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Music

Vancouver Has Become A Private Hell For Rapper J-Swift

After crossing the border for a concert in Vancouver, Pharcyde producer and rapper, J-Swift might not make it back home

Photo By Paige Sierra

Crossing the border has never been an issue for Los Angeles based artist and famed Pharcyde producer, J-Swift. Having toured everywhere from Italy to France, a trip to Vancouver for a show at Fortune Sound Club earlier this year was nothing out of the norm. However, when Swift attempted to return home after his set, he came to find that he was not allowed to re-enter the states. U.S. border officials informed him that his work visa was no longer valid; even though it didn’t expire until April. As a result, Swift was sent to a Vancouver prison before being granted permission to stay with a local friend until his next appeal date in March. “I couldn’t believe I was in jail and I didn’t commit a crime,” Swift explains, “ I knew my paperwork was good so in my mind all I had to do was call my lawyer and this would all be over.” However, his case was a bit more complicated than that.

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Born in Spain, Swift immigrated to the states at the age of two and has been a legal resident since 1974. However, over the last couple years he has struggled with a handful of legal issues including a burglary and drug possession conviction. More recently, Swift was charged in 2012 with possession of cocaine and faced possible deportation back to Spain. His family was able to successfully convince a court judge to allow him to stay in California. Swift maintains that he has been clean, and was granted entry into Europe and Canada to tour with The Pharcyde. “I’ve beat the biggest demon I could ever imagine in cocaine. It took me seven years to do it but I did it and so I deserve to be able to be with my wife and kids…at least during the appeal process.” To help battle his legal fees a GoFundMe fundraiser campaign has already been set up online for those who wish to donate. In addition, Vancouver’s local hip-hop community is lending out a helping hand by holding a concert fundraiser for Swift at local club, Alexander Gastown. Despite this, with his family awaiting his return home, not to mention employing three lawyers to help fight his case, Swift worries it won’t be enough. As of press time his GoFundMe page has only reached $680 of it’s $25,000 goal. Swift says, “They shouldn’t have done that. There’s no way that they can take my rights away. They can say what they want at that crossing because they are kinda like cowboys ­ nobody’s policing them.” While getting ready for his upcoming benefit show we talked with J-Swift about his pending work visa woes.

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Noisey: Now, this isn’t the first time you’ve performed in Canada, furthermore Vancouver. Why was there an issue with border officials this time?
J-Swift: I actually came up here in June last year with Slum Village and we all played these different cities like Montreal, Winnipeg, and Toronto and I was able to get there and back home, no problem. But I mean, I came in through Washington, D.C. so if anybody is going to sweat you and make problems it's the capital of the United States but I got in. So, I don’t know what the problem is with the guys at this border. At the same time this isn’t the first time this has happened. A lot of people have gotten held up at the border and have filed lawsuits against the government but I don’t want to go that route. I just want to get someone of authority to give me a document. So, right now my lawyers are looking at different options, one of which may be that I have to go to a different part of Canada to leave. And I mean the prosecutor’s been cool. He feels for my situation because he has kids too. According to him no one should have let me in, but since I already got past the border even he believes they should let me back in. The whole situation is just a very bad catch-22. What can I do other than stay positive? Everything happens for a reason but I’m still shocked this is happening.

Do you think you were unfairly targeted at customs despite having a valid work visa?
In all honesty, they just shouldn’t have prevented me from crossing the border. There’s no way that they can take my rights away and it's troubling that [border officials] can say what they want. They operate like cowboys because nobody polices them. I understand with all these terror threats they have to be vigilant, but I think at times you have to think logically about these things. It’s obvious I live in America. It says it right on my passport.

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The American government has threatened to deport you back to your birthplace of Spain. How long has it been since you were last there?
I went back to Spain for the first time last year. I remember when I was performing there the crowd was shocked because I started speaking Spanish on stage. I told them,“Hey, this is where I was born.” But, it’s good I went back there. I made a lot of connections there over the last few years of touring.

Photo By Paige Sierra

You’ve received an outpour of support, both from your family and the local music community here in Vancouver. Can you tell me about that?
Thank God, that’s part of what’s been keeping me sane. Vancouver [artists] like Brody Mudryk and Tem Hutchinson have a studio in their house so I’ve just been recording music there, trying to vent. It’s hard enough being so far away from the family, but to be without them and music…that would be horrible. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done had it not been for me meeting those two when I was on tour. I would probably be stuck in prison until this situation was sorted out.Tem actually lent me a phone so now I can contact my wife and kids. In general it’s just been good meeting different artists in the area. I just try to stay productive, that’s just what I do. That’s not going to stop no matter where I go. The more productive I am, the closer I’ll be to closing this whole situation. Hopefully, my lawyers can break this vicious cycle

At the end of the day I just have good people behind me. My family is very supportive. People out here have been really supportive. On March 22 there will be a benefit show in Vancouver to help raise some money and the GoFundMe campaign is getting some traction. It’s getting there, you know? Awareness is all I want to raise. My rights are being trampled. I deserve to be with my kids, at least while I’m going through the appeal process. If my appeal is up, then that’s another story but at the very least I can be with my children and make a plan versus just being being cut off from them like I am now.

What’s the next step for you?
I’m not crossing over into any borders until I get my legal situations straight, and I mean totally straight. So, right now I have one of the lawyers representing me dealing with my past convictions because I had bad representation in the past. The original lawyer never explained to me that if I plead guilty to this and that I would be deported. Nobody told me. I also made a lot of those decisions while I was under the influence so I didn't know what I was saying. So, if the judge throws those previous charges out, the whole immigration case, everything gets thrown out. I can come back to Canada. I can go anywhere. But to get all that done it costs a lot of money; almost fifty thousand. But man, I just think…even if the organizers offered me a hundred thousand dollars, if I knew this was going to happen I would never have stepped foot in Canada.

You can help J-Swift on his GoFundMe account here or by attending the Bizarre Ride of J-Swift benefit concert at the Alexander Gastown this Sunday, March 22nd.

­Kassandra Guagliardi is a writer living in Vancouver - @KassKills