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ON THE RISE
Hip-hop artist Caz Kush takes pride in his ability to put out a vast range of music, saying that one track of his will never sound like the next. His newest song, “Piñatas,” is aimed at getting people on the dance floor to enjoy the positive vibe that it oozes.
Caz Kush had a goal of bringing back that “crunk type music,” which he said has become a bit of a lost art. This is a tune where listeners can gravitate towards, and embrace, his fun loving nature.
“I knew that people would really vibe with it,” he said. “It’s one of those tracks that you can play no matter what you’re doing. Whether you’re just chilling, or going to a job, or in the car driving- it’s just a feel good song.”
The creation of the track spawned from when he was hanging with his cousin, just chilling and listening to the beat. Caz Kush knew right from there that it was going down, and he had himself a track.
“I started singing, “Yeah, I gotta. Yeah, I gotta,” he said about the intro of the song. “I started going with it and it just created itself. I knew it was going to be something people would love.”
Caz Kush, 25, has been putting out music since he was only nine, dating back to when he learned the ways from his musically inclined uncle. He showed Caz Kush the ropes and got him into musicians like Lil Wayne, which was the beginning of his musical inspiration.
They would listen to music together, and make their own, “cooking up” tracks constantly. He even made a dis track toward his uncle when he beat him in a push up battle, which is when he began to realize that he had a gift.
“As I grew up and became more mature, I started feeling like I was really connecting with the music,” he said. “Around 14, I felt like it could really go somewhere. I didn’t know where, but I was going to figure it out.”
This is when he started dropping music, saying that it gave him the chance to make his voice heard, and his art appreciated.
“My whole thing is about connecting with people, with my music,” he said. “I want you to learn something whenever you listen to it. I want to help the next person.”
Caz Kush is responsible for everything in creating his music aside from making beats, as he prefers to find one that hits him, and then put his own words to it. He is responsible for writing, mixing and the recording process of his tracks, saying that everything is done in his bedroom, AKA his studio.
“I take the thoughts in my head and put them down in the ways that I know I can express myself the best,” he said. “If I have something going on and nobody to talk to, I know the mic is there to listen. What the mic has heard already, it would cry from. That’s what keeps me doing what I’m doing. I am about peace, spreading love and positivity.”
Caz Kush will hear a beat and then find a melody that fits. Sometimes he’ll write lyrics, and other times he’ll simply freestyle a hook. Often, he’ll know within seconds of what he’ll be doing with a beat, saying that something is always brewing in his head. This can get things flowing quickly.
Caz Kush likes to have his own unique process, and he wants the whole world to hear what he has to offer. He has more than 150 unreleased tracks, along with the seven he has available on music platforms. Caz Kush is constantly making music, and there is plenty on the horizon for the Indiana based rapper.
“This is just the introduction to Caz Kush,” he said. “I hope people go check out more because there are deeper songs with deeper meanings. Piñatas is really just that good vibe, fun track. Don’t sleep on me, because I’m coming.”
Be sure to keep up Caz Kush’s music, available on all platforms.
ON THE RISE
As they prepare to unveil their fourth album, ‘Joy In Short Moments’, The Snuts have spoken with NME about how stepping away from touring gave them the chance to reflect on some of life’s biggest challenges and bring greater attention to mental health.
Their first album since 2024’s upbeat ‘Millenials’ follows a rare break from the road over the past year. During that time, frontman Jack Cochrane also experienced a major change in his personal life as he welcomed his first child.
Along with getting used to fatherhood, the singer began thinking about deeper questions that the demanding touring lifestyle had previously left little room to consider. His reflections on growing up, dealing with loss and understanding what success really means gradually found their way into his writing, eventually shaping the direction of the band's more personal new album.
Fans were first introduced to the album earlier this year through ‘Summer Rain’, an emotional track exploring postnatal depression and the “fear of the future”. They later returned during the summer with the more hopeful ‘Defibrillator’, encouraging listeners to move beyond negative thoughts about themselves and find comfort in connecting with other people.
Speaking to NME about the creative shift behind their fourth record, Cochrane explained: “By taking a conscious break from life on the road and making records, my world opened up to let so much more of the real world in,” he said. “For the first time I was living then writing, not writing while trying to live.”
He also described how the change helped the band approach recording differently, adding: “It unlocked a new process that the band had been crying out for,” he continued. “The studio sessions were set up to allow us to be friends and not colleagues. Distraction and external pressures were completely eradicated from the recording environment, allowing us to trust our gut and have the conversations we needed to as humans.”
In the remainder of the interview, Cochrane also discusses his new role as an ambassador for mental health charity CALM and talks about starting a podcast designed to encourage more artists to speak honestly about their personal struggles.
NME: Hi Jack, congratulations on the new album. You’ve said that this record was about addressing the topics that you previously tried to hide from. What kinds of questions did you find yourself confronting?
Jack Cochrane: “I would say mainly, ‘What do I need to be happy?’… Eeek! It’s a big one I know, but having set out with the title ‘Joy In Short Moments’, I was able to spend my time searching for them and allow joy to do what joy does: compound and relieve the stresses of the modern world.”
That’s not the easiest question to find yourself confronting. Did you manage to find any answers along the way?
“Ultimately yes. With the completion of this record I was able to find a much happier healthier version of myself I had been so long yearning for.”
The album sees you deal with new themes, but musically we also see you return to the guitar-led sound from your early days. Did revisiting those roots make you notice how much has changed since you were starting out?
“For sure. We were able to remove any snobbery from the process. We’re no longer new kids on the block and with that came a new found ability to be really honest about the kind of noises we wanted to make and the type of artists that had originally inspired us.”
This album goes hand in hand with you becoming an ambassador for CALM and launching your own podcast dedicated to checking in with fellow artists. Why was it important for you to get involved in the conversation about mental health?
“I think conversations and role models are absolutely essential for young people. I wanted to have more and do my best to be one. Every song on this record was born out of unfiltered, open and honest conversation.”
From talking to people on your podcast, including Louis Tomlinson, and using your platform to open up this dialogue, is there anything interesting that you’ve noticed?
“I think that more often than not, young men are finding it difficult to combat the struggles they are facing in this modern world. To me it feels like there are less and less spaces and opportunities to have meaningful, healing conversations…”
Having had those conversations yourself and explored them on the album, it must be somewhat daunting to now put it out into the world. Is there something that you hope people take from it?
“I’d like people to feel less alone after hearing the record and the themes intertwined with it. I think music is more than just heartbreak and I hoped in the writing of this record I would be able to highlight some more universally relevant topics.”
You have your headline tour coming up next month. What can we expect from the shows?
“Big smiles and big sound all round! It will be the most self assured Snuts tour to date.”
‘Life In Short Moments’ is out now Happy Artist Records in partnership with Virgin Music Group. Their UK and Ireland tour kicks off next month with an opening night in Dundee. Visit here for tickets and check out a list of tour dates below.
NOVEMBER 2026
19 – Dundee, Livehouse
20 – Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
21 – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
23 – Dunfermline, Alhambra Theatre
24 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
26 – Sheffield, Octagon Centre
27 – Nottingham, Rock City
29 – Norwich, UEA
30 – Hull, City Hall
DECEMBER 2026
1 – Bristol, Prospect Hall
3 – Leeds, O2 Academy
4 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
8 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
9 – Portsmouth, Guildhall
10 – London, O2 Academy Brixton
JANUARY 2027
26 – Belfast, Limelight
27 – Galway, Róisín Dubh
28 – Dublin, Academy
