Navraj Singh Goraya (born November 3, 1989), better known by his stage name Nav (stylized as NAV), is a Canadian hip hop recording artist and record producer from Rexdale, Ontario, Canada. He is signed to XO and Republic Records.
Video Nav (rapper)
Early life
Navraj Singh Goraya is a Canadian hip-hop artist and producer, he was born on November 3, 1989 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in the Rexdale district of Ontario. He is of Punjabi descent; his parents decided to settle down in Rexdale after coming from Punjab, India. His mother was a computer manufacturer and his father was a forklift driver. As a child, he grew up listening to music all day and in third grade, his mother bought him a boom box for Christmas, which quickly became a prized possession. His uncle, who happened to be a popular singer in India, also played a role in inspiring him to get into music; in fact, he was the first person to have brought him to the studio. He started making music in high school when he saw other kids making mash-up's of popular songs, ultimately sparking his interesting in music. He started producing beats for local underground Toronto artists, and became popular on Soundcloud. Goraya first started producing using Sony's ACID Pro software.
Maps Nav (rapper)
Music career
2015-present: Commercial debut
As time went on Goraya saw Canadian artists Drake and The Weeknd become very successful in the music industry from Canada, causing him to take music seriously. In September 2015, he released one of his earliest songs to his SoundCloud account, called "Take Me Simple", which has been listened to over ten million times. In July 2015, Nav contributed production and writing to Drake's diss of Meek Mill, "Back to Back". However, it was not until 2016 that Nav's work found momentum after "Take Me Simple" and "The Man" was featured on Drake's OVO Sound Radio on Beats 1. Around that same time, NAV got another feature when reality star Kylie Jenner posted a video on her snapchat lip syncing to Nav's single called, Myself. In September 2016, Nav collaborated with American rapper Travis Scott on Scott's song "Beibs in the Trap" from his album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, produced and co-written by Nav himself, the song proved to be a major hit as the song peaked at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This collaboration gave Nav some exposure as a newcomer. By July 2017, "Beibs in the trap" had been called platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with no radio support after selling over a million copies domestically. In February 2017, after signing to XO label and Republic Records Nav produced and co-produced his debut commercial self-titled mixtape, which included by the lead single, "Some Way" featuring The Weeknd. The mixtape included his most hit song till date, Myself. His latest project, Perfect Timing, was released in July 2017. "Perfect Timing" was a collaborative mixtape with Metro Boomin, popular American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. "Perfect Timing" featured many fresh talent like Lil' Uzi Vert, Offset of Migos, 21 Savage, Playboi Carti and Belly.
Artistry
Growing up, Nav's favorite artist was Nas, as he states in his interview with complex saying that, "The way he told stories, I could close my eyes and imagine something while he's rapping. I always wanted to be able to do the same thing." Nav's songs have a drowsy and a melodic style. He speaks in a straightforward way in his music as he openly talks about how he went through depression, struggle, and even a numbness that is so palpable yet so catchy that some of us relate even more to Nav than others. His hit song from the mix-tape "Myself" talks about proving people wrong and overcoming obstacles. Nav does not share much of his personal life in his music. It's mostly about getting girls, money, and his rise from being poor to becoming rich and having the freedom to do more than he could ever before. On the other hand he also addresses the problems of being popular because now women only want him just for his money. Throughout the breakthrough Nav has realized that people will not be around you when you are doing bad, but once you start doing good everyone wants to start hanging out with you.
Controversies
As Nav gained more popularity, the public started to get offended by his usage of the n-word in his songs. But Nav's response to this was that, "Well, it's like, the neighborhood I grew up in is very multicultural, it goes from Chinese to White to Black to Jamaican, everything, right? Everybody uses that word freely." In the beginning, Nav thought he was making music for himself and his friends, but as his music got to the global level, he states in his interview with Complex that, "I started seeing a little bit of backlash, I totally cut it out. I respect it. In my neighborhood it's cool, but out here it's not cool. So I just play by the rules. [On this album], you won't hear me say it once."
Discography
Mixtapes
Singles
Other charted songs
Guest appearances
Production discography
2015
Drake
- 00. "Back to Back" (produced with Daxz, 40 and Drake)
2016
Travis Scott - Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
- 05. "Beibs in the Trap"
2017
Nav - Nav
- 01. "Myself"
- 02. "NAV" (produced with DannyBoyStyles)
- 03. "My Mind"
- 04. "Good for It"
- 05. "Lonely" (produced with Rex Kudo)
- 06. "Up" (produced with Metro Boomin)
- 07. "Interlude"
- 08. "Sleep"
- 09. "Mariah" (produced with Rex Kudo)
- 10. "Some Way" (featuring The Weeknd)
- 11. "TTD"
Kodak Black - Painting Pictures
- 08. "Save You" (produced with Ben Billions)
Nav - Perfect Timing
- 04. "A$AP Ferg" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) (produced with Metro Boomin)
- 05. "Held Me Down" (produced with Metro Boomin and Cubeatz)
- 06. "Minute" (featuring Playboi Carti and Offset) (produced with Metro Boomin and Pi'erre Bourne)
- 11. "You Know" (featuring Belly) (produced with Metro Boomin)
- 12. "Rich" (produced with Metro Boomin)
- 14. "I Am" (produced with Metro Boomin and DannyBoyStyles)
- 15. "NavUziMetro#Pt2" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) (produced with Metro Boomin and Trouble Trouble)
A Boogie wit da Hoodie - The Bigger Artist
- 08. "Get to You" (produced with Metro Boomin and Southside)
Gucci Mane - Mr. Davis
- 06. "Curve" (featuring The Weeknd) (produced with Frost)
Notes
References
External links
- Nav on Twitter
Source of article : Wikipedia
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