Canadian rapper Nav has a number one album under his belt with Bad Habits, and he knows that with the fame comes the critics. He's not one to become dissuaded by detractors; to the contrary, he says he's unfazed by them. "So much sh*tty stuff gets said about me every day," the rapper says, adding that as long as he and his family are doing well—and his "bank account keeps going up"—he doesn't care what anyone thinks.
The 29-year-old is signed to The Weeknd and Amir "Cash" Esmailian's XO Records, continuing to put Toronto on the musical map. Nav is a newcomer to the spotlight, as his recent explanations of his "fame" comments during his Pitchfork interview will prove, but the rapper has been working behind the scenes for quite some time. He caught up with Variety to talk about his career, revealing that Meek Mill was one of the first artists to show him any love despite Nav being responsible for helping to produce Drake's infamous "Back to Back" diss track.
"When I was coming up, before I met Cash or anybody, I produced 'Back to Back' for Drake," he says. "Without knowing that I produced 'Back To Back,' Meek was posting pictures with my lyrics as the caption. My friends were showing me that, and I’m like, 'Sh*t, I should follow him.' But I didn’t know what’s going on. Because at that time, I’m just a fan. I didn’t want to ruin none of the relationships I had going in Toronto. Now we’re actually good friends. He was the first one to show me love. The next line, when I say 'Cuz' at the end of the bar, that’s talking about him because that’s what people around here call him. 'The first time I seen a Maybach, it was with Cuz.' I was in Atlanta and he gave us his Maybach to drive around."
Nav was also asked about rappers who have paved the way and if he would reveal who he was talking about in his line "I respect my OGs 'cause they practice what they preach" from his song "Tension." He says, "The people who aren’t brand name people. I won’t even say their names. They know who they are. I’m talking about back in Toronto and the new ones back in NY. The line also means I don’t respect the OGs that don’t practice what they preach. There’s a lot of them. I’m not gonna say that either, but my friends reading this are definitely gonna have a laugh." Who do you think he's talking about?