Getting Personal With Swizz Beatz On “Drive with Swizz Beatz,” His New Hulu Car Show

“The world needs a little more love these days,” Swizz Beatz said during the introduction of his new show, Drive with Swizz Beatz, at the Classic Car Club of Manhattan, with his son and cohost Nasir “Nazz” Dean proudly at his side. A raw emotion like love isn’t the sort of thing that conventionally comes to mind when talking about or thinking of automobiles. But in his new car show on Hulu, Beatz goes beyond the traditional tire-roasting spectacles and discussions comparing specifications and sheetmetal aesthetics, all to show that love is just one of the many underrepresented human aspects of the car community.

For some, the automobile is just an appliance to get from one point to the other. To many others, however, the automobile is a form of artful individual expression, an archetype for freedom and mobility, and above all, a beacon for family and community. And that’s one of the many lesser-spoken sides of the car world that Beatz and his son hope to shine a light on through their show.

The definition of the perfect car community or car culture may subjectively vary. But by exploring the world through car culture and telling conventional and unconventional stories, both Beatz and Nazz ultimately portray how communal love, passion, and sense of family can all be generated around a single ideology: the love for cars.

Drive With Swizz Beatz Is An Inclusive Show About The Shared Love Of Cars

“It’s a show about family, community, drive, travel, and education…”

“It’s a show about family, community, drive, travel, and education,” Beatz explained in our exclusive interview. “My biggest mission is to show people that they can live their dreams no matter how much money they have. We didn’t do a blinged-out car show showing cars that people can’t afford…we wanted to get people to show how it’s being human and nothing is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. It’s something that they can wake up every morning and achieve.”

That tale is one commonly told by many of the interviewees featured in Episode Two, which debuted in New York City as part two of a coast-to-coast premiere. For the East Coast screening, the second episode takes viewers to Japan, a country not only known for its quality and fastidiously engineered vehicles, but also its love for speed, fun and tech-savvy experiences. Throughout the episode, Beatz overviews some of the history of Japan’s vibrant auto industry and how its influence spread across the globe. But more so, Japan’s love for the car birthed some of the world’s largest and most influential communities and cultures.

One in particular, the underground Japanese tuner car scene, proliferated so greatly, that it crossed oceans to inspire one of Hollywood’s greatest automotive franchises, The Fast and the Furious. Today, there’s not a corner of the world where some sort of Japanese tuner-inspired car can be seen prowling the streets.

Another segment showcased the world of professional drifting, a movement that began in Japan and continues to take over the globe as one of the most popular and fastest growing motorsports: Formula D. Beatz and Nazz later spent time interviewing Akira Nakai, the founder of the world-renowned and highly exclusive Porsche tuner, Rauh-Welt Begriff, who’s made a name for himself specifically coachbuilding Kaido-racer-inspired 964s and 993s. And of course, any content on Japanese car culture isn’t complete without a snippet on traditional bosozuku-inspired tuner show cars.

No car culture or community is confined to a single place

Though the tuner car and drifting scene may be just a few of the typical scenes when trying to define Japan’s car culture, Beatz and Nazz also cast the limelight on the country’s vibrant lowrider scene– a community you’d typically expect to find in sunny Southern California and not in the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s one of many stories that the duo exemplifies to prove no car culture or community is confined to a single place.

Sitting Down With Stars Swizz Beats And His Costar, His Son Nasir

But despite telling the stories and sharing the histories of these micro and macro car scenes, their placement in the bigger, more worldly automotive picture, the show’s underlying theme remains prevalent. The automobile not only has an undeniable draw and effect of bringing like-minded people together, it’s also an avenue for all car fanatics to congregate and create memories and connections, and provide a communal safe haven to enjoy common ground. And ultimately, no matter where you are in the world or where you’re from, the love of cars is all that prevails.

To get a further scoop and go into deeper detail about what Drive with Swizz Beatz is all about, we sit down with the man and the legend himself, along with his son, Nazz.

TS (TopSpeed): It may seem like an obvious question, but in your own words, tell us what Drive with Swizz Beatz is all about.

SB (Swizz Beatz): It’s a show about family, community, drive, travel, and education.

TS: What would you say is your biggest mission with this project?

SB: My biggest mission is to show people that they can live their dreams no matter how much money they have. Because many people think that car culture is only for the rich people. I’ve seen people build cars for 10 years by their hands, figuring it out. And we wanted to get people to show how it’s being human and nothing is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. It’s something that they can wake up every morning and achieve.

TS: How did this all start for you, what would you say was your primary source of inspiration?

SB: Growing up in the Bronx, I was always surrounded by cars I couldn’t afford. Then I ended up buying a Nissan Z300 (sic) for $6,000 and my love for cars started then. I just maintained it, started winning car shows, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

TS: …and you still have that Nissan?

SB: Yep, still have it, mom’s been saving it for me.

TS: You have a strong background in the music industry, what made you decide to start a venture with cars?

SB: I was always doing stuff with cars before music, and music and cars are like brothers and sisters so, it’s all about the art. It’s like how someone collects art, I collect cars, I make music, they all brothers and sisters. And they all bring the community together.

TS: You mentioned in your introduction that the “world needs more love these days.” Did you go into making this production with an approach to try and combat some of the recent challenges society has faced with the marginalization of people?

SB: I went into this series wanting to educate all that want to learn, and I also went into it to show that in communities of people of color, father and son relationships do exist, because you never really see that and there’s never really a light shined on that. So I went into it with thoseperspectives and to inspire everybody.

TS: After watching the premiere of your show, it was obvious that you really wanted to showcase one of our favorite aspects of the car community, which is that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what style you like, we’re all equal for everyone’s shared love for cars.

SB: I thoroughly believe in that and actually, that’s why we didn’t do a blinged-out car show showing cars that people can’t afford. We did a human show, where people can build their inspiration and elevate your aspirations to the next level.

TS: Do you think it’s important to emphasize safety when it comes to cars?

SB: When I was young I was like, “**** safety.” But with the show, we have to be responsible and we have to show people how to get back home to their loved ones safely. Drive inspires safety.

TS: What’s your favorite car of all time?

SB: That would be my LaFerrari.

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TS to Nasir Dean: So you mentioned in your introduction, that you originally weren’t into cars?

ND: Yes, I originally wasn’t into cars at all. But then the whole Drive project inspired me and got me into it in a whole new and different way. In both a spiritual way and inspirational way, and it couldn’t have been better.

TS: What are some of the most fun things you’ve learned about cars since you got started?

ND: That you can do so much to them. You can have your personality engrained into your car. You can have it engrained on the car and on the inside, in the engine and its speed, you can modify it to where it’s truly yours and yours only. Your car can show who you are.

TS: What’s your favorite car scene that you learned through the making of the show?

ND: It’s definitely monster trucks for sure.

TS: What’s been the most exciting highlight in the whole experience making Drive?

ND: Just that everything was organic, especially doing the whole thing with my father. You know, if you’re going to grow closer with someone you spend all day with every day, I’m just happy that person is my father.

TS: The hardest question of them all, what’s your favorite car of all time?

ND: Oh…either the new Batmobile from the new Batman movie or a ’78 Charger