NAV Is Still Popping His Sh*t: From Rexdale Outsider to Rap Mainstay

The Toronto artist has spent the better part of a decade building one of the most recognizable sounds in modern hip-hop: cold melodies, hazy production, luxury talk, paranoia, drugs, success, and the occasional reminder that he came from a place where nobody expected him to become a star.

Now, NAV is back with “POP MY SH*T,” a new single released August 21 that reunites him with producer and collaborator FrostADX. The track leans into a side of NAV that longtime fans know well: confident, melodic, aggressive, and completely uninterested in being humble.

The release also arrives during a busy stretch for NAV. His official music page lists “POP MY SHIT” alongside recent releases including “MUTT,” “TRIMSKI,” and material from OMW2 REXDALE, suggesting that NAV is continuing to keep his foot on the gas rather than disappearing between album cycles.

From Producer to One of Rap's Most Unlikely Stars

Before NAV became NAV the artist, he was deeply involved in music from the production side.

That background would eventually become one of his biggest advantages. Unlike many artists who depend entirely on outside producers to build their sound, NAV understood how records were constructed. His music developed around atmospheric synths, booming bass, spacious drums, and melodies that often felt more like thoughts floating through someone's head than traditional rap performances.

Then came “Myself.”

The song became a turning point. NAV's detached delivery and hypnotic production immediately separated him from the increasingly crowded SoundCloud-era rap scene. He didn't sound like he was trying to overpower the beat. Instead, he floated through it.

That approach became the foundation for an entire career.

By 2017, NAV was no longer just an internet discovery. His self-titled project and Perfect Timing helped establish him as one of the most distinctive voices emerging from Toronto's rap scene, while collaborations with artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, Travis Scott and later Meek Mill expanded his reach.

NAV had officially gone from producer to artist—and eventually to a fixture within the mainstream rap ecosystem.

The NAV Formula

Part of what has made NAV's career interesting is that critics and fans have often had completely different relationships with his music.

For years, NAV has been one of those artists people either immediately connect with or completely dismiss. But his streaming numbers, catalog longevity, and continued collaborations with some of rap's biggest names have made one thing clear: there is a massive audience for what he does.

NAV's music isn't necessarily built around technical lyricism or huge vocal performances. The appeal is in the atmosphere.

A NAV song can feel like a late-night drive through the city, a victory lap after making money, or a paranoid thought spiraling in the back of someone's mind. His delivery is often calm even when the subject matter isn't.

That's also why songs like “Myself,” “Wanted You,” “Tap,” “Turks,” “Lemonade,” and others have remained important pieces of his catalog. They represent different versions of the same world NAV has been building since the beginning.

From Bad Habits to Rexdale

As NAV's career continued, his projects became increasingly ambitious.

Albums such as Reckless, Bad Habits, Good Intentions, Emergency Tsunami, and Demons Protected by Angels helped solidify his position as more than just a product of the SoundCloud era. He had become a consistent album artist with a catalog stretching across multiple phases of modern rap.

His 2025 album OMW2 REXDALE continued that evolution, bringing the focus back toward the Toronto neighborhood that helped shape his identity. The project followed years of anticipation and came after NAV had teased the concept as far back as 2024.

The title itself felt significant.

Rexdale isn't just a location in NAV's story—it's part of the mythology behind his career. As his lifestyle, collaborators and level of success have changed, NAV has continued returning to the idea of where he came from.

That tension has always existed in his music: global success versus the person he was before any of it happened.

“POP MY SH*T” and the Next Version of NAV

On “POP MY SH*T,” NAV isn't looking backward.

The record is built around confidence and momentum, with FrostADX joining him on a high-energy track that feels designed to be played loud. Rather than leaning entirely into the darker, introspective side that occasionally appears in NAV's catalog, the song embraces the flex-heavy energy that has become another major part of his sound.

And honestly, the title says everything.

NAV has spent years hearing the same conversations about his music. Is he underrated? Overrated? Does he deserve more respect? Is he one of the most influential artists of his generation?

At a certain point, none of those questions matter as much as longevity.

NAV is still here.

More than a decade after beginning his journey in music, he continues releasing records, collaborating with major artists, and maintaining a fanbase that has stuck with him through every shift in his sound. His latest run has included collaborations with Young Thug on “TRIMSKI” and Quavo on “MUTT,” with “MUTT” arriving in May 2026.

That consistency might actually be NAV's biggest accomplishment.

In an industry where artists can become irrelevant almost overnight, NAV has managed to survive multiple eras of rap without completely abandoning the sound that made people care about him in the first place.

NAV's Legacy Is Still Being Written

It's easy to forget how unusual NAV's rise actually was.

He wasn't the loudest rapper. He wasn't the most technically gifted. He didn't build his career around controversy or an exaggerated public persona.

He built a universe around a feeling.

For some listeners, NAV's music is the soundtrack to late-night drives, expensive ambitions and isolation. For others, it's a reminder of the SoundCloud and streaming era that permanently changed how rap stars were created.

And with “POP MY SH*T,” NAV seems perfectly comfortable reminding everyone that he's still part of the conversation.

Whether this new run leads toward another full-length project or simply marks the beginning of another chapter remains to be seen. But if there's one thing NAV's history has proven, it's that counting him out has never been a particularly smart bet.

From Rexdale to global playlists, NAV has already built a career that plenty of artists who were once considered “next up” would envy. And judging by “POP MY SH*T,” he's not done talking about it yet.