Chicago Drill Upstart PGF Nuk Hits Where It Hurts On Switch Music

Home » What City Is Pgf Nuk From » Chicago Drill Upstart PGF Nuk Hits Where It Hurts On Switch Music

Maybe your like

Donate today! Close Search for: Search Close Skip to content
  • 🗞 Get the latest issue
  • 🎸 Never miss a show: Sign up for Early Warnings
  • 💛 Support the Reader!
  • 🗓️ Community calendar
  • 🏆 Contests & giveaways
Black and white image of PGF Nuk
still of PGF Nuk from the music video "Button Boys ft. Big 30"

Most rappers can only dream of making a song as powerful as PGF Nuk’s breakout single, “Waddup.” Superficially it sounds like a pretty standard drill track—terse verses in a wrought-iron flow, lean percussion, a sparse synth melody as chilly as a dusty pipe organ—but Nuk puts it over the top with his style. The Englewood native’s subtle yet pugilistic performance has just enough swing to feel unpredictable. He might lag just behind the beat or jump ahead of it ever so slightly to drive home his menacing, unsettling lyrics. Like all the best drill, “Waddup” channels its sense of threat into adrenalized fun concisely enough to slide right onto rap-radio playlists. It could carry an entire album, and it’s so good it could appear on that album more than once—which it does. Nuk’s new self-released Switch Music includes a version of “Waddup” that features star Chicago rapper Polo G (Nuk’s cousin by marriage) and closes with a “Waddup” remix that includes a guest spot by fellow Chicago hip-hop heavyweight G Herbo (who also drops in on opener “Hot Summer”). Switch Music feels a little long and suffers from some odd pacing, but when Nuk shines—as he does against the raw, blown-out bass of “Five Guys”—he sounds like he can make mincemeat of anything in his way.

PGF Nuk’s Switch Music is available through the artist’s website.

We need to be upfront with you.

The Reader is free. Producing it isn’t. And without your support, we can't continue.

So we need you to chip in, even if it’s just a few bucks. The average donation is $45. Many new donors give $5. Every donation is just a fraction of what it costs to produce the Reader—but with support from thousands of Chicagoans like you, we get it done.

So please: take one minute right now to make a donation to the Reader. Then come back, read more stories, and know you’re making this incredible thing possible.

We need to be upfront with you.

The Reader is free. Producing it isn’t. And without your support, it will cease to exist.

So we need you to chip in today, even if it’s just a few bucks.

Donate $5 Donate $10 Donate $25

Reader Recommends: CONCERTS

Upcoming shows to have on your radar.

Resurrected Chicago indie rockers Sybris are an even better band now

Resurrected Chicago indie rockers Sybris are an even better band now

Sun 12/28 at Empty Bottle
Fountains of Wayne honor the legacy of Adam Schlesinger on New Year’s Eve

Fountains of Wayne honor the legacy of Adam Schlesinger on New Year’s Eve

Wed 12/31 at the Vic
Gosh Diggity ring in 2026 with pop-punk jangling and chiptune melodies

Gosh Diggity ring in 2026 with pop-punk jangling and chiptune melodies

Wed 12/31 at Burlington Bar
Roseland rapper Fly Skinz helps bid adieu to the Promontory

Roseland rapper Fly Skinz helps bid adieu to the Promontory

Sat 12/27 at the Promontory
Transitions lights up local clubs with a weeklong dance blowout

Transitions lights up local clubs with a weeklong dance blowout

Fri 12/26 – Thu 1/1 at various locations
Moth Cock provide a weird antidote to typical holiday cheer

Moth Cock provide a weird antidote to typical holiday cheer

Tue 12/23 at Cole’s Bar

Leor Galil

Leor Galil (he/him) started writing for the Chicago Reader in 2010. He joined the staff in 2012 and became a senior staff writer in 2020.

Galil mainly covers music, with a singular focus on Chicago artists, scenes, and phenomena.

He's won a handful of journalism awards; he's won two first-place awards from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (for music writing in 2020 and arts feature in 2022) and a Peter Lisagor award (for Best Arts Reporting and Criticism in 2022).

Galil lives in Chicago. He speaks English and can be contacted at [email protected].

More by Leor Galil

Link Copy link

Tag » What City Is Pgf Nuk From