Khia Danielle "K-Swift" Edgerton (October 19, 1978 – July 21, 2008) was a Baltimore Club DJ, MC, radio personality and entrepreneur.

Early years

Born October 19, 1978 to Joseph & Juanita Edgerton, Khia was raised in Randallstown, MD. She graduated from Randallstown High School in 1996 and went on to intern at 92Q after a brief stint at Catonsville Community College^[1].

Entertainment career

Khia began interning at 92Q when she was 18, and worked her way through the ranks at the station until she earned a co-hosting position in 1998.^[2]. The show, along with her co-host Squirrel Wyde is the number one radio show in all of Baltimore^[3].

Entrepeneurship

Along with DJing at all of the popular clubs in Baltimore, as well as throwing her own parties, Khia owned and operated Club Queen Entertainment,a roster of well known partying dj's & hosts which had a hold on the scene and still a hold on the prominent parties in the baltimore area a Graphics Company and also began Next Level Management Company, a record pool and she also sold her mixtapes online^[3]. She had a few hip-hop artists on the Next Level roster, including Young Leek, whom she helped mold and land a contract with Def Jam Records. He had a local hit in the summer of 2005 with 'Shake It And Jiggle It.'^[4]

Both K-Swift and Young Leek are name-checked in the fourth season of the television series The Wire when Chris Partlow and Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, chief enforcers for drug lord Marlo Stanfield, take to the streets looking for rival drug-dealers from New York City. In order to distinguish Baltimore hoods from New York interlopers, Snoop and Chris challenge them to identify the performer of 'Shake It and Jiggle It.' A dealer who can't answer the question is ultimately killed.

Music career

Khia released her discs through Baltimore based company, Unruly Records(as well as Next Level). They are mostly sold in Downtown Locker Room and local music stores around Baltimore. Her albums were so popular and had such an enormous following in the area, that she actually outsold mainstream artists such as Soulja Boy Tell 'Em^[5].

Discography

The Jumpoff Vol. 1

The Jumpoff Vol. 2

The Jumpoff Vol. 3

The Jumpoff Vol. 4 - The Holiday Edition

Jumpoff Vol. 5

The Jumpoff Vol. 6 - The Return

The Jumpoff Vol. 6 - The Spring Break Edition

The Jumpoff Vol. 7 - Summer School Edition

The Jumpoff Vol. 8 - Next Level Edition

Jumpoff Vol. 9

Jumpoff Vol. 9 - Holiday Edition

Jumpoff Vol. 10 - We Fly High Edition Release Date: June 25, 2007.

The Jumpoff Vol. 11 - Not Guilty

The Jumpoff Vol. 12

The Jumpoff Vol. 13

The Jumpoff Vol. 14

K-Swift: Strictly for the Kids Part I

K-Swift: Strictly for the Kids Part II

The Club Queen Series Volumes 1 - 6

Awards

2001 - Best DJ, Awarded by Baltimore City Paper^[6]
2004 - Best Club DJ, Awarded by Baltimore City Paper^[6]
2005 - Best Club DJ, Awarded by Baltimore City Paper^[6]
2006 - Best Club DJ, Awarded by Baltimore City Paper^[6]

Death

On Sunday July 20, 2008, just a day after Khia performed at Baltimore's Artscape she hosted a pool party at her house. During the early morning of Monday, July 21st it is said that Khia jumped into her above ground pool. Police reports state that there were about seven people in the pool at the time. When she didn't resurface, they pulled her out and placed her on an adjoining metal frame deck and called 911 at 12:20AM. No one performed CPR on Khia as they waited for medical help to come. Medics arrived at her Baltimore residence on 4312 Arizona Avenue at 12:28AM. They attempted to revive her for 14 minutes and left her home at 12:42AM. She was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where she was pronounced dead.^[7] An hour and a half after the popular DJ's death, news spread via calls and text messages from those at the hospital when she passed, police were called to contain the crowd that formed to mourn over her.^[8]

References