Navy Blue

Under the pseudonym Navy Blue, professional skateboarder, visual artist, and model Sage Elsesser is nonetheless known for pensive verses packed with intense self-examination. The earliest Navy Blue projects were uploaded to SoundCloud by Elsesser during the latter half of the 2010s. Àdá Irin, the first proper Navy Blue album, appeared in 2020 with a featured appearance from formative influence and mentor Ka. Elsesser's profile was considerably higher by the time he delivered the Def Jam-supported Ways of Knowing in 2023. He returned to full independence with 2024's Memoirs in Armour, followed by The Sword & The Soaring in 2025. The poetic rapper is also a beatmaker and multi-instrumentalist, having produced much of his own material and tracks by the likes of Mike, Mach-Hommy, Earl Sweatshirt, Armand Hammer, and Wiki. Elsesser, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, moved to New York to attend boarding school as he was entering eighth grade. In his late teens, after he had established himself as a revered pro skateboarder and Supreme model, he started uploading tracks as Navy Blue, using the alias in part as a way to prevent being labeled a dilettante. Elsesser's first couple credits on commercial recordings weren't as a rapper or producer. He was part of the art direction team for I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, the second solo album by childhood friend Earl Sweatshirt, and his speaking voice (from an old interview) was among those heard at the end of Frank Ocean's Blonde. After he uploaded numerous EP-length projects to SoundCloud, Elsesser launched his Freedom Sounds label in 2019 with "Higher Self." The following February brought Àdá Irin, his first album, on which Ka made the lone featured appearance. Song of Sage: Post Panic! was out before the end of 2020 with Elsesser's rising profile demonstrated by verses from Yasiin Bey and Billy Woods. (By then, Elsesser's production credits included a handful of tracks on Shrines, Woods' and Elucid's fourth album as Armand Hammer.) During 2021 and 2022, Elsesser's increasingly prolific solo activity was highlighted by the full-length Navy's Reprise. The rapper signed a licensing deal with Def Jam, issuing Ways of Knowing, an album recorded over a four-year span with Los Angeles-based producer Budgie, in 2023. The Def Jam affiliation proved to be a one-off, but Elsesser quickly returned with Memoirs in Armour and The Sword & The Soaring issued respectively in 2024 and 2025. The latter, centering themes related to the archangel Michael, saw Elsesser mourning the death of Ka. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi