Before creating her sound, Júlia Costa developed her aesthetic. At age 14, she began making her own clothes with the help of her mother, who was a seamstress. And she did it in a rather unique way—without drawing or making patterns: she visualized the garments and cut the fabric directly. Soon her schoolmates began buying them from her until, three years later, Júlia invested the 700 reais she had earned from her last job into creating her own brand: AJULIACOSTA$HOP.

Music was already a part of her life. She’d been writing lyrics since she was 12, frequented rap battles in the centre of her hometown, Mogi das Cruzes, and even became part of the Mistura de Fatos collective, but it would take several years for her music career to really take off. Interestingly, it was fashion that brought her back to rap: fashion shoots and photo sessions in São Paulo introduced her to the state capital’s hip-hop scene, then she made her definitive return as AJULLIACOSTA with Mina Chavosa.

Since then, AJULLIACOSTA has treated boom bap and trap as starting points rather than places to stay. On Novo Testamento, her second album, released in 2025, her sharpest rhymes coexist with introspection and explore love, faith, ambition, and identity. In 2026, she released Nasci Pra Ser, a song created specifically for her debut on COLORS and her first foray into drum and bass.

From cutting straight to the chase to experimenting with new sounds without sticking to a pattern: AJULLIACOSTA will perform in Portugal on September 19th at Mouco in Porto.