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Jus NBL Interview: Meet the Philly Hip-Hop Firestarter Bouncing Between Sonic Cinema and Basement-Built Defiance

Posted on 2 July 2026

Jus NBL talks about hip-hop like someone building his own pantheon, not disposable singles. In this A&R Factory interview, the Philadelphia artist opens up about the basement studio environment that taught him authenticity early, the evolution from Jus a Preview to Fine Wine, and why he thinks of his albums as “sonic movies”. He reflects on Miles Davis, 2Pac and Prince as forces that pushed him towards risk, structure and emotional range, while also unpacking the difference between chasing circus-like fame and becoming a prestige artist with lasting work. From writing, rapping and engineering alone in the studio to rejecting cliché and protecting peace, Jus NBL lays out a serious vision for the kind of hip-hop he wants to leave behind.

Welcome to A&R Factory, Jus NBL, we’re excited to have you here as you keep pushing Philly hip-hop beyond its history with cinematic storytelling and self-directed artistic vision. 

We’d love to talk about the albums and songs you’ve released, plus the vision behind them. When you look across your catalogue now, which release feels like the clearest statement of who Jus NBL really is?

I think all of them, to be honest, because it’s a constant evolution of a human being. Also, I’m multifaceted, so all of it is me, just different sides.

Jus a preview is just, you know, a preview of what I’m capable of

Fine Wine is when I really started to understand how to structure an album from top to bottom. I did well with Jus a Preview, but I really honed it in with that album from there; it’s been the evolution but as I learn more I will keep going.

Growing up in Philadelphia, with a basement studio in your home where different artists came through to record, must have shaped how you understood music early on. What did that environment teach you about hip-hop before you were even making your own mark?

To always stay authentic no matter what! Don’t copy others; do your own thing.

Your music often feels built like a scene, with images, mood and meaning sitting inside the bars. When you’re writing, do you think more like a rapper, a storyteller or an engineer arranging the whole picture?

Engineer arranging the whole picture 4sure because I’m coming up with the skit if that’s needed in the song the hook how the verses tie into the hook also I make sure I have the right production goes with the lyrics it’s a lot to it if I gotta bring other voices into the track whether I gotta do it but change my voice thru effects whatever I have a big picture mindset to the music I already out grew that mindset of just spitting bars I told myself I wanna be one of the greatest overall hiphop artists that has ever walked in the genre that means the songwriting/Song Making, album making mindset that is truly memorable.

You’ve cited Miles Davis, 2Pac and Prince as major influences, which says a lot about ambition, risk and emotional range. What did each of those artists teach you about refusing to sound boxed in?

They taught me to go my own way and keep evolving because one thing you never wanna do is make cliche stuff Miles Davis has the perfect quote he said “Don’t play what’s there play what’s not there” a lot of creatives mess themselves up trying to recreate what’s already there, at first it can be hard because we are wired to reject something different but if you keep fighting it pays off a lot then you allow other ppl to be more authentic in different ways outside of the music you make ppl feel like they are not alone in this world also Miles showed me how to really put an album together from listen to Miles Ahead , Agharta , In a silent way etc a lot of his albums have a beginning to end like a film because he was heavily into the late romantic and modernist composers like Ernest Bloch ravel Stravinsky Bartok. I myself started studying them and other musicians from different genres even more after studying miles.

Tracks like City Of Hate, Fine Wine and Imagine show different sides of your writing. How do you decide which emotional temperature a song needs before you start shaping the final version?

The production just speaks to you it tells you what to say how to say it. Whenever I usually hear a beat tbh the music is being channeled thru me.

As someone who raps, writes and engineers, you have more control over the full sound than a lot of artists. Does that freedom make it easier to protect the original idea, or does it make you even more ruthless with yourself?

Yes it makes it much easier because I’m always in the studio by myself when you’re alone that’s when the best ideas come because like I said it’s being channeled thru you . Usually when I hear a beat I start writing almost immediately not out of rushing but because I hear it immediately what I need to say I’m not just tryna flex all of this technical brilliance but actually having alot of artistic imagination for my music that’s more important because with technical brilliance you make robot music just saying or doing stuff that’s already been done to death.

You also mentioned how you’re moving forward at this stage in your career. What feels different about your mindset now compared with the artist you were when you first started releasing music?

 At first I had like warped idea of what me eventually becoming famous is for my music, I didn’t realize it’s two sides to the art/entertainment world one I call the circus where you stay in drama controversy etc then the most your known for is a hot single or 2 I call that reality tv type famous then it’s another type of fame for the prestige artist who may only cause controversy for the music itself but outside of that lives a much more peaceful life make more money because they make hit albums music that’s more innovative eclectic. I came to the conclusion it’s much better to be the prestige artist you know? I would rather my music be more exclusive than try to appeal to everybody a lot of ppl lose themselves trying to get ppl to like them or appeal to so many ppl , I can make the same if not more money than my reality tv type famous artist doing concert halls for 2 months out the year and doing a few festivals because the audience is more invested than the other side while keeping my peace and focusing on what really matters.

When people finish listening to a Jus NBL project, what do you want them to understand about your story, your city and the kind of hip-hop you’re trying to leave behind?

That I am a pure artist who wants to keep pushing myself forward with my music never settling for the status quo, always in a constant disagreement with almost everything because the way everything is now came from ppl being in disagreement with how things were before that you know? Also, I just wanna keep making what I call “Sonic Movies” for my music I been structuring my albums like that for a while; as time goes on, I will only get better.

–
Stream Jus NBL on Apple Music.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

OG Keemo’s Blind Is Rap Cinema for the Anti-Algorithm Era

Posted on 30 June 2026

Blind, the key single from OG Keemo’s deluxe EP, BERSERKER +, almost instantly shot past 1 million streams. Their audience, ravenous for another cut of cinematically adrenalised, hard-hitting hip-hop, were evidently rewarded by the storming juggernaut of a rap anthem that growls through bilingual bars set against an almost avant-garde, ornately disquieting orchestral score in place of archetypal hip-hop architecture.

OG Keemo breezed in in haute couture, buttoned up with bloodied fists. Raising grimy-style bars into something hotter than hell, Blind lands as ominous as a death stare from the anti-Christ, carrying the violent elegance that has made Karim Joel Martin one of German rap’s most vital lyricists.

Since Mann Beisst Hund debuted at number 3 on the German album charts, crossed 113 million Spotify streams and sold over 10,000 vinyl copies, Keemo has built a career around concept, patience and cultural weight. Fieber reached number 1, The Needle Drop paid attention, COLORS welcomed him twice, the BBC interviewed him as its first German rapper guest, and collaborations with Jorja Smith, WDR Orchestra and PS Hitsquad widened the radius without diluting the vision. With Funkvater Frank, he has reversed streaming-era logic by releasing BERSERKER + before the album itself, announcing BERSERKER through 6,000 physical flyers at Südüd Festival.

If there could be one man capable of standing against the algorithm alone, our money would be on OG Keemo; he’s the ultimate heavyweight.

Blind is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spacey Street-Driven Storytelling Opens the Door to Rap Escapism in Traé Scott’s Faded

Posted on 29 June 2026

Pittsburgh-born, Atlanta-raised rap revolutionist Traé Scott possesses the kind of energy that refuses all attempts at containment. Every track in his now sprawling discography feels larger than life, bigger than sound, and Faded, from his new album The Art, is a bright and cinematically flexed dispatch from an artist making escapism feel like its own gravitational field.

The title suggests dissociation, but the production glows with lucid, gold-accented intent. Spacey electronica motifs radiate far beyond the beats while Scott breaks ground with his bars without reducing the production to rubble. Faded becomes a mind-melting monologue, abstract in its narrative by design, pulling you into a laid-back atmosphere you will want to occupy long beyond the outro.

The Art, released on June 12, carries legacy through its bones, inspired by Scott’s father and grandfather, both named Arthur. That lineage gives Faded more weight than a glossy hip-hop cut chasing replay value. It becomes a record of discipline, purpose and self-authorship, held inside street-driven storytelling and cinematic production that moves with the confidence of someone already mapping his next elevation. Alongside tracks such as Second Guessing and Parallel Roads, Faded proves Traé Scott can make reflection feel luxuriously restless.

Faded is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Breakup Studios’ Pink Toothbrush Is Spoken-Word RnB Heartbreak for Anyone Haunted by What Got Left Behind

Posted on 28 June 2026

With a spoken-word style that throws you right back to George the Poet’s 2014 LP, The Chicken & The Egg, the seminal single Pink Toothbrush by Breakup Studios pulls you into the intricate details of heartbreak, where the most ordinary mementoes start to mean more than they ever feasibly should.

The track unfurls as a synergic synthesis of grime, EDM and RnB, holding candles to a few contemporaries while still moving with the chameleonic electricity that has become synonymous with Breakup Studios. Across the release, the voice spirals inward with enough emotional precision to make a discarded bathroom object feel like the last sacred artefact of a collapsed love story. It almost makes you want to become the person who accidentally left their toothbrush behind, just to know you hold so much meaning

Written by James as part of the 10-track concept EP Closure Not Included, Pink Toothbrush centres on a man who clears away every trace of his ex yet cannot throw away the one object that keeps grief breathing in the room. Romance can’t be dead, not while someone is writing an entire concept EP about an ex’s pink toothbrush.

Pink Toothbrush is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Wolf Richards is Between Big Band Swing, Hip-Hop Philosophy and Fretboard Fluidity in ‘Blue Note Bap’

Posted on 27 June 2026

Munich-born, Brazil-based aural eclecticist Wolf Richards moves across genres and fusionist explorations as fluidly as he does across a fretboard. In his latest seminal release, Blue Note Bap, the independent artist sinks the swank of big band swing into tendrils of jazz-infused hip-hop, creating a release that carries genuine reverence for jazz rather than treating the genre’s soul as decorative seasoning.

The free-form rhythmic complexity runs organically through his veins and guitar work in Blue Note Bap, so much so that it is easy to let your mind drift from the bars that Wolf Richards prowls through with unparalleled sermonic style. Yet the bars deserve your full attention, offering reflections of the MO he moves through life with; he is not trying to appear untouchable, he is waxing lyrical epiphanies that take root as Richards advocates staying humble in a world trying to prise you away from meaning and into the exhausting cost of facades of superiority.

Having studied at GIT in Los Angeles and written across pop, rock, RnB, hip-hop, jazz, fusion and bossa nova, Richards brings a rare breadth to the track without turning it into a flex. Blue Note Bap feels spiritually switched on, a jazz-rap release for anyone who prefers musical intelligence with its collar open.

Blue Note Bap is now available to stream on all major platforms. We recommend watching the equally swanky music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jus NBL – Picture: A Damning Snapshot of Reality Captured Through a New Old School Hip-Hop Lens

Posted on 26 June 2026

Jus NBL reminded the world of Philly’s importance on the hip-hop map with his seminal four-track EP, Picture. Across the title single, the Philadelphia artist moves with the conviction of someone who knows a scene, a city and a state of mind can all be framed inside one beat if the bars are sharp enough to hold the image still.

As an artist with the ability to make you lock in through the sheer force in his energy and vibe you out in the space of one track, Jus NBL doesn’t need a sprawling catalogue to prove his versatility. Picture mimics the mapping of the mind; the intensity fluctuates through production that refuses to separate from the roots of hip-hop, while the 808s rattle as hard as they hit. The melodies are brushed with an almost hypnotic, nostalgically soulful atmosphere, giving his introspection enough space to bruise and bloom.

Drawing from the cinematic storytelling he calls “sonic movies”, Jus NBL keeps the track wired for late-night drives, private reckonings and real-life reflection. The influence of 2Pac, Jay-Z, Drake and Miles Davis can be felt in the ambition, but the frame belongs to him. He refuses to rein in his bars as he waxes lyrical through metaphor, alluding to how his chapter of history is being portrayed as one dictated by division in a bleak landscape.
Picture is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Saint Cy’s Yi Dian Dian Is Rap Futurism with BVLGARI Shine and Ziggy Stardust Swagger

Posted on 17 June 2026

Hip-hop futurism hits fast-forward with Yi Dian Dian (Just A Little Bit), the latest sun-soaked drop from Saint Cy. The track lures you in with a wavy, saturated prelude before hypersonic synths bring cosmic kinetic energy to the rap renegade’s wit-heavy bars, leaving nothing to be desired on the side of charisma. Saint Cy’s presence instantly leaves you hyped and hooked on his cheeky flow that’s more oceanic than the Atlantic.

Hip-hop earworms rarely arrive with this much personality, but with drippings of funk, experimental touches, and a Mandarin intro and chorus phrase, Saint Cy practically becomes the Ziggy Stardust of rap. The track moves with luxury taste and global reach, bridging Eastern and Western influences while keeping its swagger loose, sunny and effortlessly sharp.

Born Cy Fergusson, Saint Cy brings an unusually rich life behind the mic. Raised between Sierra Leone, Switzerland and Southern California, he carries a natural ear for cultural crossovers. His background as a SAG-AFTRA actor, with credits including ER, Judging Amy and E-Ring, plus his current role in the luxury jewellery world with BVLGARI, gives Yi Dian Dian (Just A Little Bit) its polished gleam without blunting its playful rap voltage. After earlier independent releases across alternative rock, pop-rock, hip-hop and R&B, this return feels boldly recharged.

Yi Dian Dian (Just A Little Bit) is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kingdumb Interview: Meet the Firebrand Turning Bhangra, DnB and Outsider Logic into the Strange Swagger of His Lauded Sound

Posted on 12 June 2026

Kingdumb’s latest hit, Weird, takes Bhangra accents, DnB pressure and deadpan oddball confidence, then fires them through the mind of a self-described cool nerd who has learned to make life outside the box feel like a strength. In this interview, he opens up about Indian heritage, UK club influence, high-output production, BBC, Spotify and Adidas support, and the self-belief sparked by working with a manager connected to billions of streams. He also speaks with real candour about mental health, discipline, spirituality, exercise, community expectations and why music has been far more than a pipe dream. Behind the ridiculousness sits serious focus, careful energy, and an artist who knows exactly who his people are.

Welcome to A&R Factory, Kingdumb, we’re stoked to have you here as your latest hit, Weird, brings Bhangra, DnB, deadpan oddball swagger and outsider energy into one brilliantly strange orbit. Weird feels like a track built for anyone who has been called strange and decided to weaponise it. When did you first realise that your outsider perspective was one of your biggest creative assets?

It’s literally weird, I’ve gone through stages of massive extrovert to introvert and then back to extrovert at different points in my life. At times I’m clumsy, I tell it how it is, and am not scared of saying things that would conflict with people’s fixed beliefs. This sometimes puts me outside the box or in a box that doesn’t fit with conventional norms, but I’m ok with that coz the clever part of me understands that I think fairly logically. I’m pretty ok with looking or sounding like a goofball, because that’s me I guess. But honestly I am just a cool nerd, and the coolest type of nerd is a musician!

Your Indian heritage comes through in the rhythmic bite of Weird without making the track feel boxed into one cultural lane. How do you decide which parts of eastern and western culture you want to carry into your sound?

Thanks, that’s a hard line to follow. With eastern culture I take whatever feels right for the track. I love the sound of sitar, tabla and bansuri, so they do feature in my music – I just use them in an way that they wouldn’t normally be used, almost treating it like accenting my tracks rather than being the focal point. In terms of Western sound, I take influence from UK music. I have a. Love affair with drum and bass, so alot of my style comes through from that genre.

You’re beyond prolific and make 60 to 100 tracks a year. What does your creative routine actually look like when you are working at that speed?

I try to get in the studio at least twice a week, normally three times. Each time im in the studio I’ll spend around 2-3 hours creating the bare bones of a track. Every so often I’ll go back to stuff I made before and see if it still resonates or if I vibe with it. If it’s worth spending more time on, I will spend the time. In terms of routine somehow I go into a different space when I start production. Sometimes a track will write itself, sometimes I need a break to muster creative juice. A walk or grabbing a coffee helps with the latter.

BBC, Spotify and Adidas have already backed your work. Did that support change the way you viewed Kingdumb as a project, or did it simply confirm what you already knew?

Good question. It was more like a positive affirmation really. I kind of view it as reassurance. I didn’t always think I was amazing, in fact looking back, my production at times was shoddy technically. One of the biggest things though, that these platforms have given me, is having credibility to show to other people. It’s not easy to get but if you have a few different places supporting you it creates momentum and other people have more belief in what you’re doing. I think alot of people around me thought I was chasing a pipe dream, but music is more to me than that, it’s a way of life, it’s therapy, it’s joy.

Your manager has worked across a huge catalogue, with credits connected to Phil Collins, Coldplay, U2 and billions of streams. What has that level of experience taught you about thinking bigger without sanding down your weirdness?

Another good question. I think having someone of that calibre really helps you believe in yourself, which I struggled with silently for years. P.s. I’m not THAT weird!! Joking aside though, he helped me realise my own potential and that actually, I’ve pretty much got everything locked down creatively. In terms of thinking bigger he’s believed in me more than any other person I know. And that is monumental, especially when in your community (I have Indian heritage) doesn’t see this thing I do, as anything of any real value. So when people used to ask me when I will give up, or to settle for less in life, I remind myself that they’re projecting their own fears or limiting beliefs on me. And they can do one!

You’ve collaborated with a UK number 1 charting MC. What did that session teach you about holding your own creative identity around artists with serious commercial reach?

Again, it gave me a level of self-belief. I knew at that point I was capable of turning heads. I had been turning heads for a while but this was a new level at that specific time in my life. This session was good because, honestly, I was just being myself, and that made the connection and session authentic. Looking back, this MC (MC DT) was super kind to me and really down to Earth. I have learnt over the years that not everyone is like that, so I’m very careful these days with who and where I put my energy into.

You’ve been open about managing a mental health condition while making music for years. How has creativity helped you stay well when the odds were stacked against you?

Through all these years, music was my lifeline. It was there when I was happy, there when I was sad, there when I felt there was nothing left for me in life. So I owe music everything. When I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, music showed me it was there. I always tell people that doing music creates flow state, and someone actually told me that flow state repairs the brain. Also, Indian teachings tell us that flow is a state close to divinity, so it’s almost sacred.

Between spirituality, life hacks, exercise and high-output production, it sounds like you’re constantly building systems around yourself. What do you think people misunderstand about the discipline behind Kingdumb’s ridiculousness?

People think I’m living in Dreamland. They think I spend too much time on it. They probably also think I should stay stuck in the rat race and earn more money in a stable job. They probably think I just laze around tinkering with buttons. Like you say, it’s significantly more than that. No one actually knows the discipline side of things. I rarely drink, I don’t do drugs, I choose where I spend my time, I balance multiple spinning plates, I invest in myself, I make my environment conducive to all the things I want to do, I save time on small things to allow me to thrive where I want to thrive. I think misunderstanding sometimes is ignorance, or a lack of communication. If people are genuinely interested, they can ask! But I don’t let many people “in” these days, I know who my people are!

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Discover Kingdumb’s discography on Spotify. 

For more info, head over to the artist’s official website.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

Kearis’ Need Me Is a Lush-with-Lust Hip-Hop Single Built for Infinite Summer Replays

Posted on 12 June 2026

Summer hip-hop tranquillity met raw Southern energy in Kearis’ hottest single to date, Need Me, featuring BigTDawg, who, true to his moniker, is a force in his own right. The single moves with that sun-drunk confidence that makes a track feel instantly destined for car speakers, late-night link-ups and sticky-season playlists.

The hypnotically oceanic hit turns the rap bars into an unreckonable mesmeric force as they ebb and flow under waves of autotune and reverb, keying into the stylistic elements of CloudRap while Kearis turns up the temperature with Reggaeton heat. BigTDawg brings a grounded counterweight to the track’s floating melodic current, letting the chemistry sit right at the centre without overcrowding the mood.

Kearis has been building his name as an independent melodic rapper through emotionally direct storytelling, atmospheric production and a laid-back delivery that keeps ambition, relationships and growth within reach of the listener.

Following tracks such as Money and Fame, Need Me sharpens his sound into something smoother, warmer and ready to travel further, with enough crossover ease to pull casual listeners closer. If you’re looking for a hip-hop playlist staple that will bring the vibes all summer, look no further than this lush-with-lust hit that possesses infinite repeat appeal.

Need Me is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Money Matt® is in Full Firebrand Mode with Bars Built for Forward Motion in Ain’ Goin’

Posted on 10 June 2026

Money Matt® oozes rags-to-riches opulence, leaving no room to wonder why his glossed and gritty stamp on motivational hip-hop has signed, sealed, and delivered the kind of reverence that only a true hip-hop firebrand can celebrate in this era. Ain’ Goin’ runs on his unique ability to make bars anthemic by wiring adrenaline through conviction as he waxes lyrical on what it means to stick to your guns, refuse compromise, and reject passivity when you are chasing the lifestyle that once made you bitter with envy on Instagram.

Between busting myths on what it means to succeed and the hype he runs through the reprise, Ain’ Goin’ leaves you with an infectious sense of confident ambition; there’s a reason why the official music video has racked up close to 500k streams across all platforms.

Born Matt Mansour in Cincinnati, Ohio, Money Matt® has moved from a freestyling teenager to a breakthrough artist stacking awards, magazine placements, mixtape features, and over 1.6 million streams. Over his career, he’s shaped motivational hip-hop into a lane of purpose over ego. Ain’ Goin’ carries that whole philosophy in its chest, sounding like a refusal to drown while chasing your own wave.

Ain’ Goin’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, and you can catch the official music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast