Luke Caswell, known mononomously as Cazwell, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, record producer and songwriter. He has released the three studio albums '' Get Into It'' in 2006, ''

Watch My Mouth ''Watch My Mouth'' is the second album by rapper Cazwell. ''Watch My Mouth'' is his first full-length album, with eight bonus tracks. Cazwell described the music of the album as "dance more than anything else. There are some hip hop elements, but ...

'' in 2009 and ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' in 2014, along with videos and singles.

Career

1999–05: Career beginnings

Starting in the late 1990s, under the name Caswell, he was part of the hip-hop duo Morplay, which also included female MC Crasta Yo. Morplay started in Boston and moved to New York in 1999. In 2003, Cazwell released his first single ''The Sex That I Need'' with Avenue D.

2006–08: ''Get Into It''

In 2006, Cazwell released his debut studio album '' Get Into It'' featuring lead single "All Over Your Face" and the four follow-up singles "Do You Wanna Break Up", "I Buy My Socks On 14th Street" and "Watch My Mouth". His debut single "All Over Your Face" was banned from

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

due to explicit lyrics and sexual imagery portrayed in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

. Cazwell was featured as a guest rapper on Colton Ford's "That's Me" along with Stephen Reed and Peppermint's "Servin' it Up". During the summer of 2007, Cazwell was a part of the multi-artist

True Colors Tour The True Colors Tour was a headlining concert tour by Russian-German music producer Zedd, launched in support of his studio album '' True Colors''. The tour visited Asia, Europe, and North America from 6 August 2015 to 11 January 2016. Set l ...

which traveled through 15 cities in North America. The tour, sponsored by

, was hosted by comedian

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

and headlined by

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

and included Deborah Harry,

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

, The Dresden Dolls,

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series '' Star Search'' ...

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

, Stephen Reed and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

organizations

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for ...

, PFLAG and The

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Pou ...

Foundation.

2009–12: ''Watch My Mouth''

His second album, ''

'' was released on September 1, 2009, containing all of his previous singles, except "Do You Wanna Break Up". The album was preceded by the single "I Seen

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

" featuring

Jonny Makeup Jonny Makeup is an American socialite, musician and Internet personality. He got his start in the early 2000s as a nightlife performer and musician. This led to forays into the fashion industry, and appearances on E! Entertainment and Logo TV ...

, released back in September 2008. The video was directed by Francis Legge and Bec Stupak. In 2009, he released "Tonight", which sampled "

Give Me Tonight "Give Me Tonight" is a 1984 single by Shannon, an American R&B and dance artist. Released as the follow-up to her smash debut " Let the Music Play," "Give Me Tonight" was not as successful as its predecessor on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where ...

" by Shannon. In 2010, he released the single, "

Ice Cream Truck An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or ne ...

", which was featured in the film

Spork A spork is a hybrid form of cutlery taking the form of a spoon-like shallow scoop with two to four fork-like tines. Its name is a portmanteau of spoon and fork. Spork-like utensils, such as the terrapin fork or ice cream fork, have been manuf ...

as well has been included on a ''Watch My Mouth'' deluxe edition re-release. The video of the song was directed by Marco Ovando, premiered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on July 30, 2010 and received over 1 million views in its first week. The singles "Get Into It" featuring guest vocals by

Amanda Lepore Amanda Lepore is an American model, singer, and performance artist. A former Club Kid, she has appeared in advertising for numerous companies. Lepore is noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work, serving as his muse, as ...

and "Get My Money Back" featuring Lost Daze followed in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Cazwell frequently hosts and DJs parties such as BoysRoom in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

featuring guests such as

Ladyfag Rayne Baron, known professionally as Ladyfag, is a New York City-based writer, performer, nightlife personality, and events producer. Background Born in Toronto, Canada, she ran a store selling vintage clothing and antiques. After becoming in ...

, Dj Adam, Raquel Reed and Stephen Reed. In 2012, Cazwell appeared on the variety show '' She's Living for This'', hosted by the drag queen

Sherry Vine Keith Levy, known professionally as Sherry Vine, is an American actor, drag queen, and musician. Vine is the creator and host of '' She's Living for This'', a variety series on here TV. Vine works primarily in New York City and on Fire Island, L ...

. On the show, he performed his single "Get My Money Back". In 2012, he appeared on "Something For Everybody", a song by DAB &

Get Far Mario Fargetta (born 19 July 1962, Lissone, Milan, Italy) is an Italian house/electronic DJ, producer, recording artist, composer, and remixer. He is best known for his involvement with the groups the Tamperer featuring Maya, and, since 2005, Get ...

along with Jonathan Mendelsohn.

2013–present: ''Hard 2 B Fresh''

Cazwell collaborated with Peaches on the single "Unzip Me", released back on November 8, 2011. On June 19, 2012, "Rice and Beans" was released. The songs appear on Cazwell's third studio album ''Hard 2 B Fresh''. In 2013, the single "Guess What?" was released, featuring the singer Luciana. "No Selfie Control" was released in the late of 2013. The single and music video for "Helen Keller" featuring ''Drag Race'' superstar Manila Luzon, Roxy (known for underground House classics "Get Huh" and "Accident") and Richie Beretta was also released. On August 22, Cazwell announced that his third studio album ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' would be released on September 30 and posted the track listing and the cover art on his official site. In summer of 2015, Cazwell released another single from ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' entitled "The Biscuit". Its video featured Middle-Eastern imagery including pyramids, camels, a snake charmer, tan-skinned models wearing keffiyehs, and original music from South African DJ Naaldekoker's track "Ek Smaak Jou". In 2015, Cazwell collaborated with fashion designer

Geoffrey Mac Geoffrey Mac (born March 24, 1977) is an American fashion designer. Life and career Mac attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned his BFA in 1999. It was in Chicago where the Geoffrey Mac brand was officially launche ...

on a range of form-fitting underwear, based on the colours used in the 'Ice Cream Truck' video. In 2017, he released ''Loose Wrists'', his first single produced by his new music label, Snow Cone.

Artistry

Cazwell is openly gay and his work focuses on

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

urban themes and content, and his music and videos are frequently played on

, a US cable channel geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. His music comprises the genres hip hop,

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

and homo hop.

Discography

Albums

* 2006: '' Get Into It'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2014: ''Hard 2 B Fresh''

Singles

Featured singles

* 2006:

Colton Ford Glenn Soukesian, known professionally as Colton Ford, is an American singer, actor, and former pornographic actor. As of May 2007, he resides in New York City. Career Adult pornographic career Colton Ford appeared in a dozen gay adult celebrate ...

feat. Cazwell & Stephen Reed – "That's Me" * 2006:

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantb ...

feat. Cazwell – "Servin' it Up" * 2009:

feat. Cazwell – "My Hair Looks Fierce" * 2010: Amanda Lepore feat. Cazwell – "Marilyn" * 2012: DAB & Get Far vs. Jonathan Mendelsohn & Cazwell – "Something For Everybody"

Filmography

Television

* 2013: '' Watch What Happens: Live'' * 2012: ''She's Living for This'' * 2009: ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

Music videos

* 2009: "Cotton Candy" (Cameo appearance in Amanda Lepore music video) * 2009: "I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King"

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cazwell American dance musicians American electronic musicians American house musicians Living people East Coast hip hop musicians Musicians from Worcester, Massachusetts Rappers from Massachusetts American gay musicians LGBT rappers LGBT songwriters LGBT people from Massachusetts 21st-century American rappers American male rappers 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people American male singer-songwriters Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts