"Turks" is a song by Canadian rapper
Nav and American rapper
Gunna featuring fellow American rapper and singer
Travis Scott. It was released on March 27, 2020, through
XO and
Republic as the only single from the former's third studio album, Good Intentions.[2] The song was written by the artists alongside
Cash XO and producer
Wheezy. The official music video was released on March 30, 2020. The title of the song is a reference to the
Turks and Caicos Islands.[3] The three artists previously collaborated on Scott's single "
Yosemite", from his third studio album, Astroworld (2018).
Background
"Turks" marks the first new material from Nav since the release of his second studio album, Bad Habits, as well as his first release in a year as a lead artist since the album, which was released on March 22, 2019.[4] The song was first teased on January 26, 2020 in a video posted on
Instagram by a Travis Scott fan page.[5] The video showed Nav and Scott at the birthday party of Nav's
XO manager and XO co-founder
Cash,[3] playing their respective verses to "short eight-bar increments".[5] The song was eventually released on March 27, 2020, following an
Instagram Live session between Nav and Gunna on March 25, 2020.[6] All three artists had previously collaborated on Scott's song "
Yosemite", from Scott's third studio album
Astroworld, in August 2018.[7] The song's title is a reference to the
Caribbean islands
Turks and Caicos, a territory occasionally appearing on a list of
proposed new Canadian provinces and territories.[3] When the final version of the song was released on March 27, 2020, Gunna and Travis Scott's verses were switched.
Composition and lyrics
"Turks" is a "
trap-heavy anthem".[1] On the song, the rappers each "ride the beat with their melodic rapping", a trademark of all three artists,[7] mimicking each other's flows.[8] Jordan Darville of The Fader said Nav's flow on the track is reminiscent of the rapping employed on
Young Thug's
"Hot" (also featuring Gunna and produced by
Wheezy), as well as
Roddy Ricch's flow on
"The Box".[9] The song is dedicated to the
Turks and Caicos Islands, which all three artists and Wheezy visited in February 2020.[8] In the chorus, Nav references this, singing "Took 20 bitches on my first vacay/ I ain't pickin' up, I'm in Turks, lil' baby".[1] With a BPM of 119, the song is in the key of
C Minor.[10]
Commercial performance
"Turks" reached number one on
Apple Music the same day it was released.[11]
It marks Nav's highest-charting single as a lead artist on the
Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 17.[12] However, he later garnered his first highest-charting single in total later in the year with
Internet Money and Gunna's single "
Lemonade", which also features American rapper and singer
Don Toliver, a fellow labelmate of Travis Scott.[13]
Music video
The song's official video, starring the three artists, premiered on Nav's
YouTube channel on March 30, 2020. Directed by Nav's
XO label boss
Cash and Zac Facts, it was filmed on a military base and finds the artists in the
Turks and Caicos Islands as they are surrounded by an army of female soldiers,
tanks, and heavy
artillery.[6] Nav is seen waving the
XO label flag in the video.
Young Thug, a close friend and frequent collaborator of the three artists, makes a cameo appearance.[14]
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 202014 into search. Retrieved April 7, 2020.