Multi-platinum rapper Toosii has committed to playing football at Syracuse

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Rap artist Toosii is taking time off from his multi-platinum music career by going forward with his dream to pursue football after saying he has committed to Syracuse University.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/12/2025 (296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rap artist Toosii is taking time off from his multi-platinum music career by going forward with his dream to pursue football after saying he has committed to Syracuse University.

The 25-year-old made the announcement in a message posted Monday on social media, and a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed Toosii’s commitment to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Syracuse has not released that information.

It’s unclear whether Toosii has been offered a scholarship, or will join the team as a walk-on.

FILE - Toosii performs on day four of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago on Aug. 1, 2021. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Toosii performs on day four of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago on Aug. 1, 2021. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)

“COMMITTED. For every kid who ever had a dream, make it reality,” Toosii wrote, before indicating he received interest from Syracuse coach Fran Brown. “When Coach Fran called, I knew it was a sign from God. So with that being said, Cuse I’m coming home.”

Toosii was born Nau’Jour Grainger and grew up in Syracuse before relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina. He played receiver in high school, and began exploring his return to football this summer by making an official visit to Maryland in August.

As part of his announcement, Toosii posted pictures of him wearing a No. 2 Orange football uniform. The person said the photos were taken during the rapper’s official visit to the school last weekend, during which he attended Syracuse’s season-ending 34-12 loss to Boston College.

Toosii put football on hold to focus on his music career in 2017. He broke through in 2023 with the single “Favorite Song,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. Each of his two studio albums, “Poetic Pain” (released in 2020) and “Naujour” (2023), broke into the top 20 on the U.S. music charts, with “Naujour” earning a gold certification.

The singer and songwriter has collaborated with the likes of Wiz Khalifa, DaBaby and Khalid.

Syracuse finished 3-9 in Brown’s second season as coach. The Orange closed losing their final eight games in a skid that began after starting quarterback Steve Angeli was sidelined for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Jets goaltender collects victory in first start for new team

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Jets goaltender collects victory in first start for new team

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Monday, Sep. 21, 2026

He received the loudest ovation on the team before the puck had even been dropped, with chants of “Stuuuuu” ringing out inside Canada Life Centre during pre-game introductions.

And he heard the love time and time again — with each and every save, in fact — as the evening progressed.

Yes, the Stuart Skinner era is off to a strong start, as the new No. 1 man in net for the Winnipeg Jets made a great first impression on Monday in front of an announced crowd of 13,363.

Skinner stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced in a 3-1 pre-season victory for the Jets over a very young, inexperienced Colorado Avalanche squad.

Read
Monday, Sep. 21, 2026

Well-known Brandon-born rock drummer Sutherland dies at age 58

Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read Preview

Well-known Brandon-born rock drummer Sutherland dies at age 58

Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read 7:19 PM CDT

Chris (Suds) Sutherland, a Brandon-born drummer who was the driving force behind many top artists in the Canadian music industry, has died at 58.

Sutherland is widely praised throughout North America as a talented percussionist with an extensive discography.

He performed with such Canadian music legends as Kim Mitchell, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Streetheart and others.

Sutherland brought presence and “plow” when he played, Tina Faye said about her husband.

Read
7:19 PM CDT

Door-knocking trustee candidate calls for changes to expansive boundaries

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Door-knocking trustee candidate calls for changes to expansive boundaries

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read 8:14 PM CDT

John Baert wants all the school trustee candidates who follow in his footsteps to have far less ground to cover.

The Island Lakes father said he was, in retrospect, “naive” when he launched his campaign in the Louis Riel School Division.

“When I started knocking on doors, I had a goal to hit every single door in the ward,” said the nominee for Ward 4, which encompasses Royalwood, Southdale, Sage Creek and Island Lakes.

More than one million steps later — Baert’s Garmin watch has been tracking his canvassing efforts on evenings and weekends since mid-July — he is about 60 per cent of the way to his goal.

Read
8:14 PM CDT

Relief, reproach from law school staff after disgraced ex-dean’s arrest in France

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Relief, reproach from law school staff after disgraced ex-dean’s arrest in France

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read 5:43 PM CDT

The overseas arrest of a disgraced former law dean who defrauded the University of Manitoba out of more than $600,000 is being met both with relief and renewed frustration in the local legal community.

Read
5:43 PM CDT

Driver, 62, killed in highway crash

1 minute read 10:25 AM CDT

One person was killed and a second was injured in a crash involving an SUV and semi-truck just outside Sanford on Tuesday morning.

RCMP said the semi-truck was eastbound on Highway 3 when it collided with the SUV, which was being driven south on Provincial Road 334 by a 62-year-old Sanford man, who died at the scene.

The collision happened shortly after 5 a.m.

Police said the semi-truck’s driver, a 58-year-old Morden man, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

‘Extremely disappointed’: hunters being turned away near Bloodvein First Nation, Manitoba Wildlife Federation says

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

‘Extremely disappointed’: hunters being turned away near Bloodvein First Nation, Manitoba Wildlife Federation says

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read 6:18 PM CDT

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation says hunters are again being refused access to land near Bloodvein River First Nation, a year after leadership told court it would let them through.

The senior policy adviser for the Manitoba Wildlife Federation said he’s had five reports of hunters being turned away at a checkstop the First Nation set up last year to stop the flow of drugs and alcohol into the community.

“(Checkstop officers) said they’re not allowing hunters through,” Chris Heald said. “They made that clear, and that was the end of it. This is just a rinse and repeat of last year.”

The wildlife federation took the First Nation to court last year after several hunters were refused access to Crown land during hunting season. The federation argued the checkpoint was unlawful and impedes access to hunters, who have the right to be there under the province’s Wildlife Act.

Read
6:18 PM CDT