As a youth in Glendevon, a gritty community in Jamaica’s tourist mecca of Montego Bay, Navyan “Knavi” Williams was raised in a single-parent home. But despite his family’s challenging circumstances, he had big dreams.
With a string of well-received songs, he is well on the way to achieving dancehall stardom.
‘Meech Out’, his latest song, hears Knavi saluting the resilience of Jamaican youth like himself who are determined to reach heights their parents never did. In some way, it is the story of his life.
The self-produced single was released in February and became an instant hit. Its message, Knavi notes, has hit the mark.
“If you compare nowadays to like five years ago, a lot of young people never used to drive, dem parents did have things different, like a decade ago. The fact that young people get creative, use the social media, online and thing and do things for themself; dem a drive, dem a own house and all a dat. Everybody feel like them accomplish, so the whole aspect behind ‘Meech Out’ is just saying, ‘yo, I am accomplished’,” he explained in a recent interview.
The uptempo track maintains the momentum Knavi has enjoyed since the release of ‘12 Signs’, his first song, in 2018. That was followed by other well-received songs such as ‘Grateful’, ‘Paid in Full’, ‘Sexy Moan’ and ‘Balmain Bomber’.
The latter racked up over one million views on YouTube within two weeks of its release in 2023. ‘Meech Out’ is on course to surpassing that impressive figure.
Knavi, who lost his father at age four, has not only made a name as an artiste. He is an entrepreneur who founded Knavi Enterprise Ltd. which oversees various aspects of his career including songs and publishing.
