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Naviyd Raymond and Usher
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Key Takeaways:
- At just 16 years old, Naviyd Raymond released his debut single “Smooth Blues,” taking full control of the production and creative direction.
- Usher supported his son by appearing in a TikTok video dancing to the track.
- Naviyd intentionally kept the song private until release to maintain the authenticity of his creative vision.
No matter what, Usher is going to show up for his kids. The R&B crooner even hopped on a TikTok video to support his son Naviyd Raymond, who recently dropped his debut single called “Smooth Blues.”
In the clip, Naviyd, who has a knack for going viral, and his dad are seen vibing to the song’s pulsing groove — and it has fans in their feels for all the love on display.
According to the Instagram post he shared to announce the new song, Naviyd wrote and produced the record, also handling the creative direction, styling and cover art.
“This is the first song I ever produced and it’s very [special] to me so I hope you enjoy [it]. If not, [I don’t care, low key],” Naviyd wrote. “Thank you so much to everyone who helped along the way; it’s been a long and tiring process.”
Naviyd and his brother, Usher “Cinco” Raymond V, are the sons of Usher and his ex-wife Tameka Foster. Interestingly, Naviyd didn’t even give his parents a preview of the song. “I didn’t show the song to the people closest [to me] because I didn’t want them to mess with my creative process,” he recently told VIBE. “I didn’t show my parents; I barely showed my best friend. I wanted them to hear it with everyone else and then give their opinion because then at that point, I can’t change it, and then it’s stuck like how I wanted it.”
He added, “I’m always open [to] improvement and opinions. But on my first song, I felt like opinions from others would mess up the rawness of my vision, and I would just have catered to what others had said.”
What he delivered was his soulful vocals over a jazzy, house music-flavored bop that clearly gets the danceability co-sign from his dear dad, who happens to be a music icon. It looks like we can expect to be hearing more from young Naviyd.
