Believe it or not, NAV considers himself a pioneer of some kind. The XO switch-hitting producer/rapper jumped on Twitter moments after basking in his first week as a retired hip-hop act, having reflected on the consequences of his decision. What did NAV want to get off his chest you might ask? No, he isn't re-submitting his name to the ballot; the Canadian artist wants to be acknowledged for making it possible for other hip-hop hopefuls of Indian descent to follow in his footsteps.
The way in which NAV worded his Twitter statement illustrates the many microaggressions of daily life, even within the constitution of a cultural setup unsure of its inclusivity in a lot of ways. "I really took all the smoke for any Indian rapper after me," wrote Nav on Twitter, the Toronto native being of Punjabi descent.
NAV's Tweet has received a mixed reaction on social media thus far, with his more ardent supporters quoted his lyrical musings on the subject (on "Some Way"), to others reminding him that Das Racist and Bohemia, predated his pioneering efforts by more than a few years. Needless to say, as much as NAV may have trivialized every notion of his retirement, in citing Fortnite as a cause for disruption, the pressure NAV faces as a minority in the mainstream is impossible to ignore.