Nathan John Feuerstein, better known by his stage name, NF, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His musical style and genre varies from hip hop to rap/R&B and pop. NF has many nominations and is best known for his single “Let You Down,” the third song from his album Perception (2017). His songs tend to focus heavily on the raw reality of life, as well as what goes on in his mind and his personal experiences.
NF has often been mistaken for being related to Eminem. This is due to their similar origins, voices, style of music, and intensity of lyrics. However, these two Michigan-born rappers differ greatly when comparing their style of lyrics. Unlike most rappers, NF has yet to swear in a single song. This is quite a rarity to find among rappers, and probably has to do with the fact that he is a devout Christian. Even so, his songs rarely focus on just God and his religion.
NF was born March 30, 1991 in Gladwin, Michigan (same state as Eminem). His early life was filled with hardships. His parents divorced at a young age, and subsequently, he and his two sisters had to live with his opioid-addicted mother. One of his mother’s boyfriends physically abused him and one of his sisters until his father found out and took custody of them. His mother unfortunately died of a drug overdose in 2009, leading him to later dedicate “How Could You Leave Us” (2016) to her.
NF had started rapping at the young age of 12, and initially took a lot of his inspiration from Eminem. He used rapping as an escape and an outlet for his pent-up feelings. He continued rapping throughout his teenage years, making his own songs. He would record the instruments on one microphone and the vocals on another, all of which were recorded on a karaoke machine. His music debut began in 2010, with his debut album being Moments.
Although not as popular as other well-known artists, NF has racked up a considerable number of nominations. He’s had six of them between the years of 2015 and 2019. Some of the most notable are the GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year, as well as the Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year. To date, NF has released 5 studio albums, 2 Eps, 25 singles, and 1 mixtape. NF has toured multiple times all over the world from 2016 to now. His first few years of touring were spent in the US, but with his growth of popularity, by 2017 he had already started touring in different countries like the UK, Canada, Germany, and Sweden, among many others. NF will be touring frequently this year, and nearly all of the concert tickets are sold out already.
If you are a first-time listener of NF, I highly recommend giving “If You Want Love” a listen first. Although it still is in the style of rap/R&B, “If You Want Love” has a calmer soothing flow to it, in juxtaposition to his other more fast-paced and turmoil filled beats. It’s an emotional and heartfelt song about how love works, not being okay, ruminating in the past, and so much more. Some of the lyrics are “If you want love, you gon’ have to go through the pain/if you want love, you gon’ have to learn how to change/if you want trust, you gon’ have to give some away.” It’s very meaningful and sometimes emotion-provoking; there are a handful of people I know whom have cried upon first being introduced to this song. This song is very comforting, and also serves as a sort of lesson/reminder in life.
Other songs of NF’s with similar styles are “I Miss the Days,” “Time, Lie, and Just Like You,” and “Chasing_demo,” among others.
If you’re really into good beats and more fast-paced rap songs, I would suggest When I Grow Up, Leave Me Alone, HOPE, CLOUDS, Nate, and/or PANDEMONIUM.
If you favor music more centered around Christianity, “Oh Lord, I’ll Keep On,” and “HAPPY” would be ideal, although plenty of NF’s songs have at least some mention of God in them.
With all this being said, you should check NF out if you’ve found any of this interesting! You can find his music on YouTube, Youtube Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, SoundCloud, and just about any other music streaming app. Happy listening!
I’ll link some of the aforementioned songs below for quicker access to them.