* En anglais uniquement
North Carolina rapper
Toosii quickly developed his craft in the late 2000s, going from uploading songs online to signing with the label that helped
DaBaby break through worldwide. His lyrics often draw on more intimate details of his personal life than standard rap fare, and he delivers them with a melodic sensibility on charting projects like 2020's
Poetic Pain and 2021's
Thank You for Believing.
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 some 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 of 2021, charting at number 25. ~ Fred Thomas