Nana (American rapper)

Nana is an American rapper from the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.^[1]

He was born Nana Opong in 1989 to immigrants from Ghana.^[2] His mother was a business owner and his father, a pastor and a bishop,^[3] founded one of the first African churches in Los Angeles.

His musical ambitions were touched off at age 10 when he heard his sister playing the ​Ruff Ryders Entertainment compilation Ryde or Die Vol. 1​ and was captivated by DMX (rapper) and Jay-Z.^[4]

Feeling conflicted about his given name, he began his music career in 2012 under the stage name Blaison Maven.^[5] In 2013, as Blaison Maven, he featured on the track "Reminisce" on P-Money's album Gratitude (P-Money album).

In 2018 he dropped the adopted stage name and began going by his real name, which means "king" in Akan language,^[4] the language native to his parents' home country, for the release of his first EP, the six-song Nana's EP, that year.^[6] The tracks, inspired chiefly by Nas and The Game (rapper), featured production by Anthem, Chef Byer, and Beatnick Dee.^[7]

The EP included the single “Problems,” which featured Thurz of Inglewood duo U-N-I, as well as the singles “Youphoria,” “Him & Her,” and “Mando.” ​

In March 2019 Nana released the single "On My Momma," which appeared later in the year on his second EP, the seven-track^[8] ​Save Yourself.^[9] He has described the EP as inspired by the deaths of Nipsey Hussle and Mac Miller,^[10] while the title harks back to an early religious experience in his father's church.^[11] He closed out the year with the single “Angels.”

On 8 October 2020 he released the single and video “Heaven & Hennessy.” The single was streamed 2.3 million times over the next year and a half. He followed it on 28 October with the video for "On My Momma."

On 6 November 2020 an expanded edition of Save Yourself was released as a full album. It includes features from R&B artist Blakk Soul and from California rapper Reason (rapper)|Reason^[12] the track "L.A. Times" which was streamed more than two million times on Spotify. The album included production from Audio Anthem, DK The Punisher, Kal Banx, Beatnik Dee, and production trio BREGMA.^[13] Tracks from the album were streamed overall more than six million times.^[14][15]

In the summer of 2021, he released the Save Yourself Sessions, a series of live performance and interview videos with collaborators.^[16]

On 26 April 2022, following the release of singles "Bet It Back" and "Heaven's Sky" (feat. Rae Khalil),^[17] Nana released the eight-track EP From the District to the World, with tracks that featured Buddy (rapper)|Buddy, Garren, and Kent Jamz as well as Rae Khalil.^[18] In conjunction with the release he appeared on A COLORS SHOW^[19] and in a live studio performance on MajorStage.^[18]

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