Canadian rapper nuépa talks new single FUZZY and more!
Introducing nuépa, the Canadian nonbinary rapper creating catchy tracks that are a must hear.
nuépa is a queer nonbinary Portuguese-Canadian artist who fuses genres to create a pop-synthesis of dreamy melodies and raw raps. nuépa’s escapades through the intersections of love, lust and neurodiversity leave you unable to predict their next move… and that’s how pop music should be.
Watch nuépa work through trauma and intimacy, all while getting the audience dancing to raunchy dark-house beats. nuépa is here to transform queer grief into queer joy through melody, poetry, and love.
I’ve been a huge fan of nuépa for a few years now, they bring the heat every single verse they touch. A few years ago, we were both featured on an international queer cypher titled “Bargasm” alongside with Bear World Magazine darling Big Daddy Karsten, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Aja, the introspective rapper JesseParadice who we’ve covered here before, and so many others. It was quite a moment.
Since then, nuépa has released countless unforgettable tracks, and recently just released their latest one titled “FUZZY.” It’s nothing short of an absolute banger. I don’t say that lightly either! The track’s title alone should get the bear community intrigued, and I guarantee you won’t regret it once hitting play.
Once you hit play, you’re immediately smacked in the face with the first verse and hooked in with catchy and clever lyrics over a bouncy trap-infused beat. Lyrically speaking, nuépa brings an insane amount of multi-syllable rhymes and double entendres countless times throughout not only their discography, but especially this song.
To be honest, this song turns me on. As an artist and horny aficionado myself, this track touches both ends of that for me. You’re just gonna have to listen to it yourself to understand what I’m saying here. It will click immediately and give you that fuzzy feeling downstairs.
I got the chance to speak with nuépa about how their background, their latest track FUZZY, and more. Check it out below!
Bryce Quartz: Hey there, nuépa, thanks for taking the time to chat with me! How are you doing lately?
nuépa: Honestly, tired. With everything happening in the world it can feel bizarre to focus on my personal life. I am trying to shift my habits into a healthier place for the longterm, though. I’ve also been working on music which has helped to have a constant in my wildly emotional life haha
Bryce: So relatable, honestly. Let’s jump right into the good stuff. You’ve been making music for quite a while now, how did you get started as a musician?
nuépa: Some might say too long haha I’ve been a vocal stimmer for as long as I can remember. I’d often get obsessed with repeating specific phrases and words, mimicking my family’s voices, creating characters… and it was always the tone of a sound that got me interested.
The first time I really got into music was when I found this app called Audacity. It was a really barebones sound editor but it was also free, so it was the perfect option for broke me at the time.
Eventually, I moved onto bigger and better apps with more instruments and loops, and then eventually that became recording myself on my own beats until the day I stepped into my first recording studio. The rest is history!
Bryce: For readers who haven’t heard your music yet, how would you describe it to first-time listeners?
nuépa: I used to tell people my music was the child of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Sam Smith, which is still true but there’s definitely more Britney in it these days. Nowadays, I’d probably say my music is sweet and sour sauce on your favourite nuggies.
Bryce: And I love sweet and sour sauce!! As a rapper myself, this is one of my favorite questions. What does an average studio session look like for you? What’s the vibe?
nuépa: Average studio session for me starts with catching up with my engineer, talking a bit about my goals for the session and depending on the music, a customary joint. If we are making something from scratch, I’ll sometimes give him two to three songs as inspiration and point out aspects that I’d like to play with in my song.
At that point I’ll hop in the booth and just start doing some runs over the beat; he leaves the mic on in case we catch anything beautiful, and I usually do about three to four takes over the beat then write to that as the engineer rearranges and clips stuff.
From there we build up a basic structure for the song, and I’ll rerecord over the clips with what I’ve written. Usually it’s pretty structured but we both love music so much, so it always ends up that we’ve showed the other a few new songs by the end of every session.
The engineer I work with is an absolute master of his craft (OP at Secret Weapon Sound here in Toronto), both as an engineer and producer. Any time you have the opportunity to work with experienced and caring folks in their field, it’s a blessing.
Bryce: You just released your latest track “FUZZY,” and it’s honestly fire. I don’t say that lightly! I’m obsessed. Can you tell us a little bit about this song and what went into creating it?
nuépa: Thank you!! That means the world to me. You are a trailblazer in rap and in the beardom, so it’s very gratefully received.
With FUZZY I wanted to throw away the fear of being seen. It’s been my experience that in the (gay) community, masculinity is disproportionately valued when it adheres to toxic traits from both hetero and homosexual sides. I think as bears and cubs we feel it for sure, being relegated to a label by others can feel reductive when it doesn’t celebrate our humanity.
In the song I play my masculine side as well as as a hypersexualized “needy bottom” (“Like, when you gonna blow my back / F***in fathers no nepo nepo”), so the lyrics can be interpreted from both perspectives and power dynamics.
The “needy” character is one that many of us have met at every intersection of identity (not just bears); they sexualize us but can’t see us as longterm partners, usually due to our appearance or nonconformance to gay hegemony.
The “masculine” character delivers their lines as a challenge to assumptions like dominant vs submissive (“I take him to the max / that’s why he leave me ruby”) or being perma-sexual/being a sugar daddy (“Only hole you get is wheat / I’m not spillin honey”) as a way to add uncertainty for the listener while showing confidence as the character.
We are often made to feel that we should be extra grateful to hookup with a twink or a ‘straight-looking’ guy. Those assumptions compound with other systemically impacted standards of beauty, so I wanted to make sure there was a chubby, hairy nonbinary rapper having fun and feeling sexy in music.
I really think the essence of FUZZY is to be big, hairy, masculine, feminine, and really whatever you want to be. It can be hard to find love if you’re fuzzy, and we seldom hear our natural voices or see our natural bodies in queer spaces and culture when it comes to music. I hope this can add to that tapestry.
Bryce: The message and meaning here is amazing, I love it. I’m going to need to see you perform this track live along with more from your discography too. What is the live nuépa experience like and do you have any live performances planned that we should know about?
nuépa: You absolutely should! My shows are less like concerts and more like sitting in a circle with your friends as you pass around the intoxicant of choice and take turns singing. It also has elements of cabaret and messy karaoke. If you need variety, my show is absolutely for you.
This July I’ll be performing two nights in the heart of Toronto at Sankofa Square on the main stage as part of The Q Musicale queer music festival and Toronto’s Pride Celebrations. It’s actually Toronto’s first queer music festival primarily featuring singers and rappers, so it’s really a landmark event for queer artists everywhere. Everyone needs to come!
I have a super special awesome mystery show that I’ll be announcing closer to May, however I’m also waiting to hear back from a few Pride events I’ve applied to around the Greater Toronto Area. Fingers crossed!
Bryce: I will do my best to see you soon!! I know you have some tricks up your sleeve and more releases coming soon. What can we expect from you in the next several months?
nuépa: You know me well! I have new music coming through all of 2026, but my next song will be releasing sometime in early-to-mid April, so you don’t have to wait long!
Bryce: That’s exciting, I can’t wait! I featured on a track for you a while back but now I want to ask; can I feature for you again soon? Should we feed our fans together a little bit more?
nuépa: ABSOLUTELY! I think our previous work was beautiful, but I’ve always been curious to see what something we made from scratch would sound like. I think we should feed our fans and then do a speed dating night for everyone as the release party.
Bryce: That’s a really cool idea, I’m so down. Let’s work! Thanks for taking the time to speak with me! Do you have anything you’d like to leave our readers with today?
nuépa: Thank you so much for having me Bryce! Just this: support black artists, support Indigenous artists, support brown artists, support neurodivergent artists, support queer artists.
Be sure to follow nuépa on social media and stream FUZZY now on all platforms!
nuépa’s links
Website – Instagram – TikTok – Twitter
