Born in New Jersey as Steven Barnes ll, Lil Sway was raised in Ohio by his grandmother and single father along with his twin sister. Steven lived in the suburbs where he and his sister attended Hope Academy as kids. He attended church consistently and loved gospel artist such as Kirk Franklin. In The 5th grade he was later introduced to hip and R&B and was inspired by Rick Ross, K Camp, and Future. Steven was not known for much popularity growing up, in fact he says that everyone found his sister in their words “more likable and approachable.” In the start of his high school career he began seeing his friends freestyle for fun and decided to show of his skills. His friends liked it and told him he should make music, however, having his focus on basketball, he had another dream in mind. Through his basketball career, Steven struggled to keep his grades up and he decided he was done with the sport. He later on practices freestyling and working on his plan B, Music. In his Junior year he released his first song on SoundCloud called “Scars” and it got him a bit of a buzz in the school, later on making song Better Love, and others that followed. His sister seeing his talent asked him what his stage name would be, having thought of many names. His story, “my sister asked me about what music I want to make and I told her hype and relation story telling. She says in response that’s a Steve way to go about it. I took that and made it Sway.”