By Kim Lamb Gregory
CI junior Eugene 鈥淪wanzy鈥 Hammond has gone from living in a West African village with unpaved roads and no indoor plumbing to a career as a crowd-pleasing deejay with a photography team, a manager, a clothing sponsorship and a loyal following on and off campus.
鈥淗e鈥檚 really awesome,鈥 said friend and fan Selwa 鈥淪ueSue鈥 Eldanaf, 21, a CI psychology major. 鈥淗e has a lot of energy. He鈥檚 super into it and you can tell.鈥
Hammond, whose African name is 鈥淪wanzy,鈥 grew up in modest circumstances in the West Coast African country of Ghana.
鈥淲hen I needed water to take a shower, I had to go to the well and get water,鈥 said Hammond, 20. 鈥淚f I wanted a hot shower, I had to get water and put it on the stove.鈥
Ten years later, Hammond has mastered English, excelled at CI as a Health Science major with a Communication minor and has a steady stream of gigs as 鈥淒J Swanzy.鈥
During the week, Hammond carries a full academic load, works in CI鈥檚 student housing as a resident assistant, is a CI orientation leader and works with the Black Student Union. But on weekends, he鈥檚 off to Los Angeles to work as 鈥淒J Swanzy.鈥
Hammond has done the opening show for such artists as DJ Earworm, 2 Chainz and Tyga, to name a few. He finally had to get a manager to coordinate all of the work he was getting. Hammond then hired a professional photography team to help his brand, and was pleasantly surprised when he was offered a clothing sponsorship.
鈥淭hey said 鈥榃e鈥檒l make Swanzy clothes and Swanzy merchandise and I said 鈥楾hat鈥檚 pretty dope!鈥欌 Hammond said.
It鈥檚 a long way from his native Ghana, where he and his friends had very little, but they improvised. If the boys wanted to play soccer, for example, Hammond and his friends would bind two shoes together or wad up a trash bag to create a makeshift soccer ball.
When Hammond was in the fourth grade, his parents relocated to Corona, California, to find a better life. He was overwhelmed with culture shock.
鈥淚 was fascinated by freeways,鈥 Hammond said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like American food and I still had an accent. My grades weren鈥檛 that good.鈥
But Hammond persisted, learned English, made friends and during his sophomore year in high school, discovered he had a knack for playing music and working the crowd. He was a natural disc jockey.
One day, a friend asked Hammond to act as deejay for a party he was holding in a barnyard. Hammond used some speakers, his laptop and a deejay software he bought from a friend for $150.
鈥淭hat party was so much fun. After the party was over, people were talking about it,鈥 Hammond said. 鈥淭hey were saying, 鈥榃hen is there going to be a Part II?鈥 I started doing every party in Corona.鈥
It wasn鈥檛 long before DJ Swanzy was the go-to mixmaster. He set up a website, his own business and began doing weddings, parties and events around CI.
鈥淓ugene, or 鈥楽wanzy,鈥 as he is known at CI, exhibits an entrepreneurial and can-do attitude,鈥 said Vice President for Student Affairs Wm. Gregory Sawyer, one of the faculty and staff members Hammond considers a valuable mentor.
鈥淚 could go to him for anything,鈥 Hammond said of Sawyer. 鈥淗e taught me a lot about African culture.鈥
Another mentor valuable to Hammond is Jeremy Booker, Assistant Coordinator of Residential Education in CI鈥檚 Housing & Residential Education, where Hammond worked as a Resident Assistant in Santa Cruz Village.
鈥淪wanzy does not visualize himself through the lens that many youth do,鈥 Booker said. 鈥淗e believes in himself and humbles himself to ask questions when necessary.鈥
After he graduates in 2018, Hammond plans to work as a physical therapist during the week, while on the weekends, it鈥檚 鈥淒J Swanzy.鈥
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漏 Fall 2016 / Volume 20 / Number 02 / Bi-annual