Nebu Kiniza

Atlanta-based rapper/producer Nebu Kiniza gained fame with the freewheeling single “Gassed Up,” which with a boost from major-label RCA achieved double-platinum status four years after its 2016 arrival. Before that feat was achieved, Nebu released his first album, From Me 2 U (2018), and he has since issued the EP-length Back2Lyfe (2021).
Born and originally raised in Queens, Nebu Kiniza (Cory Orville Reid) moved with his family to suburban Atlanta at the age of ten, and operates out of ATL proper. Basing his alias on the name of Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar, he got his start as a rapper in 2011, the year he released “IDGAF,” a bold trap track that became a cult hit. Having made a name for himself, Nebu gradually heightened his profile with releases on his label, On Some Hippy Shit (OSHS), and his vocal style became a little more assured and relaxed at once. Among the tracks he issued in 2015 were “Myself” (followed by a version with iLoveMakonnen), “All Good,” and “Call It What You Want.” The following year, his releases included “Hop Out” and “Gassed Up,” the sparkling and singsongy latter of which became his biggest track yet. With wider distribution from RCA, “Gassed Up” in 2017 earned an RIAA gold certification (and reached the multi-platinum level years later). In 2018, Nebu issued the album From Me 2 U, featuring the single “All In.”
Less prolific across 2019 and 2020, Nebu issued over a half-dozen stray tracks including the Lil Tecca collaboration “Can’t Deny.” Some of them appeared on the 2021 RCA release Back2Lyfe. Among the new cuts on the seven-track project was “Questions” featuring Future. ~ Andy Kellman