Navraj Singh "Nav" Goraya (born November 3, 1989) is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a producer for other artists before embarking on his recording career, with his first major production credit being
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
's 2015 single "
Back to Back". In early 2017, Nav signed with fellow Canadian singer
the Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
record label,
XO.
Nav's second and third studio albums, ''
Bad Habits'' (2019) and ''
Good Intentions'' (2020), both debuted atop the
''Billboard'' 200. The latter album's lead single, "
Turks" (with
Gunna featuring Travis Scott), debuted at number 17 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song as a lead artist. Also in 2020, he guest appeared on the
Internet Money, Gunna and
Don Toliver's single "
Lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink.
There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world.
In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...
", which peaked at number six on the chart and gave him his highest-charting entry overall. Later that year, he released his second commercial mixtape, ''
Emergency Tsunami''.
Nav's fourth studio album, ''
Demons Protected by Angels'' (2022), debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. His 2023 single, "
Calling" (with
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
and
Swae Lee featuring
A Boogie wit da Hoodie), yielded commercial success. His fifth studio album, ''
OMW2 Rexdale'' (2025), lukewarmly entered the ''Billboard'' 200.
Early life
Navraj Singh Goraya was born on November 3, 1989, in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, into a poor immigrant
Punjabi Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
family, from
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He was raised in the
Rexdale neighbourhood. His mother was involved in computer manufacturing and his father operated a forklift.
Nav first became interested in music after his mother bought him a boombox in the third grade. His uncle was also a
popular Punjabi singer in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and brought him to a studio. He began making mash-ups in high school and producing beats for local underground Toronto artists, and became popular on
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
. Nav first started producing using
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
's
ACID Pro software.
He attended West Humber Junior Middle School and then later attended
Thistletown Collegiate Institute for his high school education and had to spend an additional year to graduate. Following high school, he attended and graduated from
Metalworks Institute in
Mississauga, Ontario
Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...
in 2010 with a diploma in Audio Production and Engineering. Nav also mentions that he briefly worked as an apprentice electrician before quitting to pursue his music career full time.
Career
2015–2018: Commercial debut, ''Nav'', and ''Perfect Timing''
On July 29, 2015, fellow Canadian rapper and singer
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
released the single "
Back to Back", which Nav helped co-produce. On September 4, 2015, Nav released one of his earliest singles on
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, "Take Me Simple", which has accumulated over eighteen million listens. He released the single "Ten Toes Down" (abbreviated as "TTD" on streaming services) on SoundCloud and YouTube on December 15, 2015. In 2016, another one of his SoundCloud and YouTube-exclusive singles, "The Man", was played on Drake's
OVO Sound
OVO Sound (short for October's Very Own) is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group until 2022, after which it ...
Radio. On January 12, 2016, Nav released the single "
Myself" on SoundCloud and YouTube, which quickly became his biggest song at the time, earning him numerous cosigns, including one from American model and internet personality
Kylie Jenner. On June 4, 2016, he released the single "Up" on SoundCloud and YouTube. Following the popularity of the singles, he was signed to
XO and
Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
, after being called by his now-manager
Amir "Cash" Esmailian.
On September 2, 2016, Nav was featured on and solely produced the single "
Beibs in the Trap" by
Travis Scott, as part of the latter's second studio album, ''
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
''Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight'' is the second studio album by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released on September 2, 2016, through Grand Hustle Records and distributed by Epic Records. Originally promoted by the fake mixtape ''Days Be ...
'', in which the song reached number 90 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was eventually certified
double platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) after selling over two million copies.
On December 24, 2016, American record producer
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
, who helped produce "Up", took to
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
to announce that he and Nav would be releasing a collaborative project in 2017. On February 15, 2017, Nav released his debut single, "
Some Way" featuring
the Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
, who is his label boss from XO, as the lead single from his
self-titled debut mixtape, which was released exactly nine days later. Exactly, one week after the release of the single, Nav tweeted that his collaborative mixtape with Metro Boomin would be titled ''
Perfect Timing''. "Myself" was chosen as the second and final single from Nav's self-titled mixtape as it was sent to
rhythmic contemporary radio on April 11, 2017. On July 14, 2017, Nav and Metro Boomin released "
Perfect Timing (Intro)" and "
Call Me", the dual lead singles of ''Perfect Timing'', which was released exactly a week later.
2018–2019: ''Reckless'' and ''Bad Habits''
On November 7, 2017, Nav was featured on the single "
Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
" by Canadian
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
duo
88Glam, which consisted of rappers and now-former XO signees
Derek Wise and
88Camino
Shakqueel Malcolm De'shon Burthwright (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as 88Camino, is a Canadian-American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was formerly signed to Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd's record label, XO and Republic ...
before the duo split in late 2022, as part of the duo's
self-titled debut mixtape. Three days later, he released the single "
Wanted You" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, which became his first single as a lead artist, as well as a credited artist, to chart on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number 64. In February 2018, Nav received a
Juno Award
The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
nomination for
Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the
Juno Awards of 2018. On March 16, 2018, he released the single "
Freshman List", which saw him taking aim at the magazine ''
XXL'' for not including him in their segment of the same name to highlight up-and-coming artists in 2017. On April 6, 2018, Nav was featured on the single "
Maintain" by fellow XO signee
Belly, which later appeared on the latter's second studio album, ''
Immigrant
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
''. On April 26, 2018, during his concert for his "Freshman Tour" in Los Angeles, he announced that he would be releasing two projects that year, in which he said that his debut studio album would be titled ''
Reckless'' and that he would also be releasing another collaborative mixtape with Metro Boomin titled ''Perfect Timing 2'', which is a sequel to their project together that was released in 2017, but the latter project has still not been released as of 2023. The next day, Nav took to social media to announce that Travis Scott, who came out to perform "Beibs in the Trap" with him onstage the previous day, would be featured on a song from ''Reckless''. On May 18, 2018, Nav released ''Reckless'', with "Wanted You" and "Freshman List" serving as the respective lead and second singles. "
Champion" featuring Travis Scott was chosen as the third and final single from the album as it was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on June 26, 2018. On August 3, 2018, Nav was featured alongside
Gunna on the single "
Yosemite
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
" by Travis Scott, as part of the latter's third studio album, ''
Astroworld'', which he received worldwide attention because his voice was initially mixed at a lower volume, but it was fixed and re-released with a better mix at the correct volume eight days later.
On November 2, 2018, Nav released the single "
Know Me". He received two
Juno Award
The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
nominations for
Fan Choice and
Rap Recording of the Year at the
Juno Awards of 2019 for ''Reckless''. On March 22, 2019, Nav released his second studio album, ''
Bad Habits'', with "Know Me" serving as the lead single. Four days later, he released the deluxe edition of the album and "
Price on My Head" featuring the Weeknd was chosen as the second single of the album on the same day. It debuted number one on the
US ''Billboard'' 200. "
Tap" featuring
Meek Mill
Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...
was chosen as the third and final single from the album as it was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on May 7, 2019. On June 28, 2019,
Mustard released his third studio album, ''
Perfect Ten'', with Nav featured alongside
Playboi Carti and
A Boogie wit da Hoodie on the fourth track, "
Baguettes in the Face".
2020: ''Good Intentions'', ''Brown Boy 2'', and ''Emergency Tsunami''
On March 27, 2020, Nav released a collaboration with Gunna titled "
Turks" featuring Travis Scott. The song became his highest-charting song in the United States as it reached number 17 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and served as the lead single from his third studio album, ''
Good Intentions''. The album was released on May 8 and debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Three days later, Nav released its deluxe edition with a reissued album titled ''
Brown Boy 2'', which also serves as a sequel to his unofficial EP, ''Brown Boy'', which his manager Cash released exclusively on Audiomack in 2019. Soon after the release of the albums, Nav released a merchandise collaboration with
Vlone and
Virgil Abloh for the album. On August 14, Nav was featured on the single "
Lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink.
There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world.
In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...
" by record label
Internet Money, Gunna, and
Don Toliver, which later appeared the label's debut studio album, ''
B4 the Storm'', and gave Nav his highest-charting song ever as it reached number seven on the Hot 100.
On November 6, 2020, Nav released his second commercial mixtape, ''
Emergency Tsunami''. Five days later, he released a bonus version of the mixtape. "
Young Wheezy", a collaboration with Gunna, was chosen as the lead and only single from the mixtape as it was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on January 12, 2021.
2022–present: ''Demons Protected by Angels'' and ''OMW2 Rexdale''
On June 27, 2022, Nav shared that his fourth studio album would be titled ''
Demons Protected by Angels''. He released a collaboration with Lil Baby titled "
Never Sleep" featuring Travis Scott, which serves as the album's lead single, on July 29. Nav solely produced the second single, "Wrong Decisions", which was released on August 23, 2022. The album was released on September 9, 2022, and a collaboration with Don Toliver titled "
One Time" featuring
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...
, was chosen as the third single four days later. On October 1, 2022, Nav shared that he would be releasing his now-scrapped third commercial mixtape, ''Nav2'', a sequel to his self-titled mixtape, which was released back in 2017. On February 10, 2023, he released the single "
Lately", which was expected to serve as the lead single from the mixtape. On May 21, 2023, Metro Boomin joined Nav onstage during the latter's performance at the Metro Metro Festival in Montreal, which was before his own set at the festival, in which the two announced that their collaborative mixtape, ''Perfect Timing 2'', which they originally announced in 2018, would be released soon. Exactly ten days later, Nav released a collaboration with Metro Boomin and
Swae Lee titled "
Calling" featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie, which later appeared on Metro's first
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
, which was for the film ''
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse''.
In April 2024, Nav performed twice at the
Coachella
Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...
festival in Indio, California, on April 14 and April 21, where he announced the title ''On My Way 2 Rexdale'' at the end of his performance on the former date although it was unclear whether it was a single or a project and performed the then-unreleased song from the album titled "Red" on the latter date. He released a trailer video for it on May 14, where he confirmed its title and the fact that it would be his fifth studio album with a release set for the summer of that year, which did not happen for unknown reasons. Nav was featured on an updated version of Australian singer
Lithe's single, "
Fall Back", on August 16. He announced release date of the official and now-shortened title of the album, ''
OMW2 Rexdale'', along with its final trailer video on March 18. Nav released a collaboration with Metro Boomin titled "Real Me" as its lead and only single three days later, followed by the album being released on March 28.
Controversies
In early 2017, Nav had received backlash for saying the word "nigga" in some of his songs. In an interview with
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
on July 21, 2017, Nav stated that the neighborhood he grew up in is very "multicultural" with members of the "Chinese to white to black to Jamaican" openly using the word with one another. He admitted that he and his friends constantly used the word with one another, but he saw some backlash once he had gained some popularity. He also stated that he would not say the word in his music anymore, starting from his collaborative mixtape with
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
titled ''
Perfect Timing'', which was released on the same day as the interview.
Nav publicly criticized ''
XXL'' through a series of tweets and
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
posts along with releasing the single "
Freshman List" on March 16, 2018. His main reason for criticizing the magazine was due to not being selected for the 2018 freshman cover. In his tweets, Nav shared his thoughts that had ranged "from angry and bitter to motivational and inspirational". After his tweets and release of the single, Nav began addressing the outlet's editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten through now deleted Instagram posts and further continued to criticize the outlet.
In March 2019, during an interview with ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'', Nav was quoted by an interviewer to say: "Fame is something I want, it's a good problem to have. I'm still not there, because when I walk out of fucking Delilah in L.A. and
TMZ
''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...
will be standing out there with cameras and not even take a picture of me, I get sick. I get in my fucking Lambo truck right in front of them. All my jewelry on and they don't even take one picture". However, he later clarified that this was taken out of context, as "sick" is in fact a positive term in Toronto slang, and rather than being disgusted for not being recognized, he is grateful to still have anonymity as a celebrity. Nav further stated in the
''Pitchfork'' interview that he hoped his latest project, ''
Bad Habits'' would help him become more noticed by TMZ along with other paparazzi. A week later, a TMZ interviewer found Nav in New York and did a brief video interview with him, asking him questions about a possible collaborative project with
Lil Uzi Vert.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Reckless'' (2018)
* ''
Bad Habits'' (2019)
* ''
Good Intentions'' (2020)
* ''
Demons Protected by Angels'' (2022)
* ''
OMW2 Rexdale'' (2025)
Concert tours
;Headlining
* Freshman Tour (2018)
* Bad Habits Tour (2019)
*
Never Sleep Tour (2023)
;Supporting
*
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
–
Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour (2017)
*
Schoolboy Q
Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...
– Crash Tour (2019)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nav
1989 births
Living people
21st-century Canadian male singers
21st-century Canadian rappers
21st-century Indian singers
Canadian hip-hop record producers
Canadian hip-hop singers
Canadian male rappers
21st-century male rappers
Canadian male singer-songwriters
Canadian musicians of Indian descent
Canadian people of Punjabi descent
Canadian Twitch (service) streamers
Indian hip-hop singers
Indian male singer-songwriters
Indian record producers
People from Etobicoke
Punjabi rappers
Punjabi singers
Rappers from Toronto
Republic Records artists
Canadian trap musicians
XO (record label) artists
21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters
People from Brampton