About Swilson
Swilson (aka John, J Willy, JW) is an aspiring songwriter, rapper, producer, playlist curator, practicing attorney, father, coach, and former professional baseball player from Houston, Texas. The name "Swilson" was one of many nicknames that was given to him by his team-mates at Rice along with "J Willy", "Willy", and "Swilly". With the aim of keeping his music career separate from his baseball career, the rapper chose the stage name "Swilson" to avoid any resemblance to his real name.
Long before recording or releasing any records, Swilson began writing music and freestyle rapping in the hallways and on the buses at Lamar High School where he was an all-state outfielder/pitcher committed to Rice University. When the rapper moved just blocks away form his childhood home to college dorm room, he kept up his passion for music, which eventually led to a breakthrough in the Hip-Hop scene.
Shortly after being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 MLB Draft, a freestyle video of his caught the attention of Bleacher Report and Barstool Sports, propelling him to the forefront of the Hip-Hop social media scene. In the infamous clubhouse freestyle, he predicted his Cubs would break their 108 year losing streak and win the World Series. The video quickly accrued 10+ million views in 24 hours.
Since the viral video, Swilson has released three full-length albums and reached #15 on iTunes Hip-Hop. Following his baseball career, the Houston native opted to finish his degree at Rice, study law at the University of Houston, and obtain a masters of public administration degree from the University of North Carolina. He now lives in Houston, Texas with his wife, Madeline, and their two children, Adelaide and John. He has continued to write, and produce, all genres of music (including rap, house, and country) while practicing law and coaching baseball. Swilson's latest music venture focuses on acoustic folk/country songwriting for a variety of up and coming producers, singers, and international artists.
In addition to his legal, music, and coaching hobbies, Swilson curates dozens of Spotify playlists that have amassed over 200,000 likes in total.
On the artist side, Swilson recently hit 10,000,000 streams featuring dozens of musicians including Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Lil' Flip, Chris Webby, Felly, YONAS, Arizona Zervas, Lil’ Keke, Big Pokey, Trilly Polk, Nate Good, JZAC, Michael Minelli, Nate Good, & Huey Mack. Be on the look out for new music from the ball player turned artist in 2024.