Reckless (Nav album)

Reckless (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by Canadian rapper Nav. It was released on May 18, 2018 by XO Records and Republic Records.[1] The album features guest appearances from Quavo, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, and Gunna.[2] It features production from Nav himself, Wheezy, Ben Billions, Rex Kudo, Charlie Handsome, Foreign Teck, OZ, and Turbo, among others.

Reckless
Studio album by Nav
Released	May 18, 2018
Genre	Hip hop trap
Length	40:02
Label	XO Republic
Producer	Amir "Cash" Esmailian (exec.) Nav (also exec.) Ben Billions Bobby Raps Charlie Handsome DaHeala DannyBoyStyles Foreign Teck Maaly Raw OZ Rex Kudo Trouble Trouble Turbo Wheezy
Nav chronology
Perfect Timing (2017) Reckless (2018) Bad Habits (2019)
Singles from Reckless
"Wanted You" Released: November 3, 2017 "Freshman List" Released: March 16, 2018 "Champion" Released: June 26, 2018

Reckless garnered mixed to negative reviews from critics, praising the album's production and guest features but criticized its lyrical delivery. The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 and was supported by three singles: "Wanted You", "Freshman List" and "Champion".

Background

Nav commented on the album during an interview with Tim Westwood, detailing that he's more involved than ever in the production process, continuing with the expectation of some big features with "no wack artists".[3]

On April 27, 2018, the album's title was announced via Twitter.[4]

During his night show in Houston, he revealed the album's release date, stating:

I'm dropping my album next week Friday. The wait is over. I just thought I would share that with Houston 'cause y'all so close to my heart.[5]

The cover art and tracklist for the album was revealed via Instagram on May 16, 2018.[6]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Wanted You" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, was released for digital download on November 3, 2017, which was Nav's 28th birthday. The song was produced by Ben Billions.[7] The music video was released on January 11, 2018. The music video was directed by Rough Sketchz.[8] The song peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9]

The album's second single, "Freshman List", was released on March 16, 2018. The song was produced by Rex Kudo and Charlie Handsome.[10]

The album's third single, "Champion" featuring Travis Scott, was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on June 26, 2018.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	52/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
GIGsoup	58%[13]
DJBooth	(unfavourable)[14]
HipHopDX	2.2/5[15]
HotNewHipHop	56%[16]
Pitchfork	5.3/10[17]

Reckless received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork stated that "Nav is whining, hiding behind braggadocio and making it an album that brings the listener down to the same place as the should be hitmaker."[17] Online hip hop publication HotNewHipHop commented that "Without any sort of reconciliation with his demons, the album becomes a one-side therapy session and we, the listeners, don't get compensated enough to want to hold his hand as he figures himself out."[16] Yoh Phillips of DJBooth wrote that "the production is solid, the features were solid, but Nav has no redeemable qualities."[14]

Commercial performance

Reckless debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 36,000 album-equivalent units with 4,000 in pure album sales in its first week.[18] In its second week, the album dropped to number 24 on the chart. As of March 2019, the album has earned 387,000 album-equivalent units in the United States.[19] The songs from the album has earned over a half-billion on-demand streams.[19] On March 27, 2020, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.[20]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.[21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Reckless Intro"	Navraj Goraya Danny Schofield	Nav DannyBoyStyles	2:22
2.	"Never Change"	Goraya Schofield Amir Esmailian	Nav DannyBoyStyles	3:01
3.	"Hold Your Hand"	Goraya Jamaal Henry Masamune Kudo	Maaly Raw Rex Kudo	3:54
4.	"Faith" (featuring Quavo)	Goraya Quavious Marshall Jordan Bacchus Esmailian	Nav Trouble Trouble	3:19
5.	"Champion" (featuring Travis Scott)	Goraya Jacques Webster II Michael Hernandez Ozan Yildirim Esmailian	Foreign Teck OZ	3:15
6.	"Glow Up"	Goraya Schofield Esmailian	DannyBoyStyles Nav	2:40
7.	"Just Happened"	Goraya Schofield Robert Richardson Esmailian	Nav DannyBoyStyles Bobby Raps	3:21
8.	"Wanted You" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert)	Goraya Symere Woods Benjamin Diehl Esmailian Khaled Khaled	Ben Billions	3:48
9.	"With Me"	Goraya Diehl Esmailian	Ben Billions Nav	2:54
10.	"Eat" (featuring Gunna)	Goraya Sergio Kitchens Chandler Durham	Turbo The Martianz	3:22
11.	"Freshman List"	Goraya Kudo Ryan Vojtesak	Rex Kudo Charlie Handsome	3:06
12.	"What I Need / Daheala Outro"	Goraya Kudo Wesley Glass Jason Quenneville	Rex Kudo Wheezy DaHeala	5:00
Total length:				40:02

Notes

• "Just Happened" features background vocals from Bobby Raps.

Personnel

All programming is credited to the producers of each track, except where noted.[21]

Musicians DannyBoyStyles – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 6, 7) Nav – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9) Rex Kudo – keyboards (tracks 3, 11), programming (track 12) Ben Billions – keyboards (tracks 8, 9) Turbo – keyboards (track 10) Wheezy – programming (track 12)

Technical DannyBoyStyles – recording (tracks 1, 6) Ethan Stevens – recording (tracks 8, 11) Jaycen Joshua – mixing (all tracks) Shin Kamiyama – mixing (tracks 1–7, 9–12), recording (tracks 2–5, 8, 9, 12) David Nakaji – mixing assistant (track 8) Iván Jiménez – mixing assistant (track 8)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2018) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 110 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[23] 5 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] 42 New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[25] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[26] 24 US Billboard 200[27] 8 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[28] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2018) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[29] 91

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[30]	Gold	40,000
United States (RIAA)[31]	Gold	500,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "RECKLESS by NAV". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved May 17, 2018.
2. A., Aron (May 16, 2018). "Nav Shares "Reckless" Tracklist Ft. Quavo, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert & More". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
3. Zidel, Alex (March 14, 2018). "Nav Talks About Drake, The Weeknd & Upcoming Album In New Tim Westwood Interview". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
4. Zidel, Alex (April 27, 2018). "Nav Announces Upcoming Albums "Reckless" & "Perfect Timing 2"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
5. Smith, Trevor (May 12, 2018). "Nav Announces "Reckless" Album Release Date". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
6. Jones, Okla (May 16, 2018). "Nav Unveils "Reckless" Cover Art & Tracklist". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
7. Thiessen, Brock (November 9, 2017). "NAV "Wanted You" (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
8. Berry, Peter A. (January 12, 2018). "Nav and Lil Uzi Vert Chill With Strippers in Wanted You Video". XXL. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
9. "Hot 100: Wanted You". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
10. Mojica, Nick (March 16, 2018). "Nav Drops New Song Freshman List". XXL. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
11. "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
12. "Nav - Reckless - Reviews - Album of the Year". Album of the Year. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
13. https://www.gigsoupmusic.com/reviews/album-reviews/nav-reckless/
14. "Nav 'Reckless' 1 Listen Album Review". DJBooth. May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
15. https://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX- (May 31, 2018). "Review: Nav Still Can't Handle Fame On "Reckless" — And It's Getting Old". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
16. "Nav "RECKLESS" Review". HotNewHipHop. May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
17. Pierre, Alphonse (May 23, 2018). "Nav: Reckless Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
18. Trevor Smith (May 27, 2018). "Lil Baby Debuts At No. 3, NAV At No. 8 On Billboard 200". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
19. Keith Caulfield (March 31, 2019). "NAV Nets First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Bad Habits'". Retrieved March 29, 2019.
20. "RIAA Certifications - Nav". Retrieved March 28, 2020.
21. "RECKLESS / Nav". Tidal. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
22. "Ultratop.be – Nav – Reckless" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
23. "Nav Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Nav – Reckless" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
25. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
27. Caulfield, Keith (May 27, 2018). "BTS Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Love Yourself: Tear'". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
28. "Nav Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
29. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
30. "Canadian album certifications – Nav – Reckless". Music Canada.
31. "American album certifications – Nav – Reckless". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.