It was 15 years ago, somewhere in Somerset, NJ, when a young Bryant Gilliam (a.k.a N.ave) was beginning to discover his passion for music experimenting with a “cracked version of FL Studio“. As he developed his abilities producing, he left behind his former equipment and upgraded to a Mac equipped with logic pro. Meanwhile, N.ave also pursued the art of spoken word. Performing at several spots around his college campus, as soon as graduation came the ambitious young man dove head first into his craft and became truly dedicated to the genre. Beginning to rap, he developed his voice in the booth and started to make great music almost instantly. His progression from spoken work into hip-hop came easily to the hard-working and dedicated individual.
Over the years, N.ave cultivated his own sound, describing it as “Somewhere between Alternative, Trap, & Boom Bap”. His sound was never quite definitive though and never held him back from constantly switching up his style and creating music that he liked. N.ave’s constantly evolving style was clearly inspired by his favorite musicians including, Pharrell, Jay-Z, Tyler the Creator, 2 Chainz, Redman, Royce da 5’9, Run the Jewels, Kanye, and Little Brother to name a few. All versatile and prominent members of the larger scale music industry.
N.ave has a very different voice from what is mainly heard in the industry today. He’s honest and tries to serve as a representative for an under satisfied market. “I like to look at my music as the rap version of Issa Dee on Insecure. I feel that demographic is underserved. The Black Professional if you will.” Hoping to eventually be able to create music full time, N.ave spoke about the hard work he puts into the production of his music and videos as well as how important quality is to him.
When making his music, he is slow and methodical, sometimes spending a week or more on one song. Admittedly he says most of his content is derived from either anxiety or politics – “I dont mean to get so dark but those two things help me write the most.” At the end of the day, N.ave can look back proudly knowing he has created and released quality music, quality videos, and traveled the world. Whether others recognize him as being “traditionally successful” or not is of no concern to the now 32 year-old man. His happiness and feeling of fulfillment make him a successful individual.
With two EP’s out on SoundCloud right now, 2017 effort Black Professional and his 2018 project titled Black Magic. The newest project is available on all streaming platforms as well. His lyrical approach to his songs mixed with his fantastic singing voice, N.ave puts it all on the track. The certified banger Gravity (feat IDK), with production that forces the listener to listen to the beat, the pair exchange braggadocios lyrics with the catchy hook:
“Don’t pull me down, my n—-, I’m too gone.”
From a simple suburban childhood of video games and street ball, Bryant Gilliam became N.ave, a hard working musician with a promising future. For now you can look out for his new E.P this fall – he describes it as “sonically different” and goes onto say, “a little FKA twigs meets Weeknd but in rap form”. When we asked about his crew he responded, “Just my wife, Gloria.” N.ave also mentions his interest in languages and says he is learning Swahili and soon will also add Spanish to the list. Go check N.ave out on SoundCloud; an incredibly talented and overlooked artist.