Rapper NASAAN talks about his new album, establishing his own identity, and his father’s legacy

R apper NASAAN, his girlfriend Tiva Fox, and CEO of Assemble Sound Garret Koehler are sitting in a semi circle talking about all things hip-hop. The conversation ranges from early Detroit boom bap and West Coast gangsta to who’s on tour, and who’s dropped what.

Over the last few months NASAAN has been on an impressive press run to promote his album ERROR 404 , slated for a May 31 release, including appearances on Way Up with Angela Yee , Ebro in the Morning , and The Joe Budden Podcast .

“It’s been pretty surreal, because I’m such a hip-hop nerd, like a rap nerd,” he says. “I go to sleep watching these people so being on their platforms almost felt like breaking a fourth wall in a way. I was super nervous.”

NASSAN is dressed in a button-down white shirt, black tie, shorts, and a caramel-colored sweater. He has on black Prada shoes, and a diamond-encrusted grill fills his mouth while 3 star shaped stickers are spread over his face.

“I’m taking on this character, a young guy who wants to be a part of this tech company ERROR 404,” he says. “The insignia of those who have been accepted into the company is the brown cardigan. The stickers represent being employee of the month at the company.”

NASAAN is as creative an emcee as you’ll ever meet, but he’s not just a rapper. His YouTube channel is full of comedic skits, abstract content, and witty freestyles — just think Childish Gambino meets Joyner Lucas. But he’s also the 21-year-old son of legendary emcee DeShaun “Big Proof” Holton. For those outside, Detroit Proof was simply the frontman to hip-hop group D-12, a fierce battle rapper, and the Robin to Eminem’s Batman. But for Detroiters, Proof was one of the best to ever step behind the mic, the quintessential lynchpin within Detroit hip-hop. From the Goon Squad to 5-Ela, from the Hip Hop Shop to the Shelter at Saint Andrew’s, Proof was an ambassador of Detroit hip-hop who helped lead it to its most significant wave of global notoriety. He died April 11, 2006 when NASAAN was 7 years old.

“After he passed we moved down south,” NASAAN says. “We moved to Florida for a year or two and then moved to Atlanta because my grandma stayed there. So I pretty much grew up in Atlanta.”

The move was an economic and a cultural shift. NASAAN says his family experienced financial hardships after his father died and his appreciation of hip-hop was influenced by Atlanta’s evolving trap music scene.

“My stepfather was Jeezy's bodyguard so that's all I would listen to,” NASAAN adds. “It molded my taste and my palette to trap music and the Atlanta sound in general.”

Along with Atlanta trap music, the mid-2000s were very diverse years for hip-hop. Detroiters Big Sean and DeJ Loaf were making their mark while seasoned veterans like Jay-Z and Pusha T were still dropping music, and Chicago drill had become the newest sound to take hip-hop by storm.

“The first person I ever ‘stanned’ in my life was Chief Keef,” he says. “I think he had a crazy grip on my generation, period. I remember wearing a big-ass fake designer belt my mom had bought me from the flea market to try and embody what he had going on,” he adds through a laugh.

NASAAN says he started actively writing rhymes in 8th grade and by 9th grade he was recording songs daily (although he only released one song), and was a student of the craft who was more interested in quality over quantity.

“I used to [read] Complex every day and they had this list of best albums of every year by rappers,” he says. “And I just went through it and studied it all … I was so mesmerized.”

In 2017, a 16-year-old NASAAN entered the Fresh Empire’s The New Wave Competition . The contest featured six emcees, three rounds, and included a DJ and live band. NASAAN finished second to Baltimore rapper Lil Key, but his notoriety skyrocketed. It appeared that NASAAN’s proverbial breakout moment had arrived.

“Sway hosted it. Marshall and Big Sean posted me and it got super big,” he says. “I got 50,000 [Instagram] followers overnight.”

However, what appeared to be a big step forward was used to take a step back. NASAAN felt he wasn’t ready for the adulation as he wasn’t giving the public the best representation of who he was as an artist.

“When that happed I kind of got scared because all these eyes were on me and I didn’t wanna fuck up,” he says. “I didn’t want to make the wrong move. I didn’t know myself as an artist. I felt like I had to do this rappity rap shit because of the legacy and what people associated me with.”

NASAAN retreated back to his bat cave where he continued to iron out his style, his approach, and grow his lyricist super powers. About a year later he popped up on the radar of Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, who had become chairman and CEO of Def Jam Recordings in 2018.

“While I was in high school he caught wind of me because I would do features with someone who was a fan of me in London,” NASSAN says. “His name is Kid Bookie, a very great rapper. He had a lot of motion going on overseas.”

Rosenberg signed NASAAN to Def Jam of that same year and the union seemed to be a match made in hip-hop heaven. What could be more perfect that Proof’s son inking a record deal with Paul Rosenberg and Def Jam, the most historic hip-hop label ever? NASAAN released a five-song EP Kiss of Karma highlighted by the creative single “ Ben/Frank ,” though it would be NASAAN’s only release through Def Jam as he left the label after Roseberg stepped down in 2020.

“Everybody left,” he says with a shrug. “I don’t even think staying was an option.”

NASSAN didn’t stay unsigned for too long, however. He had already been on the radar of Koehler, who founded Assemble Sound in 2015 and had inked a joint venture with Atlantic Records in 2021 .

“Drew [Drialo] told me about NASAAN before he signed to Def Jam and was like, ‘Just keep your eye on him,’ and he told me about his background,” Koehler says.

Koehler did just that. He kept up with NASAAN’s content and drops. About a year after NASAAN parted ways with Def Jam he released the single “R.I.P. FRESH” in January of 2022 and Koehler was so impressed that he knew it was time to reach out to him.

“After he dropped ‘R.I.P. Fresh , ’ that’s when I saw art that felt reflective of the artist,” he says. “It was the first video he directed and put out himself.”

After several months of conversations Koehler signed NASAAN to a record deal on Assemble Sound in August 2022. In dramatic fashion NASAAN signed the contract while riding the Magnum XL-200 roller coaster with Koehler at Cedar Point.

He was the first artist to officially sign to the imprint. Koehler calls him “the one,” and firmly believes that NASAAN has the skill set to become a world renowned hip-hop artist.

“He could be a superstar,” Koehler says. “He has the energy that could fill an arena and I say that because of his charisma, his lyricism, which is both technically good and also widely creative. It embodies a very unique perspective.”

N ASAAN incorporates a variety of tools to create music. He utilizes voice notes and voice memos to store ideas for later dates, and punches in his rhymes but also writes his bars down when he wants to evoke certain feelings and articulate certain thoughts. In February of this year NASAAN set the hip-hop sound waves a blaze with a mesmerizing “On The Radar” freestyle.

“That freestyle, it was so much pressure,” he says shaking his head. “I was in L.A., I had to fly back and do it that same morning.”

That was followed up a month later with the bass-heavy “ Cullinan Gang ” which featured the melodic trap vocals of one of Detroit’s favorite emcees, Icewear Vezzo.

“Vezzo had came up to the studio one day and we was talking, kicking it … We linked up at the 50 cent show, he was showing mad love,” he says.

NASAAN’s most recent release is “ Goated ” featuring Royce da 5’9”. Within the video for the single NASAAN recreates the MTV News freestyle session between his father and Eminem. The song was released on April 11, eighteen years to the day that Proof passed away. NASSAN has also partnered with ESPN with a licensing deal for “Goated'' to be featured during the 2024 NBA playoffs.

“It was in tribute to my father,” he says. “The last line right before the first hook is and my daddy like, boy don’t blow my assist.’ I feel like he laid all this out for me man and I just gotta lay it up.”

For NASAAN the bond he’s been able to forge with Eminem and Royce is priceless. They both were his father’s friends and fellow emcees. The waters of the music business can get nasty and complicated, so having access to veterans that have already reached their GOAT status is a game changer.

“Royce is like super close to me,” NASSAN says. “He’s an OG, I damn near see him everyday. He has nothing but game to give me. I’ve learned so much … And Marshall is like this big presence and inspiration. I take from him artistically, subconsciously, like without even trying. Just someone I can touch and talk to because he’s somewhere I want to be one day.”

T his is the most comfortable NASAAN has ever been in his own skin and he feels it will show in his body of work. NASAAN is not the first emcee who has a father known for being a top-tier rapper. Lil Blade (Blade Icewood), Chris Rivers (Big Pun), are just two of the many emcees to follow in the famous father’s footsteps. With NASAAN, he’s found a way to embrace his father’s legacy without feeling threatened by it, and he’s no longer worried about people feeling like he’s undeserving of his opportunities.

“My father’s legacy was something I ran from and shied from for so long,” he says. “For my own reasons, I didn’t want people to discredit me. I took pride in doing the work, I didn't want people to take that from me. I didn’t want people to think I got shit handed to me or wanna be my friend for different reasons.”

He also has a foot in every aspect of ERROR 404. He mapped out and co-directed all of his music videos, the sequencing of songs on the project, and says he’s confident that he’s developed the version of his craft that he wants to give the world.

“At Def Jam I was trying to be everything I was influenced by versus using my influences to paint me as the picture,” he says. “I think I’ve just grown as a person and a human first … I always say this project to me is my ‘what’ and not my ‘who.’ It’s what I am sonically. It’s the fun shit, it’s the off the wall randomness, it’s all those things when you think of NASSAN.”