Navraj Singh Goraya, best known by his stage name NAV, is the “first brown boy to get it poppin’” in the Hip Hop community. Though originally a producer at first, with credits linking him to Drake’s “Back to Back” diss track against former rival Meek Mill, it was not until 2017 that he had his breakthrough self-titled album. As the years passed and NAV continued to release projects, he became one of rap’s most criticized artists, with many citing his lazy songwriting ability and “boring” production as their main faults with him. However, on Good Intentions, one question remains: Is It Good?
The album opens up with good Intentions (Intro), and consists of NAV rapping “I got bad habits, but I still got good intentions” to remind us that this is a follow up to his 2019 album, Bad Habits, The track is followed by more typical NAV-style songs, which feature braggadocious lines about his wealth, excessive drug use, and fornication. He is accompanied by other rappers who excel in these categories too, like Future and Young Thug. Thankfully, features reoccur on this album, which is good considering these are NAV’s saving grace.
One thing that NAV loves to emphasize in his songs is that he doesn’t fabricate the life he speaks about, but if you take a look at him it is hard to take him seriously. A prime example of this occurring is on the track Run It Up (feat. Pop Smoke), in which he raps about murdering people. When NAV is not trying to push a fake persona, he is lazily crafting songs. Nearly every track on here can be broken down into a chorus, the first verse, the chorus repeated, the second verse, and the chorus once more, with each bar being a perfect rhyme. However, sometimes NAV just completely abandons a rhyme scheme all together, like on Saint Laurenttt where he rhymes “me” continuously on both verses.
NAV is the poster child of everything that is plaguing the rap community currently. He constantly brags about his wealth, talks non-stop about his sexual escapades with women, and emphasizes his dependency on drugs while refusing to acknowledge the fact that it is only worsening his mental state. But, sadly, this is what people want. It doesn’t matter that NAV is constantly proving his lyrical laziness track-after-track, because he is being provided amazing instrumentals by some of the current best producers in Hip Hop. When people listen to NAV, they are not looking for lyrics, they are looking for melodies.
So, Is It Good? Yes. Although NAV lacks the ability to put together well-structured rhymes, most songs are beautifully produced and offer catchy hooks. While a few tracks slow the album down, the upside is that it is not much of a hassle to get through since most are under three minutes. Compared to Bad Habits, it is much better. It seems as if NAV finally understands that people don’t listen to him for thought-provoking lyrics, but rather for melodies, something that NAV, for the most part, delivers upon.
Rating: 7/10
Standout Songs: Good Intentions (Intro), My Business (feat. Future), Turks (with Gunna & ft. Travis Scott), Recap (feat. Don Toliver), Proud of Me?
Worst Tracks: Saint Laurenttt, Coast To Coast, No Ice (feat. Lil Durk)
