Nosaj Thing

Ethereal electronic artist Nosaj Thing added spaciousness and intimacy to Los Angeles’ beat music scene and then helped spread his cosmic-dusted sounds to the world via collaborations with artists such as Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. The alias of L.A.-born creator Jason Chung, Nosaj Thing started playing shows in the mid-2000s, sharing bills with architects of the city’s blossoming beat-music community like Flying Lotus and Samiyam. Drawing from hip-hop and dance music, Chung stood out among his contemporaries for how he utilized space, leaving ample room on his 2009 debut album, Drift, for synths to stretch out and beats to take their time mutating. Over the next decade, Chung began linking up with an eclectic set of creators, helping to sculpt a song on Chance the Rapper’s 2013 breakthrough, Acid Rap, and explored more vaporous electronic sounds alongside ambient creator Julianna Barwick in 2020. On full-lengths such as 2022’s Continua, Nosaj Thing continues to welcome new voices such as Panda Bear and Toro y Moi into his studio.