JB Nimble is an emcee that formerly lived in the Bay Area, but he’s been living in New York for several years now. His last release was a collaborative album with Bay Area artist OneWerd called The Waiting Room. In the time since that album, Nimble has been working on his production skills, and now he releases his first self-produced album, Moondog Orchestra.

Moondog Orchestra is a step forward for JB Nimble as an artist, fully rounding himself out as an emcee and producer, but at the same time, this album feels like a bit of a throwback. Nimble is a really talented and versatile emcee who can come at you with a lot of different flows, but we didn’t have much of a sample size of his production to go off of to predict what a self-produced album is going to sound like from him. Well, as it turns out, the answer is that this album sounds like some of your favorite underground hip hop albums from about 15-20 years ago. More specifically, Nimble is drawing upon influences like early Atmosphere, where the production is fairly minimal with a certain amount of space to it, which allows for a really clear and deliberate storytelling to sit above the music and cut through to the listeners. This is by no means to imply a level of simplicity, but just to emphasize the less is more approach to the album. Back on The Waiting Room, there is all sorts of complex production and verbal gymnastics, so I believe that this was a specific choice on Nimble’s behalf, to really emphasize some key grooves and samples and highlight some narrative structure with his lyricism. Over the course of the album, Nimble talks at length about his own career and his creative process, but also takes on some third person narratives, exploring romantic and emotional entanglements, tales of outsiders struggling to fit in, and some abstract poetry as well. Overall, it’s an album that’s really easy to listen to and enjoy right away, but Nimble has packed a lot just below the surface, so the more you listen to it, the more you’ll unpack and form even more of an attachment to it.

Moondog Orchestra is a great step forward for JB Nimble. By taking the reins of production under his own control, he’s given us an album that parts away any bit of extra information, and just gives us the good stuff – soulful, minimal beats paired with thoughtful lyricism and a clear vocal delivery.