# Sway (Japanese rapper)

Shuhei Nogae (野替愁平, Nogae Shuhei, born June 9, 1986), better known with his stage name "SWAY" is a Japanese rapper, actor, lyricist and producer managed by LDH and signed to Def Jam Recordings. He is a member of the group Doberman Infinity, of EXILE's theater company (Gekidan EXILE) and is also a soloist.

## 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

| Group | Period |
| Gekidan 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 positions |
| Year | Title | Release date | Oricon Albums Chart |
| 2012 | The S | June 15 | – |
| 2018 | Unchained | August 29 | 11 |

### Singles

| Year | Title | Release date | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Year | Title | Release date | Oricon Singles Chart | Billboard Japan Hot 100 | Album |
| 2017 | "Manzana" | November 1 | 5 | 16 | Unchained |

### Digital singles

| Year | Title | Release date | Album |
| 2018 | "Perfect Love" | July 18 | Unchained |
| 2018 | "Never Say Goodbye" | August 22 | Unchained |
| 2019 | "Chocolate" (チョコレート) | February 14 | |
| 2019 | "On Fire" | October 10 | |
| 2019 | "Angels" | December 18 | |

### Participating works

| Year | Release date | Song | Artist and Album |
| 2009 | December 2 | I Like It feat. SWAY | Hiromi "Hot Chocolate" |
| 2013 | February 27 | Cazal feat. SWAY & YOU THE ROCK☆ | DJ Ken Watanabe "Cazal feat. SWAY & YOU THE ROCK☆" |
| 2013 | August 7 | Summer Vacation feat. SWAY | Klooz "Summer Vacation feat. SWAY" |
| 2014 | March 5 | Signal Fire feat. SWAY | Exile The Second "HE II AGE" |
| 2014 | March 5 | Movie Star feat. SWAY | Super Sonic "SCRATCH YOUR WORLD" |
| 2014 | March 26 | S.A.K.U.R.A. | Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE "S.A.K.U.R.A." |
| 2014 | April 9 | Amazing Girl feat. SWAY | Koudai Sato "Magic Carpet Ride" |
| 2014 | June 4 | BACK TO THE FUTURE / EXILE Shokichi feat. VERBAL (M-Flo) & SWAY | Exile Shokichi "BACK TO THE FUTURE" |
| 2014 | June 4 | THE ANTHEM / EXILE SHOKICHI, DOBERMAN INC, SWAY, ELLY (Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE) | Exile Shokichi "BACK TO THE FUTURE" |
| 2014 | June 11 | LIGHTS | Sway × Hiyadam "LIGHTS" |
| 2014 | June 18 | Organ Donor 〜OFF DA HOOK〜 / DJ Makidai feat. Generations from Exile Tribe & SWAY | DJ Makidai from Exile "EXILE TRIBE PERFECT MIX" |
| 2014 | August 6 | Pop!! feat. SHUN, SWAY, KLOOZ / KEN THE 390 | V.A. "DREAM BOY BEST MIX vol.1- MIXED BY DJ HIRORON" |
| 2014 | October 22 | Rock the party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-Kun, KIRA | Shimotaku "Rock the party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-Kun, KIRA" |
| 2014 | December 10 | WANNA SAY feat. SWAY & MATT CAB | Jolly-Tip a.k.a DJ Keizi "WANNA SAY feat. SWAY & MATT CAB" |
| 2015 | January 14 | ONE feat. SWAY & Koudai Sato | Jolly-Tip a.k.a DJ Keizi "JOLLY-TIP STORY" |
| 2015 | May 20 | Call Your Name feat. SWAY | Matt Cab "Call Your Name feat. SWAY" |
| 2015 | September 9 | Orenojikan (feat. SWAY) | MAD "Orenojikan (feat. SWAY)" |
| 2015 | September 16 | REVOLUTION (PKCZ Remix feat. SWAY) | Crystal Kay feat. Namie Amuro "REVOLUTION" |
| 2015 | September 16 | Heart Breaker feat. SWAY | Thelma Aoyama "GRAY SMOKE" |
| 2016 | April 27 | Rock City feat. SWAY & Crystal Kay | Exile Shokichi "THE FUTURE" |
| 2016 | June 15 | MIGHTY WARRIORS / PKCZ feat. CRAZYBOY, ANARCHY, SWAY, MIGHTY CROWN (MASTA SIMON & SAMI-T | V.A. "HiGH&LOW ORIGINAL BEST ALBUM" |
| 2016 | June 15 | FUNK JUNGLE / ANARCHY, SWAY & CRAZYBOY | V.A. "HiGH&LOW ORIGINAL BEST ALBUM" |
| 2016 | June 15 | BBFL / SWAY & ANARCHY | V.A. "HiGH&LOW ORIGINAL BEST ALBUM" |
| 2017 | February 24 | CLAPTIME feat. ANARCHY, VERBAL, SWAY, DABO | Crazyboy "NEOTOKYO EP" |
| 2017 | August 2 | Beauty Mark feat. Hiroomi Tosaka, SWAY | PKCZ "360° ChamberZ" |
| 2017 | August 2 | Mighty Warriors (Album Ver) feat. Afrojack, Crazyboy, Anarchy, Sway, Mighty Warriors (MASTA SIMON&SAMI-T) | PKCZ "360° ChamberZ" |
| 2017 | August 30 | Baby Baby Baby feat. SWAY | Koudai Sato "Baby Baby Baby feat. SWAY" |
| 2017 | October 25 | Dream Boys | Mighty Warriors "HiGH&LOW THE MIGHTY WARRIORS" |
| 2017 | October 25 | Good Life | Mighty Warriors "HiGH&LOW THE MIGHTY WARRIORS" |
| 2018 | January 19 | Alive feat. SWAY | Crazyboy "NEOTOKYO III EP" |
| 2018 | September 19 | Kissing Pt.2 feat. SWAY | Cream "Sounds Good" |
| 2019 | January 19 | RUN 100 feat. Miliyah Kato & Sway | Run The Floor "RUN 100 feat. Miliyah Kato & Sway" |
| 2019 | November 6 | Superstar | V.A. "Another Voice -Full Of Harmony Tribute Album-" |

### Lyrics

| Song | Artist |
| FUNK JUNGLE | Anarchy, Sway & Crazyboy |
| Heartbreaker | Thelma Aoyama |
| REVOLUTION (PKCZ Remix feat. SWAY) | Crystal Kay |
| 24WORLD | Exile Tribe |
| BACK TO THE FUTURE | EXILE Shokichi |
| #HOTLINE | EXILE Shokichi |
| Loveholic | EXILE Shokichi |
| Rock City | EXILE Shokichi |
| THE ANTHEM | EXILE Shokichi |
| Signal Fire feat. SWAY | Exile The Second |
| S.A.K.U.R.A. | Sandaime Jsoul Brothers |
| Rock The Party feat. SWAY, Staxx T(CREAM), APOLLO, Kotobuki-kun, KIRA | Shimotaku |
| BBFL | Sway & Anarchy |

## Live

| Period | Title | Ref. |
| From December 12, 2018 to January 27, 2019 | SWAY "LIVE SHOWCASE 2018 UNCHAINED" | |

## Filmography
### Movies

| Year | Title | Role | Director |
| 2013 | Aragure | Satoshi Yamagachi | Hajime Gonno |
| 2014 | Aragure II ROPPONGI v.s. SHIBUYA | Satoshi Yamagachi | Hajime Gonno |
| 2014 | Crows Explode | Kenichi Kadozumi | Toshiaki Toyoda |
| 2014 | Hot Road | Akane | Takahiro Miki |
| 2016 | Road to High & Low | Pearl | Sigeaki Kubo |
| 2016 | High & Low The Movie | Pearl | Sigeaki Kubo |
| 2017 | High&Low The Movie 2 / End of Sky | Pearl | Sigeaki Kubo |
| 2017 | High&Low The Movie 3 / Final Mission | Pearl | Sigeaki Kubo |
| 2018 | Jam | Minatochu | Sabu |
| 2019 | Manriki | | Yasuhiko Shimizu |
| 2021 | Struggling Man | | Toshio Lee |
| 2024 | Silent Love | | Eiji Uchida |

### TV Dramas

| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
| 2012 | Sugarless | Isami Morita | NTV | |
| 2013 | Kamen Teacher | Jiro Inukami | NTV | (ep.10–12) |
| 2015 | Senryokugai Sousakan | Teppei Tokui (Ponzara) | NTV | 2 hours special |
| 2015 | Wild Heroes | Teppei Tokui (Ponzara) | NTV | Lead role |
| 2015 | High & Low The Story of S.W.O.R.D. | Pearl | NTV | |
| 2016 | High & Low Season 2 | Pearl | NTV | |
| 2018 | Kiss Shitai Matsuge | Toshimitsu Saijo | Fuji TV | Lead role |

### Stage

| Year | Title |
| 2012 | Hounangumi x Gekidan EXILE "Attack No. 1" |
| 2012 | BS – TBS shūkaku-sai |
| 2013 | Gekidan EXILE performance "SADAKO ~ birth sad story ~ |
| 2013 | GEKIDAN EXILE "Attack No.1" |
| 2014 | Karuseoraria |
| 2014 | Gekidan EXILE Attack No. 1 Spin-off reading play |
| 2014 | Gekidan EXILE "THE mensetsu" |
| 2016 | Hounangumi presents reading play "Aitakute..." |
| 2020 | Gekidan Exile "Yusha no Tame ni Kane wa Naru / The Bell Rings for the Brave" |

### CM

| Year | Title | Ref. |
| 2016 | Youfuku no Aoyama "Summer Suits" | |

### Commercials

| Year | Title |
| 2017 | Vanilla air Hakodate PR poster |
| 2017 | Reebook |
| 2017 | AdamHavve by schopfung 2018 Spring / Summer "SUPERNATURAL POWER" Brand Promotion Video |
| 2019 | G-Star Raw Japan "G-Star Raw Elwood × N0IR" Promotion movie series |

### Voice Acting

| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
| 2017 | HiGH&LOW g-sword Animation DVD Special Edition | Pearl | |

### Music Videos

| Year | Artist | Title |
| 2014 | Sandaime J Soul Brothers | S.A.K.U.R.A. |
| 2014 | EXILE Shokichi | BACK TO THE FUTURE |
| 2016 | EXILE Shokichi | Rock City feat. SWAY & Crystal Kay |
| 2017 | Bigzam | I Got a Dream |
| 2018 | EXILE Shokichi | Underdog |
| 2019 | Noritake Kinashi | GG STAND UP!! feat. Takahiro Matsumoto |