Biography

North Carolina rapper Toosii often draws on intimate details of his personal life instead of the standard commercial rap fare, looking inward for inspiration and delivering his lyrics with a strong sense of melody and pop appeal. He went from uploading songs online in the late 2010s to signing with the label that helped DaBaby break through worldwide, creating charting projects of his own like his 2020 debut studio album, Poetic Pain, and the 2021 mixtape Thank You for Believing. After scoring a hit with his 2023 single "Favorite Song," Toosii released his second full-length, NAU'JOUR, later that year. Toosii (sometimes known as King Toosii) was born Nau'Jour Grainger in 2000. He grew up in Syracuse, New York but relocated to Raleigh when he began taking music more seriously in 2017. After posting various projects online, he released the Why Not Now EP, a collection that saw his melodic, autobiographical style solidifying. By this point, Toosii had generated enough buzz through both his music and a large social media following to attract the attention of the South Coast Music Group. He signed with the label and released the 2019 mixtape Who Dat, following it early the next year with Platinum Heart (February 2020). A consolidation of the rapper's infectious melodic style, the project was bolstered by a deluxe edition in May 2020, with seven new tracks and a fully reordered track listing. Just a few months later, Toosii issued the Poetic Pain LP, which featured collaborations with Summer Walker and Lil Durk. The album reached number 17 on the Billboard 200. He rounded out the year with the EPs Big Steppa and Dickpressed. Thank You for Believing, with guest appearances by DaBaby and Key Glock, appeared in May 2021, charting at number 25. Toosii kicked off 2022 with the single "Love Is...," which reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart. An extended version of the Thank You for Believing mixtape appeared a few months later, adding ten more tracks and almost doubling the runtime. 2022 found Toosii releasing multiple singles, the Boys Don't Cry EP, and again extending an already existing release by adding more tracks and retitling the project Boys Don't Cry: Men Do. In February 2023, he released the devotional and R&B-molded single "Favorite Song," which topped Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart and hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Later versions featured Khalid and Future, and the song went on to anchor Toosii's second album, NAU'JOUR, which arrived in June. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi