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# The Rebirth of Swag: How Today’s Underground Is Reinventing the 2000s Sound
- URL: https://sourced.cbrasch.me/2kswagcomeback/
- Published: 2026-10-01T01:30:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T04:29:40.000Z
- Description: A network of independent artists and producers, including Rsieh Raxan, Westwood, pryme!, aria, & onlywoke are rebuilding the sound of mid-2000s R&B, hyperpop, and rap for a new audience.
- Author: Christian Brasch
- Tags: Pop Culture, Opinion, Music

A growing number of independent artists and producers are making music that sounds like it came out of the mid-2000s. The style borrows the bouncy, stripped-down R&B and rap production that was all over the radio at the time, and online it usually goes by the name "swag." Rsieh Raxan, Westwood, pryme!, aria. and onlywoke are some of the artists most closely tied to the sound, and a small group of producers is behind much of it. Most of the discussion around the music is happening on TikTok, SoundCloud and fan sites, and it has gotten little coverage from music outlets so far.

## What the Sound Is

Most tracks are built on sparse drum patterns, rubbery synth basslines and a count-in before the beat drops, with vocals that switch between singing and rapping. Producers on TikTok and YouTube post tutorials on how to make "2000s swag beats" in FL Studio and BandLab, and many of them name Pharrell Williams and Timbaland as their main references.

The songs are also short. Many run under three minutes, and a lot of them come in under two.

## Where the Lines Blur

Swag music often overlaps with other microgenres. Fans and playlist curators tag it in several ways at once, including swagnb, hyper R&B and pastel bounce.

Pastel bounce is the closest of these. Producer tutorials credit Monte Booker, known for his work with Smino, with shaping the style, and describe it as swung drums under seventh chords. It has the same bouncy groove as swag music, and the two share producers. Beatmakers on TikTok often tag the same videos with both #swag and #pastelbounce.

On the heavier side, the music crosses into rage and hyperpop. Westwood, covered below, is one example. Hyper R&B falls somewhere between the two. It is a loose fan term without a settled definition, and it usually describes R&B vocals over faster, brighter and more electronic production.

Most of these labels started as hashtags, playlist titles and beat-store tags, and artists and fans use them loosely, often swapping one for another.

## Where It Comes From

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who produced together as The Neptunes, are the most common reference point. The two got their start through Teddy Riley, the producer behind new jack swing, who opened a studio next to their school in Virginia Beach. Their minimal, drum-heavy beats for Clipse, Nelly, Snoop Dogg and Kelis carried that bounce into the 2000s, and Billboard later named them its producer of the decade. Timbaland, whose name shows up next to Pharrell's in most "2000s swag" tutorials online, is the other producer people cite most often.

Fans also connect the music to Nelly. A user-made list on Rate Your Music that collects these artists is titled "2000s Swag / Neptunes Revival / Nelly Revival," a reference to Neptunes-produced Nelly hits like "Hot in Herre" (2002).

The vocals draw from the R&B singers who were on the radio in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. Listening through this scene, I hear Usher, Chris Brown and Michael Jackson more than anyone else, along with the falsetto Pharrell used on his own songs like "Frontin'." Some of the artists say as much. In a 2023 interview with The United Underground, Rsieh Raxan named Michael Jackson, Chris Brown and Lloyd as his biggest mainstream inspirations, and said he grew up on Bobby Valentino, Bobby Brown, Mario and B2K. When Lyrical Lemonade reviewed his self-titled 2023 album, the writer compared its mood to Lloyd, Mario and Marques Houston. In his Bias Wrecker profile, pryme! said he is most inspired by the R&B that was popular when he was a kid, and that he likes how those songs were about yearning for someone and treating a partner right. The same profile compared his music to early-2010s Justin Bieber.

The scene also pulls from the swag rap era of about 2008 to 2012, when the word was in song titles everywhere, including Jay-Z and T.I.'s "Swagga Like Us" (2008), Soulja Boy's "Turn My Swag On" (2008) and "Pretty Boy Swag" (2010), and Fast Life Yungstaz's "Swag Surfin'" (2009).

Some artists in the scene go back even further. [**808toofly**](https://www.instagram.com/808toofly?ref=sourced.cbrasch.me), an Atlanta producer who works with many of the artists in this article, told The United Underground in 2024 that music runs in his family. His father, a musician, started teaching him piano when he was 5, his mother sings, and his father gave him a copy of FL Studio after catching him making beats on his phone. He named Pharrell, Kanye West and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins as his top three inspirations, and listed Pi'erre Bourne and Monte Booker as producer influences. He also said he gets scales and chords from gospel music, and that producers who want to make R&B like his should go back and study older music. On TikTok, he often posts beats inspired by new jack swing, Michael Jackson, '90s R&B and 2000s Black sitcoms. His flip of Sade's "Like a Tattoo" has more than half a million views on YouTube, and one of his albums is titled *2006*.

## The Artists

### Rsieh Raxan

[![](https://sourced.cbrasch.me/content/images/2026/10/image-4.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhd9yHly40&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

A frame of Rsieh Raxan's "ping pong" music video. (Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhd9yHly40&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me))

Rsieh Raxan (pronounced "Ruh-sigh-ugh Ruh-zahn," according to his Spotify page) is a singer and dancer from South Central Los Angeles. In a November 2023 interview with The United Underground, he said he was 20 and living in Long Beach. He got into music in ninth grade, when a friend asked him to come make music at a park. "I was bored one day," he said, and it turned out to be fun. It stayed a hobby until 2021 and 2022, when he started taking it seriously. According to his Genius biography, his debut mixtape, *Girls Love Plugg*, came out in November 2021\. As of this writing, only one song from it, "EQS 53," is still available on[ SoundCloud.](https://soundcloud.com/rsiehraxan/eqs-53-prod-mack-x-junior?ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

He started out as a rapper. He told the interviewer that late 2022 was when he first felt he could make a career out of music, after his single "Crash It!" caught on around Halloween. Then he changed direction. His May 2023 single "head 2 toe," produced by venexxi and lvusm, moved toward early-2000s R&B. He said he heard a snippet of the beat on the producer's Instagram, recorded over it, and was sent the full beat. In the interview, he explained the switch:

> "I was making the rap stuff and then it kind of just got stale for me... I grew up on Lloyd and Bobby Valentino and Bobby Brown. All the goats back in the day that were making good music."

He said there was "nobody really doing that" in America, meaning R&B that pushes positivity, and that he wanted to bring his dancing into it too. "I used to dance back then when I was younger," he said. "So I might as well just put it all together and package it and send it out."

In the same interview, he named SoFaygo, Playboi Carti and Autumn! as his biggest underground inspirations, and Michael Jackson, Chris Brown and Lloyd as his mainstream ones. He said Chris Brown would be his dream collaboration, and that his older sister, who also makes music and dances, is his mentor. He also said he wanted to try sounds like '80s disco, Rick James, Jamiroquai and older Michael Jackson. At the time, he had not performed live yet and wanted his first show to be in Los Angeles. 808toofly, one of his most frequent collaborators, called him "the next Chris Brown" in his own interview with the same channel.

According to Genius, he said in an Instagram statement that his September 2023 mixtape *alter ego* would be his last project with rapping on it. He released his self-titled debut album later that month, on his birthday, and Lyrical Lemonade named him an R&B artist to watch that year. Since then, he has released *Splint* (October 2024), its expanded version *Splint+* (June 2025), *soft launch* (February 13, 2026) and *UNDERDOG SUPERSTAR* (August 13, 2026), which features Yung Fazo, wakeupchizzy, JULY ON, 8T and zarallanie. "treat you right," his 2024 single with 808toofly, has passed 500,000 streams on Spotify, and he worked with TisaKorean on "PARTYWITHME" that same year. As of this writing, he has about 143,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and about 29,600 followers on TikTok.

### Westwood

[![](https://sourced.cbrasch.me/content/images/2026/10/image.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS63WRZFzbk&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

Westwood, in music video "Overtime" (Source: DOWNTIME TV on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS63WRZFzbk&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me))

Westwood released his 16-track album *Glamour* in December 2025, followed by a 21-song deluxe edition on March 13, 2026\. The deluxe adds "Get There," a song with pryme!, and the album features onlywoke, imnotvrycreative and GUNNR. Listener reviews on Album of the Year point out rage and hyperpop influences mixed in with the throwback sound. His name now shows up in the titles of instrumentals online, where beatmakers use "westwood x pryme! x onlywoke" to label "2000s swag type beats." Other beatmakers pair him with artists like Lucy Bedroque and Slayr. As of this writing, he has about 441,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

### pryme!

[![](https://sourced.cbrasch.me/content/images/2026/10/image-2.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87J9K9fEYgc&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

A frame from pryme!'s "facetime" music video (Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87J9K9fEYgc&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me))

In a May 2025 profile by the music blog Bias Wrecker, pryme! was described as a 19-year-old Filipino-American artist based in Las Vegas who writes and records at home and had never worked in a studio. The rapper Nimstarr once nicknamed him "Mr. Throwback," which pryme! told the blog he considers an honor. "I've really invested in this throwback sound," he said. According to the profile, producer Raeningg found his music on TikTok, reached out, and connected him with 808toofly. The two released "take you tonight" together in 2025\. His Spotify bio reads simply "no disguise," and as of this writing he has about 625,000 monthly listeners, the most of the five artists profiled here.

### aria.

[![](https://sourced.cbrasch.me/content/images/2026/10/image-1.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z4DuelBve0&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

aria., Featured in pryme!'s "love me now" music video. (Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z4DuelBve0&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me))

Outside of streaming platforms, aria. has kept a low profile, but her name shows up throughout the scene's credits. Her single "delay," featuring onlywoke, came out on January 2, 2026, through the independent distributor DistroKid. She is also featured on Moors' "POPSTAR" and met2night's "airbnb," and as of this writing has about 227,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

### onlywoke

[![](https://sourced.cbrasch.me/content/images/2026/10/image-5.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1xff8vRtf4&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

A frame from onlywoke's "broke" music video. (Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1xff8vRtf4&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me))

Across this scene, onlywoke is one of the most frequent collaborators. The artist is featured on aria.'s "delay" and on several songs from Westwood's *Glamour*, including "Separation" and "Keep Me Up," and beatmakers online pair onlywoke with Westwood and pryme! in the titles of "2000s swag type beats." Album of the Year also credits onlywoke as a producer, songwriter, and mixing and mastering engineer on other artists' projects.

On the solo side, onlywoke has put out a steady run of singles since 2023, including "help" (2023), "right now" and "tightrope" (2024), "same timing," "ex" and "hold my breath" (2025), and "solo soldier" and "bad" (2026). Beatport lists 10K Projects as the label on those singles, and the 10K Projects compilation *from the heart.* puts onlywoke alongside 808toofly, pryme!, karinovvaa, kili and kay randy. As of this writing, "same timing" and "right now" have each passed 2.9 million plays on Spotify, "ex" has passed 2.3 million, and onlywoke has about 188,000 monthly listeners.

### The Producers

A few producers are behind much of the sound. **808toofly** has production credits with Larry June, Trinidad Cardona, BIA and Casey Veggies, and has worked closely with both Rsieh Raxan ("treat you right") and pryme!. He has about 205,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Producer **met2night** released a three-song EP titled *swag vol.1* in July 2024 and has kept putting out singles since, including "SWGNTN" and "THECITY" in 2026\. The met2night TikTok account, which posts beats tagged #swag and #2000s, has about 17,500 followers. Rate Your Music files the catalog of **lvusm** under synth funk and contemporary R&B, and lvusm's work shows up throughout Rsieh Raxan's music, from "head 2 toe" to the 2024 single "PARTYWITHME" with TisaKorean. On Spotify, lvusm has about 225,000 monthly listeners.

Netherlands-based producer **siem spark** first built a following with hyperpop instrumentals, selling 2hollis, glaive and brakence type beats through the siemspark.com store. The catalog has since moved toward the swag sound, and the siem spark BeatStars page now lists beats modeled after Westwood and pryme!, including one tagged #2000s swag. According to the producer's LinkedIn profile, songs produced by siem spark have passed 75 million streams, and the siem spark YouTube channel has more than 25,000 subscribers. Credits for smaller swag artists on Spotify and SoundCloud also include siem spark.

Other producers show up across the credits as well. According to Bias Wrecker, artist and producer **Raeningg** found pryme! on TikTok and introduced him to 808toofly, and Raeningg is also credited on Rsieh Raxan's *Splint+*. Producer **gabbinz** is credited alongside met2night on feels' "HAVE SUM" and appears on met2night's "MYLINE."

## More Names to Know

- **imnotvrycreative**: a Westwood collaborator and swag-centered artist who released the album *Dog Pile* in 2026
- **Ezra Wood**: "BAD OMEN," "TRUTH" and "MISSME"
- **Moors**: "POPSTAR" (with aria.), "SAYDAT" and "CALL U UP"
- **feels**: co-billed with met2night on "FROMTHESTART," "frontend" and "SWGNTN"
- **kili**: featured on met2night's "AT THE CLUB" and on *soft launch*
- **heygwuapo**: released *White in Black* in 2025, which includes an appearance from Rsieh Raxan
- **Leftii** and **caden.**: "talk to me" and "wasting time" (with Rsieh Raxan)

## A Connected & Mostly Independent Scene

Many of the same names keep appearing in each other's credits. Rsieh Raxan's *soft launch* alone features 808toofly, lvusm, met2night, kili and others, and producers trade features much like mixtape rappers did in the 2000s. Most of these songs are released independently, either with the artist's own name listed as the label or through services like DistroKid.

Many of those ties started online. In his 2024 interview with The United Underground, 808toofly said he first reached out to Rsieh Raxan in early 2022 after hearing him on a friend's beat, and that the two connected through Discord. They started out making rap songs and held on to their R&B songs until they began releasing them in 2023\. In late November 2022, 808toofly joined Rsieh Raxan's group of producers and artists, which he described as mostly a friend group. Asked what advice he had for smaller artists, he said to "make what you want to make" and that there is nothing wrong with following a trend.

There are early signs of label interest. Beatport lists 10K Projects as the label on some of 808toofly and pryme!'s joint releases and on onlywoke's solo singles. Fans are also organizing the music on their own, and both lvusm and Rsieh Raxan appear on the Rate Your Music list mentioned earlier.

For now, the music mostly spreads through TikTok, SoundCloud and streaming playlists.

## Listen

*Personal Research + Contribution Disclosure: Sourced founder Christian Brasch curates "swag & rnb," a 185-song Spotify playlist built around this sound, and wrote this article because of how little coverage the scene has received so far. Two songs on the playlist are also his *own*, released under the artist name* [*pvrz*](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MzB5tqJwP7HJ2Uw92H65t?ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)*.*

You can listen to the full playlist here: [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OMw9nWpqoPzG7XfYYyrkv?ref=sourced.cbrasch.me)

## Sources

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2. "808toofly Interview (@808toofly)." *The United Underground*, YouTube, Feb. 2024, [youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=247ZPTLcGmM&ref=sourced.cbrasch.me).
3. H, Michael. "pryme! Code Switched So Hard He Became A Musician." *Bias Wrecker*, 15 May 2025, [thebiaswrecker.com](https://www.thebiaswrecker.com/blog/pryme-code-switched-so-hard-he-became-a-musician?ref=sourced.cbrasch.me).
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