Interview: ‘Jersey Club’ Producer & DJ Nadus

We’re been expecting big things from the bright young ‘Jersey Club’ Producer and DJ Rahshon Bright (the surname is a mere coincidence) – stage name Nadus, ever since the release of his debut Broke City EP which dropped on Pelican Fly / Thread (Nadus’s own imprint)/ Moodswing / RPM and MSC back in ’14.

The release was a homage to Newark (aka “Brick City”), and revealed very real and personal subjects going on in Nadus’s life at the time. All proceeds from the EP went to Newark Boys Chorus School, who Nadus feels he owes a lot of his success to. Inducted by idols like Chicago’s footwork crew TEKLIFE and the producers behind the Paris-based project Club Cheval, Nadus’s output of mixes consistently range from fresh, forward-thinking soundscapes, to simultaneous loops to the past. Skrillex, Trippy Turtle, and Cashmere Cat are also fans of the Jersey artist.

Currently back in New Jersey since parting with his old management to “cook with the homies he started with,”, he’s now being managed by his brother, who used to carry his MPC to beat battles back in the day. Nadus is setting himself up for another period of creativity in his words. He tells us that it’s “just new music… same story… different chapter.. I stopped being afraid of starting over and just went with it.. And it’s been good to me for real…”

Featured on his latest release are cuts like “Sharpe James” and “No Feels,” along with DJ Sliink’s heavy rework of “Nxwxrk,” a remix of the addictive “Marriage Proposal” from Noah Breakfast (featuring GrandeMarshall and Tunji Ige), and a “no drums” remix of “Sharpe James.” Original tracks “Broke City” and “Bust It Open” are also notable pieces to note as well.

Nadus is now taking time out finishing his forthcoming full-length album, set to be released on Pelican Fly again, but for now, he’s reluctant to be pegged down to a release date. Simply put because he “doesn’t like rushing art.” Instead, Nadus recently told us about his humble beginnings in choir school, the importance of maintaining mental health on social media, and having dope friends. Not to mention listening to his grandma’s old disco records, mixing for the one and only Mr West… and his excitement at returning to the big stage at Threads Summer in Baltimore on the 23rd of July earlier this month…

You’ve mentioned how clubnights got youth like yourself at the time, off the streets and out of trouble. How did you first get introduced into the tight Jersey club scene to begin with?

I had started to make club records as just a side thing I didn’t tell anyone about really at all till I met Jayhood. I was already making beats and I had a production team with a few rappers I was making beats for. Due to us wanting the finances to have our own studio we came up with the idea to throw parties and take the money from the door and rent a space and buy equipment. I was already working on beats for Bleszt who had just joined the Brick Bandits and he linked me with Jay to DJ my party. Through our convo we realized we lived down the street from each other so he came by to pick up the deposit for the party. In those moments he realized I had music equipment and told me he made club records. From that we bounced questions off of each other and kinda just clicked. From that point on Jay would test my records out at his parties he would be booked at and eventually I would begin to come see the reaction. From that came gigs of my own and making theme songs for some of the street teams. Before you knew it I was on Toonsquad and eventually on Brick Bandits with the blessing of Mike V and Tim Dolla.

Your taste seems to be refreshingly diverse in terms of influences, remixes (e.g. Kanye West’s – Send it Up) and collaborators (including Nick Hook and Egyptian Lover) on your tracks etc. Who would you say were your primary musical inspirations growing up ranging from rap to Baltimore House? And how do you think this shaped your distinctive sound?

My ear was all over the place growing up. Before club we had house and ghetto house. I went to a choir school so I read sheet music and appreciated a wide range of singing and instrumentation fairly young. I listened to the old disco and R&B tunes my grandmother and mom used to play. I embraced “Heartbeat” by Taana Gardner a Newark Native and from that spark came crate digging and from that came sampling and so on and so forth. A big chunk of my inspiration comes from Kanye and Just Blaze. Ye’ made me wanna make beats and be really good at it. Just made me wanna make BIG beats and be really good at it. That list is too long to list here but my inspiration is pulled from a number of people big and small Sinjin Hawke the noise band the Yellow Swans… I’m all over the place.

Things have been pretty quiet on the social media front since Broke City was released last October. What have you been up to since?

Thinking. A lot. After that re-release I wasn’t happy with a lot of things going on so I simply worked on changing that. Mental health is important. Because I hadn’t checked off anything on my list I couldn’t appreciate what was happening around me. So I got back to that list and at the top of it was launch this label and show the world how dope my friends are. Changed my team around. Spent more time with my mom and gma. Building a relationship with my pops (promised my gma I would)

Who else do you think is making a real impact in underground club music right now?

Her Records is important. Of course Night Slugs and Fade To Mind… There’s a lot of underground records all over the place so point to this crew or that person wouldn’t justly answer this question.

Where do you see the future of Jersey Club progressing in 2016?

Outside of commercialization by the people that created it. I don’t know just yet. It’s in a weird place right now so I’m wondering just like everyone else.

When is the release date for your next tracks, and any plans for European dates soon?

Idk but I’ll keep you posted and of course I miss my second home in Villejuif and the people there that became like family. EU is dope as a whole tho loved my time there. It was special.

Listen to Nadus on Soundcloud.

Here’s the tracklist for Broke City Deluxe:

1. Top Ramen
2. Nxwxrk
3. No Feels
4. Marriage Proposal
5. Sharpe James
6. Sharpe James (No Drums Remix)
7. Nxwxrk (DJ Sliink Remix)
8. Marriage Proposal (Gutta Remix)
9. Marriage Proposal (Noah Breakfast Remix feat. GrandeMarshall and Tunji Ige)
10. No Feels (Samename x Richelle Remix)
11. Broke City
12. Bust It Open

Written by Natalie Wardle