Normally when a singer writes a song about their financial status it is filled with braggadocio. It’s second nature to hear artists rotely recount how many Bentleys they own, the vintage of champagne they prefer and the copious stacks of hundreds they sleep on at night. Teddy Swims—a tattooed teddy-bear-come-to-life with a voice that will make your jaw drop to the floor—goes the opposite direction, marveling at his newfound deliverance from the bottom.
“When we wrote ‘Broke,’ it was right before the pandemic,” Swims says. “We had just gotten off our tour and it was our first time out in L.A. It was coming from that place of ‘I just came up on money.’ Finally, we had made it.”
As he was sitting in L.A. and waiting for the rest of his team to drive out from Atlanta, he started to fully grasp how different things were going to be from here on out. The band was getting ready to record and the label wanted to put them up in an AirBnB in the hills for a month. The cost? $30,000.
“I broke down at the time because I was so angry,” Swims recalls. “No, absolutely we’re not going to spend that kind of money, I refuse to spend that kind of money. That’s my little brother’s college tuition coming up this year, I can’t spend that kind of money on an AirBnB.
“They told me, it’s in the label budget, they’ll take care of it,” Swims continues. “They had to break it down and be like, ‘It is important because this is the way we get the word out, make you bigger and make the change that you want to change, to be what you want to be.”
This story is from the January 2021 edition of Inked.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2021 edition of Inked.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Leaving Her Mark
Shina Novalinga discusses her entry into throat singing, going viral on TikTok and getting her face tattooed
A Phoenix Rising
Salice Rose turned to social media when she was at her lowest. In doing so, she found her true calling
A Flower Growing In Concrete
Creating art has helped Jose López navigate through the darkest periods of his life
Carolesdaughter
As tattooed people, we seldom consider how our body art will impact the people around us. But, it only takes a stranger seeing one tattoo, one time, to change their entire worldview.
Hit the Jackpot
Rapper Latto on breaking into hip-hop, representing Atlanta and making her next big move.
Tess Holliday – Bombshell
Model and body positivity activist Tess Holliday channels her inner Pamela Anderson for this sexy shoot.
Bhad Bhabie
Bhad Bhabie took her 15 minutes of viral fame and turned it into a viable career. The rapper dishes on her only fans and upcoming new music.
Building a Work of Art
To celebrate the release of the 2022 Indian Chief the legend-ary motorcycle company got together two of the world’s most sought after builders, Paul Cox and Keino Sasaki, to customize a bike for celebrated tattoo artist Nikko Hurtado.
Adam Weitsman
Social media forever altered our perception, in ways both large and small. Not only has it changed the way we look at other people, it changed the way we present ourselves to the world. With every post he makes on Instagram, Adam Weitsman is fully aware of the latter.
Problem – All The Answers
Problem has the perseverance and drive to make his dreams come true. We spoke with the rapper about his latest mixtape, entrepreneurship and how his tattoos remind him of what’s important in life.
