Artist Profile: Nolan the Ninja

Nolan the Ninja, the storied Detroit-raised and Chicago-based rapper and producer, has been churning out densely lyrical tracks and entrancing instrumentals for over a decade. Now, as he reflects back on his career, and pushes the echelon even further with recent collaborations with Open Mike Eagle and the continued expansion of his own catalog, he knows that his unique creative imprint has set the foundation for everything he’s accomplished.

Although he didn’t grow up in a particularly musical family, Nolan’s earliest memories are tied directly to music. His family insists that his first words were lyrics from “Hip Hop Hooray” by Naughty by Nature. From the time he was a small child, he had a budding obsession with everything that went into the art of hip-hop– not just the songs themselves, but the way the music videos were made, the way tracks were produced, and the overall culture that surrounded the genre.

Growing up in an impoverished area of Detroit, Nolan knew he had no other option than to be creative. His mother was a teacher, and she pushed him to continue to expand his knowledge and express himself in whatever ultimately interested him.

“When you're impoverished, you have to be creative because you can't get the resources you really need. You have to understand what you got to do in order to execute. The creativity, it spills out [through] how I make music, how I dress, how I pick things to dress with… I just have more of a creative idea as to how I want to represent myself, and it's just always been like that literally since I was a kid.”

He briefly attended Oakland University before ultimately coming back home. He found himself with a laptop, a pair of headphones, and little to no options in front of him. His friend gave him a cracked version of FL Studio 9, and, from that moment, he saw an opportunity.

He began relentlessly immersing himself in the world of hip-hop, diving into liner notes, working on his own production, and attending open mics to hone his pen and his stage presence in the meantime. Spurred by his unorthodox ear and tastes, Nolan quickly found a sonic niche to occupy.

“I already knew the type of style of music I was into, being appreciative of MF Doom or Madlib, or even J Dilla, Slum Village, I was listening to that shit early; when I was, like, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, that's the type of sh*t I was playing on the low… I was always just eager to learn more about it. I was always just naturally just researching and always into understanding stuff deeper than what it appears to be.”

As he continued to work in the Detroit scene, attending events as often as he could and getting his name out in the public, he met DJ Soko, who had worked with Apollo Brown on the project The Left. He and DJ Soko stayed in touch, and, when he called Nolan and told him he was working on starting a project to distribute various rap producers’ instrumental tapes, Nolan was fully on board.

It was through DJ Soko that Nolan released his first project, lo-fi l∞ps, in 2015. From there, he never looked back. Over the next decade, Nolan would release nine separate solo projects on DSPs, selling out multiple runs of physical releases as well and, all the while, producing prolifically for other artists in his network.

He joined the renowned COLORS Show for a performance of his track “ORANGES” in 2019. He’s taken a direct hand in all of the creative direction surrounding his visuals as well. In short, Nolan has spent the past 10 years expanding his creative influence into every sphere of his art, taking his music into his own hands and learning how to be self-sufficient as an artist.

This growth and maturity has paid massive dividends in his output. His most recent full-length, 2024’s “i’d rather not”, shows a cohesiveness and a deep intention that can be clearly traced across Nolan’s catalog. With features from the likes of Fatboi Sharif and Imani Nichele, the project packs a serious punch in its 22-minute runtime.

But what’s truly striking in his recent work is how acutely he has honed his distinct creative imprint. When you hear a beat or a track or see a video that Nolan has worked on, you know almost immediately whose hands have been on that work of art.

“It's a responsibility that comes with  being a writer or a rapper… you got to make sure you represent yourself the best way possible, how you want to be displayed, and that's how I just feel with anything. Whether you hear a rap from me, a beat from me, see a video I did, or see some artwork I designed, or a beat I did for somebody else, everything is Nolan.”