Toosii
Nau'Jour Lazier Grainger (born January 9, 2000),[1] better known by his stage name Toosii, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Raleigh, North Carolina. Beginning his career in 2017, he rose to mainstream prominence following the release of his 2023 single "Favorite Song", which first gained virality on the social media platform TikTok. The song peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and preceded the release of his second studio album, Naujour (2023). The album peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200, although his debut album, Poetic Pain (2020), reached number 17 on the chart.
Toosii
Nau'Jour Grainger
January 9, 2000
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
2017–present
- South Coast Music Group
- Capitol
Early life[edit]
Nau'Jour Grainger[2] was born and grew up in Syracuse, New York,[3] but later relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina at the age of 13. It was in Raleigh, North Carolina where he began to seriously pursue his musical career.[4][5] Rap was an escape route from his issues as a youth. He started recording music at age 16, while playing high school football and figuring out his life path.[4]
Career[edit]
2017–2020: Career beginnings, Who Dat and Poetic Pain[edit]
Toosii's stage name derived from his childhood nickname of "Toota", and changed it to Toosii after his football teammates said it as a joke, adding the two I's because "You need two eyes to see the vision".[6] Toosii was discovered by the South Coast Music Group. He signed with the record label in 2019.[7] Toosii was inspired to try music by both his brother and father and spent a period of time homeless before his career began to further develop.[2]
Toosii released several mixtapes during the roots of his career such as Label Me Diverse, Hell on Earth, and Why Not Now. He got his big break in 2019 with the release of the track "Red Lights", which went on to accrue millions of streams.[4] He then released his Who Dat mixtape on April 30, 2019, which was followed by the six-track mixtape, My Shit Now on January 3, 2020, consisting solely of remixes of popular tracks. On February 7, 2020, he released the 13-track Platinum Heart mixtape. Platinum Heart reached number-one on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart upon its initial release.[8] The mixtape was later reissued as a 20-track deluxe version. On September 18, 2020, his third South Coast Music Group-affiliated album Poetic Pain was released as his first project on Capitol Records.[9] His signing to Capitol was made on September 30, by Chris Turner (A&R) following the release of his official video for "Love Cycle" with Summer Walker.[10] Toosii was credited with 50,000 US adjusted sales and over 250 million combined global streams in 2020 at the time of this release. "Love Cycle" was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 11, 2021. His project Poetic Pain debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 chart in September 2020 and features the RIAA-certified gold single "Love Cycle" with Summer Walker.[11][12]
2021–2022: Thank You for Believing, Pretty Girls Love Toosii and Boys Don't Cry[edit]
On May 7, 2021, Toosii released his seventh mixtape, Thank You for Believing. The tape's title shows "gratitude to those that had faith in him and helped get him where he is today". It contains 13 tracks, and features Mulatto, Key Glock, and DaBaby.[4] In 2021, he was featured on the XXL Freshman Class. On December 3, 2021, Toosii released a 3-track EP titled Pretty Girls Love Toosii which was assisted by a feature from Jacquees.[13] Just under a year later, on October 7, 2022, Toosii released his fourth EP, Boys Don't Cry which featured his TikTok viral, "Love Is..." alongside "Heartaches" which also gained traction on social media.[14] On November 11, 2022, Toosii released a deluxe to his EP titled, Boys Don't Cry: Men Do.[15] Just a week later, he released a visual to the intro of the deluxe EP, "Frozen Below Zero".[16]
2023–present: NAUJUOR and JADED[edit]
Beginning 2023, Toosii released his first single of the year, "Magic Potion" on January 27, 2023.[17] Just weeks later, Toosii released his Valentine's Day special, "Favorite Song".[18] The track marked Toosii's debut on the Billboard Hot 100 after debuting at #51.[19] The track received remixes from Khalid and Future released on May 5 and May 19.[20] The remixes assisted the song's commercial performance as the track peaked at #5 in the US during the week ending June 3, 2023.[19][21][22] The track also peaked at #25 on the Billboard Global 200. The track was certified platinum just three months after its release and 2x platinum in August 2023.[23] The hit track served as the lead single (alongside "Love Is...") for Toosii's sophomore, self-titled studio album, Naujour.[24][25] The album peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200, marking Toosii's second highest charting album.
Continuing off of his success, on November 3, 2023, Toosii released "Suffice", the lead single to his upcoming eighth mixtape, JADED which includes a guest appearance from the American pop rock band, LANY.[26]