Justin Trudeau’s eldest son wants to be known as the musician Xav

In this file photo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and son Xavier arrive in New Delhi, India on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, to attend the G20 Summit. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

He might be the eldest son of Canada former prime minister, but Xavier Trudeau wants to be known for his music.

“I want to be Xav, I don’t want to be Justin Trudeau’s son,” Xavier Trudeau told social media creator Guy Hobeika in an Instagram video. “I don’t want to be doing all these cool things because of my dad, I want it to because of me.”

After dropping his debut single “Til The Nights Done” in February, 17-year-old Xav has since released two more tracks and music videos for the songs “Everything I know” and “Back Me Up.”

In a video posted on Friday, Xav spoke to Hobeika about growing up in Rideau Cottage, meeting “A-list” celebrities, and always being tailed by security.

“I learned things in that time that no one else my age is learning,” he said. “I still have security, but I was always followed around.”

The teenager now wants to step outside his father’s long shadow and create his own identity through music.

“It was always a good feeling, until I got a little older,” he said of his unique childhood. “Inside I was like, ‘I don’t feel fulfilled, this isn’t me, I’m not the one who created this for myself.’ Which is why part of the reason why I’m doing this music stuff, is because I want to create an identity for myself.”

Xav’s moody downtempo R&B draws inspiration from artists like Drake and Post Malone. His debut song notably features lines like, “What you know about me, I ain’t like him.”

“That shows me that he’s absolutely leaning into the idea that it’s really hard to escape the shadow of a famous parent,” Toronto-based music publicist Eric Alper previously told CTVNews.ca. “The fact that he’s got that kind of self-awareness shows me that he knows that we’re all thinking that the ‘him’ in the song is about his dad, and that’s pretty key when stepping into the public eye.”