CityBaby Interview: NO MORE PAIN and a Fresh Start
English edition: Translated from HIPHOPCs’ original Japanese interview, published October 28, 2026. The full Q&A and the Japanese edition’s editorial commentary are retained, with links to existing English coverage where available.
“I didn’t want to stop moving.” That is CityBaby’s reason for putting ten songs together. The tracks had been piling up. If he released them one at a time, the year would be over. So he brought them together as NO MORE PAIN, released on October 21, 2026.
In our earlier interview, first published in Japanese on July 2, he looked back on a period when he limited live shows until he had enough songs he was happy with. This time, he talks about getting the finished music out. Read together, the two conversations show what he means by “a bit of a restart”: turning a renewed confidence in making songs into releases.
Originally from Fukuoka Prefecture, CityBaby divides his time between Japan and Thailand. HIPHOPCs spoke with him again before this release. He discusses sending several songs to JNKMN, wanting to catch up with CzTiger, and the ideal self reflected in August’s cover artwork. We also return to “Artist” and “On Me,” two songs discussed in the previous interview that now form part of the new project.
Interview: Sam / HIPHOPCs
The conversation took place before the release of NO MORE PAIN. References to November 3, 2026, later releases and a hoped-for headline show in 2027 remain plans and intentions stated at that time. In the Japanese edition, names and titles were standardized, and some questions and brief responses from the interviewer were edited without changing their meaning. Headings, release information and links to related interviews were added outside the artist’s answers. The later section, “Reading the Two Interviews Together,” is editorial commentary drawing on the interview published in July.
How NO MORE PAIN Came Together: Ten Songs to Keep Moving
Sam: What kind of project is this?
CityBaby: It’s a mixtape called NO MORE PAIN. There are ten tracks!
Sam: Is there a concept behind it?
CityBaby: Honestly… I wasn’t planning to put out a full project.
But the songs kept piling up, and I thought the year would be over if I put them out as singles, so I decided to release them together. I didn’t want to stop moving. I wanted to keep going.
Rather than making it around one big concept, I think it was more about wanting to put the songs I’d built up into a mixtape.
“Real Money” with JNKMN: Sending Songs to Someone He Had Long Admired
Sam: Who appears on the project?
CityBaby: Yeah! Choppa Capone, FTL SHINKI, JNKMN, LIL J, White Sol, CzTiger and 9for all joined me.
Sam: Is there a moment from making it that sticks with you?
CityBaby: JNKMN and I worked together online.
I even name-dropped him on my very first single… That’s how long I’ve looked up to him. He was someone I’d always wanted to work with one day.
So this time I sent him several tracks and said, “If anything here interests you, would you be up for it?” He said, “Let’s do this one,” and that’s how it happened.
Release note: JNKMN appears on “Real Money.” In addition to the seven guests named in the conversation, Sadboiterra appears on “No Commission.” The full track list below includes all eight featured artists.
“Tawagoto” with CzTiger: Working Together Again and Baby Radio
Sam: So that was something you’d wanted to do for a long time. What about Tiger?
CityBaby: Tiger and I made something together about three or four years ago, and this was our first time since then. We worked online in the same way.
We hadn’t been hanging out at all lately, so having him on the track was also a way of saying, “It’d be good to see you again. It’s been a while.”
We were having barbecues together a couple of years ago, and we’d talked about me going to the US if the timing worked out… but that hadn’t happened yet.
But we’re scheduled to have a conversation for Baby Radio on November 3, so I might finally get to see him again then!
Context: Baby Radio is CityBaby’s conversation series with artists as guests.
Related interview: In our FOR WHATEVER interview with CzTiger, he discusses working in Atlanta and making music with Japanese artists. It offers more background on the collaborator CityBaby talks about here.
Looking Beyond the Release to a Headline Show
Sam: What are you thinking about doing after the October 21 release?
CityBaby: Well…
There are more releases coming after this, including a few tracks in November and December. Once everything’s out, maybe next year, I’d really like to do a headline show! I’d love to bring together everyone who appeared on the project.
“It Reminded Me of the Energy I Had at the Start”: CityBaby’s Restart
Sam: Is there anything you want to say to the people listening to this project?
CityBaby: Let me think… It’s been four years since I put out a full project.
I’m sure some people wondered if I’d stopped rapping, or thought all sorts of things. And for the past four years or so, I really was only managing to release a few tracks a year.
It feels like I’ve come out of that quiet period a little. A bit of a restart. It reminded me of the energy I had when I first started.
I think I realized how serious I am about music. Putting out another project is a positive thing for me, so I hope people enjoy listening to it.
Release note: CityBaby also released the three-track project CityBaby on April 10, 2024. “Four years” above is his own description in this interview.
August’s Mirror Image and the Influence of Michael Jackson
Sam: The artwork is striking. Who created it?
CityBaby: An artist called August! He created it for me.
The ideal version of me is reflected in the mirror, and the person in front is me as I am now. It’s designed so that the current me looks at it and thinks, “That’s the kind of artist I want to become.”
Sam: It has something of a medieval European feel, doesn’t it?
CityBaby: Yeah, exactly. The outfit is inspired by Michael Jackson. He’s someone I look up to. It’s like I’ve put the person I want to become into that image.
Sam: So this mixtape is a step toward that ideal!
CityBaby: Yes! I’d be happy if people enjoy listening to it. There are also plans to release a few music videos soon, so I hope they look forward to those too!
August, who created the artwork: @blandlsh_ on Instagram.
Reading the Two Interviews Together: “Artist,” “On Me” and the Road to the Stage
The following is HIPHOPCs’ editorial commentary on the two interviews. In the conversation published in July, CityBaby had already said he was making songs he felt satisfied with again and releasing music more often. Those earlier words offer a way into the ten tracks that followed.
Explaining why he had limited live shows, CityBaby told us in the earlier interview: “If you can’t make new songs, you have to keep performing the old ones. That isn’t fun, and it’s disrespectful to the people watching.” This time, he says the songs “kept piling up.” He wanted enough music he was happy with before performing, and then decided to release the finished songs together. The two conversations trace the change between those points.
In the earlier interview, he said he had asked DOC to make a UK Garage beat for “Artist” using the theme from the drama Straight to Hell (Jigoku ni Ochiru wa yo). “On Me,” he said, was made during three days and two nights with TKS at a cottage in Thailand, with footage shot there developing into a music video. One began with an idea he took to a producer; the other grew from making music during a trip into making a video. They now appear as tracks six and nine, respectively.
Read the full earlier CityBaby interview in English for the stories behind both songs. Listen from “Artist” through to “On Me” with his account of how each came together in mind.
His accounts of the collaborations also describe different kinds of relationships. He sent JNKMN several options, hoping to work with someone he had admired for years. The track with CzTiger doubled as a greeting to someone he wanted to see again. Both collaborations happened online, but the approaches he describes were different. The guest credits come with those exchanges behind them.
His interest in live performance continues too. In the earlier interview, he spoke about admiring shows in which lighting, sound and staff all come together to build one stage. Here, he hopes to bring his collaborators together for a headline show. He makes songs, releases them and hopes to take them to the stage, moving toward the person pictured in the mirror. That is how we read what CityBaby calls “a bit of a restart.”
CityBaby — NO MORE PAIN: Release Details and All Ten Tracks
Title: NO MORE PAIN
Artist: CityBaby
Release date: October 21, 2026
Tracks: 10
Format note: Streaming services list it as an album; CityBaby calls it a mixtape in this interview.
- GRAVITY (feat. Choppa Capone & FTL SHINKI)
- Hit
- Real Money (feat. JNKMN)
- No Commission (feat. Sadboiterra)
- Nara Yoshitomo (feat. 9for) [Remix]
- Artist
- Tawagoto (feat. CzTiger)
- Manjaro (feat. LIL J & White Sol)
- On Me
- Melt Away Pain
The release-page description says most of the project was made in Bangkok. Individual production credits are listed on TuneCore Japan’s release page.
Choose a streaming service for NO MORE PAIN / Listen on Apple Music / Listen on Spotify
More on CityBaby’s Background and Related HIPHOPCs Interviews
For music from CityBaby’s home region, explore the Fukuoka & Kyushu Rap Atlas. The guide traces artists and music from Oyafuko Street across Kyushu’s prefectures and includes CityBaby among its featured artists.
Find more artists discussing how they make music in HIPHOPCs’ original interviews in English.
Interview subject: CityBaby. His answers in the Q&A come from this HIPHOPCs interview. The Japanese edition checked the release date, track list and guest credits against TuneCore Japan and Apple Music on October 28, 2026. English track spellings follow TuneCore Japan’s English listing. The artwork credit and description are based on CityBaby’s explanation in the conversation. References to the earlier interview come from the Japanese interview published on July 2, 2026, with interview and text by Lucie; they are kept separate from the present Q&A. English translation and editing: HIPHOPCs editorial team.