Ethiopian-born, Canadian-raised rapper Naya Ali is an award-winning hip hop artist who exploded onto the scene in 2018 with her debut EP Higher Self. Known for her assertive, raspy delivery and exceptional flow, Ali quickly captured attention with her distinctive vocal tone and ability to move in and out of flow pockets skillfully.
But Naya Ali is no longer just proving she’s a great rapper—she’s embracing the freedom to evolve as a multifaceted artist. In the process of creating her bold second album, We Did The Damn Thing, Ali has leaned into a space of creative liberation, making music that can connect with a wider spectrum of listeners.
Despite her early success as a rap artist—receiving accolades for her two-part full-length debut, Godspeed: Baptism (2020) and Godspeed: Elevated (2021), the latter winning the ADISQ award for English Album of the Year and a GAMIQ award for Rap Album of the Year—Ali sometimes felt boxed in, both by outside expectations and her own.
With We Did The Damn Thing, she sheds those limitations, allowing her creativity to flourish. While she remains a sharp and gritty lyricist, something deeper is emerging. I still love to rap, she says. But there’s a lot more to me, not just as an artist, but as a human.
Widening her artistic scope, Ali combines hard-earned wisdom with a message of gratitude and perseverance. The album title honours her shared experiences as an immigrant and as a Black woman.
Naya Ali emigrated to Canada with her mother as a child. Although she dabbled in rap as a teen, she chose to follow the expected path of a first-generation immigrant: going to university in order to get a good job. A few years later, she quit her job in marketing to pursue a music career.
That decision changed everything and allowed Ali to learn that truly living means embracing the unknown. She doesn’t claim all her choices were perfect, but perfection isn’t the goal. As she prepares to drop an album on which she lets her artistry run free, Ali is ready for whatever comes next—fully welcoming the possibilities ahead. Something new is emerging, and she’s all in.
