLEAnarchy, Sway & CrazyboyHeartbreakerThelma Aoyama REVOLUTION (PKCZ Remix feat. SWAY)Crystal Kay24WORLDExile TribeBACK TO THE FUTURE EXILE Shokichi#HOTLINELoveholicRock CityTHE ANTHEMSignal Fire feat. SWAYExile The SecondS.A.K.U.R.A.Sandaime Jsoul BrothersRock The Party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-kun, KIRAShimotakuBBFLSway & Anarchy
Live PeriodTitleRef.From December 12, 2018 to January 27, 2019SWAY "LIVE SHOWCASE 2018 UNCHAINED"
Filmography Movies YearTitleRoleNotesDirectorRef.2013Aragure Satoshi Yamagachi Hajime Gonno 2014Aragure II ROPPONGI v.s. SHIBUYACrows ExplodeKenichi KadozumiToshiaki ToyodaHot RoadAkane Takahiro Miki 2016Road to High & Low Pearl Sigeaki KuboHigh & Low The Movie 2017High & Low The Movie 2 / End of SkyHigh & Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission2018JamMinatochuSabu2019ManrikiYasuhiko Shimizu2021Struggling ManToshio Lee2024Silent LoveEiji Uchida
TV Dramas YearTitleRoleNetworkNotesRef.2012SugarlessIsami MoritaNTV2013Kamen TeacherJiro Inukami NTV(ep.10–12) 2015Senryokugai Sousakan Teppei Tokui (Ponzara)NTV2 hours specialWild HeroesNTVLead roleHigh & Low The Story of S.W.O.R.D.PearlNTV2016High & Low Season 2PearlNTV2018Kiss Shitai MatsugeToshimitsu SaijoFuji TVLead role
Stage YearTitleRef. 2012Hounangumi x Gekidan EXILE "Attack No. 1"BS – TBS shūkaku-sai 2013Gekidan EXILE performance "SADAKO ~ birth sad story ~GEKIDAN EXILE "Attack No.1" 2014KaruseorariaGekidan EXILE Attack No. 1 Spin-off reading playGekidan EXILE "THE mensetsu"2016Hounangumi presents reading play "Aitakute..."2020Gekidan Exile "Yusha no Tame ni Kane wa Naru / The Bell Rings for the Brave"
CM YearTitleRef.2016Youfuku no Aoyama "Summer Suits"
Commercials YearTitleRef. 2017Vanilla air Hakodate PR posterReebookAdamHavve by schopfung 2018 Spring / Summer "SUPERNATURAL POWER" Brand Promotion Video2019G-Star Raw Japan "G-Star Raw Elwood × N0IR" Promotion movie series
Voice Acting YearTitleRoleRef.2017HiGH & LOW g-sword Animation DVD Special EditionPearl
Music Videos YearArtistTitleRef. 2014Sandaime J Soul BrothersS.A.K.U.R.A.EXILE ShokichiBACK TO THE FUTURE2016EXILE ShokichiRock City feat. SWAY & Crystal Kay2017BigzamI Got a Dream2018EXILE ShokichiUnderdog2019Noritake KinashiGG STAND UP!! feat. Takahiro Matsumoto
References
External links SWAY – UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN
劇団EXILE