Forever DeVante

The Swing Mob Collective: Da Bassment

Crew

 

Swing Mob consisted of members of the various collectives and/or record labels associated with

Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Playa,

Darryl Pearson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy Douglass Stevie J., Maija Max,

Bazaar Royale and Chad "Dr. Seuss" Elliot got their start as members of DeVante Swing's Swing Mob record label/collective.

Swing Mob folded in 1995, with a variety of reasons being attributed. According to Smoke E Digglera of Playa, the artists were forced to choose whether they wanted to be signed directly to Def Jam or through Swing Mob, causing a question of loyalty to arise amongst members. After Swing Mob folded, the artists continued to collaborate and brought new members in, such as Aaliyah, Skillz and Nicole Wray later on.

The post-Swing Mob collective was informally called Da Bassment during the late-1990s. Elliott runs an Elektra Records-distributed label called Goldmind Records, and in 2000 Timbaland started an Interscope Records distributed label called Beat Club Records which has since folded. Timbaland started a new Interscope Records distributed label now called Mosley Music Group.

 

Jodeci were blowing the fuck up off the strength of

their now-classic debut album Forever My Lady in

the early 90s (of which all the slow songs were

written by mastermind DeVante Swing about a

girl he was dating at the time who left & joined

the army. random, right?). and amidst all the

adulation came some form of power for Mr. Donald

“DeVante” DeGrate, who then embarked on an

ambitious project that was reminiscent of a

bygone era in music. while on tour with Jodeci,

he would routinely hear auditions from local

groups. after carefully selecting which ones he

thought showed real promise and real talent, he

amassed them into a collective known as Da

Bassment crew (aka Swing Mob) sometime around

1992, tho some people say the ball could’ve got

started rolling even before that. this is a large pool

of talent that included future legends like

Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Tweet, Magoo,

Ginuwine, Playa, Static/Major and quite a bit of input from DeVante and Dalvin as well. originally known as the 45.4 Q Clique, and then Swing Mob, the name Da Bassment eventually stuck due to the recording complex that all the artists either lived in or next to (this would be Dajhelon Studios in which the group primarily used the basement studios for their work).

however, the clique imploded sometime after The Show, The Afterparty, The Hotel (an album which had credited and uncredited contributions from various Bassment members, as did Diary Of A Mad Band, this group-mentality of creation being the status quo). while the majority of the goings on and the real reasons for the epic split of this epic crew remained a source of constant wonder and curiosity for nearly two decades (and a certain amount of sadness that it wasn’t fully realised), in the last few years we’ve seen ex-members like Susan Weems (of the group Sugah, of which Tweet and Rolita White were also a part) and emcee, Accion, give lengthy interviews about their experiences in Da Bassment. the former VP of the label, Shannon “Big Shann” Miller also recently recounted the experience with an interview via Skype that’s up on YouTube
 

 

Swing Mob Members:

Donald DeGrate (aka DeVante Swing/Boss Playa)
Dalvin DeGrate (aka Mr. Dalvin)
Timothy Mosley (aka Timbaland)
Melvin Barcliff (aka Magoo/Maganoo)
Melissa Elliott (aka Missy/Misdemeanor)
Elgin Lumpkin (aka Ginuwine)
Radiah Scott
Chonita Coleman
LeShawn Shellman
Charlene Keys (aka Tweet)
Susan Weems (aka Susie/Sue)
Rolita White
Jawann Peacock (aka Smokey/Smoke E. Digglera)
Benjamin Bush (aka Black/Digital Black)
Stephen Garrett (aka Static/Major/Stacks)
Renee Anderson (aka Renee)
Bazaar Royale (aka Da Boogie Man/Boogie)
Virginia Williams (aka Virginia/VA)
Dante Hawkins
Charles Wiley (aka C-Dub)
Mr. Brendal
Accion
Reboc
Darryl Pearson
Steven Jordan (aka Stevie J)
Chad Elliott (aka Dr. Seuss)
Shannon Miller (aka Big Shann) (Vice President)
Robert Reives (aka Robb/RR)
D. Brooks (?)
Da Deuce
Special “K” Tay
Big Mel
Reggie De’vell Moore
SMK