There’s a particular kind of dread that keeps twenty-somethings up at night. It’s not the fear of failure, exactly. It’s the fear of never finding out. Of getting to 50 and wondering what would’ve happened if you’d just tried. For Nodust, that fear isn’t something he runs from. It’s the engine that keeps him moving.
“I’m no different than anyone else,” he says, and he means it. “I’m just trying to live my life in a way where I won’t have any regrets when it’s over.” It’s a simple statement, almost throwaway. But spend a few minutes digging into how Nodust actually operates and you realize this isn’t casual philosophy. It’s a work ethic dressed up as acceptance.
Nodust writes, records, mixes, and masters every track himself. He designs his own cover art. He edits his own music videos. There’s no team, no label infrastructure, no safety net. Just a guy in a room making sure he’ll never have to ask himself the question that haunts his generation: what if I’d actually gone for it?
The music itself hits like what he describes as “2013 Chief Keef but he has ADHD and a hyper-fixation with Chrome Hearts hoodies and stimulants.” It’s a self-aware description, but accurate. His latest single “Numbers” dropped in late November 2025, clocking in at just over two minutes of bass-heavy, new artist energy. Signature cadence, signature vocals, no fat to trim. Nodust knows what he does well and doesn’t waste time pretending otherwise.
His creative process is almost ritualistic in its chaos. He throws a beat into FL Studio, lays down a baseline vocal preset, and then literally spits gibberish into the mic. “At this point I’m just trying to create the melody and find key points for vocal emphasis and effects,” he explains. Then he writes actual lyrics to fit the gibberish, records the real take, and dives into mixing. Sometimes he’ll spend 14 hours straight on a single song, half of that just mixing. “If I don’t finish it in one go it’ll never get finished,” he admits.
What’s telling is how he talks about losing track of time. For Nodust, the studio isn’t just where he works. It’s the only place where his brain stops racing through anxieties about what came before and what’s coming next. “It’s really the only time I can actually be in the moment,” he says. “The main reason why I do it and why I love it so much is because it makes me lose track of time.”
That admission cuts to something real about why Gen Z artists are grinding so hard right now. The hustle isn’t always about clout or money. Sometimes it’s about finding the one thing that quiets the noise. And when you find that thing, you hold onto it.
Nodust’s visual output tells the same story. Videos for tracks like “M.I.A.”, “Zoot”, and “Clairvoyance” are shot by his girlfriend SuziWithAnUzi, who’s carved out her own space in Toronto’s scene. Her presence in his life isn’t just romantic. It’s proof of concept. “Knowing someone that is at the level I want to be at shows that it’s possible,” he says. “It gives me the hope I need to keep going.”
His sound evolved over time. Early on, Nodust was deep in the emoplugg wave, drawing from artists like D1v, bladee, and his close friend Kill Red. Good music, by his own account, but he felt the pull to push further. Then he discovered Nettspend, esdeekid, Xaviersobased, and feng, artists pushing ultra-technical flows into uncharted territory. Something clicked. He noticed that nobody was bringing melodic emoplugg influence to the trap and jerk beats blowing up last year. So he started experimenting.
The result was “Clairvoyance” with producer 999ines. “That was the first time I actually felt like I might have a shot at making it,” he says. He invested in a proper music video for the first time, and the response validated the risk. It’s been up from there.
Nodust is quick to credit his people. Producers like Sheepy, who he calls both talented and genuinely kind. His day one collaborator c0ll!e, who pushed him to keep going no matter what. His mom, who apparently gets legitimately upset if he drops something without sending it to her first. “Love you mama dust,” he says, and you can tell he means it.
Toronto shows are in the works for 2025. More music is ready to go. Another video is in final edits. The output keeps coming because the alternative, slowing down and letting doubt creep in, isn’t something Nodust can afford.
“It’s such a hard industry to get into and the chances of turning it into a career are so extremely small,” he acknowledges. “But if I don’t try then one day I’ll be left wondering what my life would have looked like if I chased that dream. And I would die not knowing. That’s just something that I can’t accept.”
For a generation drowning in options and terrified of picking wrong, that refusal to accept uncertainty might be the most relatable thing about him.
Keep up with Nodust on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music.
