Why Nav’s Vocals on “Yosemite” Were Quiet, According to Scott’s Engineer

When Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD dropped in 2018, it initially released with a bizarre mix on the Nav and Gunna collab “Yosemite.” While both Travis Scott and Gunna’s vocals were at an ideal volume on the track, Nav’s closing verse was substantially quieter seemingly for no reason. The volume of the verse was later tweaked, but Travis Scott’s go-to engineer says he still has no idea how that happened and that it was, in fact, a mistake.

“I don’t know what happened exactly,” Jimmy Cash explained in his interview with Genius. “That was Mike [Dean]. I think it was just a little mistake on that.” Dean worked as an engineer on ASTROWORLD alongside Cash, who has worked with La Flame since Owl Pharaoh. “We were just going on overdrive, over time, you know what I mean? We were just doing so much at once.” The album was later updated on streaming services, with Nav’s verse at the intended volume.

As for why they were working at such a breakneck speed on the project, Cash said that getting into a car crash certainly didn’t help meeting the deadline. “I got in a crazy car wreck on my way to Mike Dean’s on the last day when we were turning in the cleans, right after we turned in the album,” he added. “I got clipped by a little semi up in Studio City on the way up to Mike’s. I was okay and everything but my car was totaled, it was crazy. So we were just on overdrive and I think that was just an honest slip-up. Something happened, I don’t know. It was kind of strange.”