Read on Twitter
The Influence Of Nujabes: A Thread
Jun Seba, also known as Nujabes, is a pioneer of the modern LoFi Hip-Hop sound that we know today.
His sound actually gained some of its early traction from his work in Samurai Champloo, an anime series. The show blended Japanese culture with American urban music/graffiti culture.
Nujabes blended jazz influences and laid back hip-hop production to craft his beats. This combination of an old-world genre with innovative ideologies pushed a lot of boundaries. It created a sound that we had never really heard before in hip-hop.
Nujabes had an ear cultural music, and an ear for laid back hip-hop (Dilla, Tribe, etc), and he managed to blend the two perfectly. It was a truly innovative sound, and came at the perfect time: right when YouTube was starting to become popular.
Many young aspiring producers at the time took to YouTube to find inspiration for their music, and there laid Modal Soul. This led to a wave of subtle production with strong Jazz and Soul samples, which is a prominent sound that we hear a lot today.
It also led to a resurgence of famous Jazz artists such as Miles Davis into modern culture. It brought back an era that most thought was purely a thing of the past.
Disregarding his distinct sound entirely, Nujabes brought instrumental hip-hop as a whole back onto the surface on a more national level. It has gained much more popularity and allowed people to find a lot of hidden instrumental gems that most wouldâve never heard.
Iâm sure all of you have heard of these playlists or others similar. This sound, which is now very widely regarded, is all Nujabes.
When it comes to the new wave of hip-hop production, not many are as influential as Nujabes. He has brought back an old style with a new sound, and influenced an entire new generation of young producers. Itâs a shame that this happened after he passed, but better late than never.
Nujabes did all of this with only two albums. It is mind-boggling to think what he could have done if he did not pass so soon. But we still got to witness one of the best minds music has seen, and his influence is finally starting to show.
Thank you for reading. If youâve never listened to Nujabes, I hope you check him out. And if you have, I hope you gained some more appreciation. Stream Nujabes. 
