Get to know Juno breakthrough artist nominee Nav
Andrea Warner | CBC | Posted: March 1, 2018 6:03 AM | Last Updated: March 7, 2018
The Rexdale, Ont., hip-hop artist's first gig was at Coachella
The Juno categories of breakthrough artist and group of the year have gone through a few different identities in their 44-year history, but what's never changed is the incredible pedigree of the categories' winners. A veritable who's who of now-established and future Canadian music industry icons have taken home these coveted Junos.
Breakthrough artist winners include Burton Cummings, k.d. lang, Colin James, Alanis Morissette, Jann Arden, Avril Lavigne, Michael Bublé, Feist, Drake, the Weeknd, and Alessia Cara. The list of breakthrough group winners is equally star-studded: Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Rush, Glass Tiger, the Tragically Hip, Nickelback, Alexisonfire, Said the Whale and A Tribe Called Red.
This year's crop of nominated artists and groups features an exciting and diverse array of musicians. From Toronto-based R&B singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez and Montreal-based electro-pop singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin to the Iqaluit-based folk-rock act the Jerry Cans and the Regina-based bluegrass band the Dead South, almost every music fan will find something to love in the nominees.
Think of the Junos as an opportunity to survey just a little bit more of the country's music scene, its depth and breadth, and then keep checking back every Thursday and Friday as CBC Music posts its handy primers for each artist and group, as well as some context to help deepen your appreciation of these great musicians.
Who: Nav.
Where: Rexdale, Ont.
Sound: Rapper/producer/singer-songwriter.
Why they're nominated: Since co-producing Drake's "Back to Back," Nav has had one major success after another, and not just in the Canadian hip-hop scene, but internationally as well. In just three years, the Indo-Canadian artist (born Navraj Singh Goraya in Toronto) has racked up hundreds of millions of YouTube views and SoundCloud plays combined, signed with the Weeknd's label XO, and released three mixtapes, including 2016's The Introduction and two in 2017 just four months apart: Nav and Perfect Timing with Metro Boomin. XXL named Nav one of the 30 best hip-hop producers of 2017.
Previously: Teenage beat-maker. "I became, like, pretty much the coolest kid in high school because I had started making beats for local rappers."
Quote: "Nas was my favourite artist growing up. 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." — Complex, 2017
'Myself' (2017)
'Call Me' ft. Metro Boomin (2017)
'Wanted You' ft. Lil Uzi Vert (2017)
'Fell in Love' (2016)
Wherever you are in the world, you can watch the 2018 Juno Awards broadcast live from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on March 25 at cbcmusic.ca/junos