10 Things We Love About Nasty C

South African rapper, Nasty C, proclaims his new era with a new album: FREE. In addition to being his fifth studio album, FREE is his first album since his independence and the inception of his record label, “Tall Racks Records”. Released on September 12th, the Durban native takes us on a journey into his creative freedom through the self-explanatory titled album. 

“With this album, I feel very free.” Nasty C explains. “Free to create and express myself however I want. I’ve grown so much and learned so much over the years that releasing this project on my own label, Tall Racks, just means a lot. It speaks to freedom.” 

The 16-track album spotlights guest appearances from a number of fellow South African artistes. Committed to the concept of being free, Nasty C was in the public eye prior to his album release. From bagging groceries at Spar to fixing engines in a mechanic’s shop to giving fades at a local barbershop, the rapper was fully dedicated to embracing “freedom”. 

“I wanted to experience normal people’s version of working hard,” Nasty C says. “It helps me connect, it keeps me grounded and, honestly, I just love it.” 

Loving the new FREE phase, New Wave discussed with Nasty C on his new album, independence, family life, and his plans to further his education. Here are 10 things we love about Nasty C and insights into his lifestyle. 

We love that you now represent creative independence, especially being the biggest South African rapper. What are the things you feel you have more freedom with as an independent artiste? 

The most important one is the music. I get to make my music however I want now. 

We love your latest album FREE, which nods to your independence as an artiste. What does releasing your first independent album feel like?

It’s just great, man. It feels amazing. 

We love the cultural homogeneity on the album. 16 songs, no international features. Is there a reason why you kept this one close to home?

I honestly didn’t even think of that, it wasn’t really intentional. I really just worked with the people I wanted to work with, I didn’t think much about regions or countries or anything like that.

Is there any other artiste, be it local or foreign, whom you look forward to working with? 

There’s a couple. There’s Jorja Smith, Don Toliver, Trippie Redd, there’s a bunch. 

We love that you self-produced ‘Soft’. Was it your debut production?

No, I’ve been producing. I produced the next song after my blowup single, and a lot of songs on my albums: Bad Hair, Strings And Bling, ‘Hell Naw’ were self-produced also. I just wasn’t really loud about it. 

Do you see yourself ever becoming a full-time producer?

Imma be honest, I don’t know, man. Some days, I don’t even feel like being a rapper. Who knows, maybe one day, I’ll just say I want this whole thing. I don’t see that happening anytime soon though. I really enjoy writing music, recording music. I’m definitely going to be producing a lot of my other stuff and maybe for some other guys, but I won't be doing it full-time. 

We love how personally you took the concept of ‘FREE’. From bagging groceries in Spar to fixing engines in a mechanic’s shop to giving fades at a local barbershop, all experiments mirroring the mindset of FREE. As a famous person, how did you handle the attention that came with those roles?

Funny enough, people were actually normal because they saw what I was doing. I think everyone was shocked but at the same time, it didn’t matter that I was a celebrity or an artiste or whatever. It’s not like I went there all swagged out or with my entourage. I was there with them, so I think they took it in and enjoyed the moment, as opposed to taking photos from time to time.

We love how poignant the album’s concluding track ‘Evidence’ is. The track spotlights a humanlike curiosity that stands between faith and logic. A lot of people share the same thoughts, but are reluctant to speak out in fear of blasphemy or sinning. Did you feel some sort of guilt when you were making the song? 

Nah. Initially, I felt a lot of guilt when I was talking about it. Even before I decided to make it into a song, it was something that was going on in my head for a while. I was talking about it with my friends and my brother. I was watching a lot of podcasts that spoke about it. All that time was when I felt the guilt the most. But when it was time for me to make this song, I already had the confidence to be okay to have these questions, because everyone has these questions, you know? 

We love that Amapiano is making waves globally. Do you feel we might get a Rap-Amapiano blend track from you soon? 

I did a whole mixtape or EP, whatever you want to call it, last year with London-based Nigerian producer, Lekaa Beats. Titled Confuse The Enemy, the EP was a Rap-Amapiano blend. 

I won’t be doing more of it though. I tried it and I had fun with the whole experience, but it’s not really my thing. I’m grateful I got to do that with an established person who’s really good at what they do, but that’s as far as it gets. 

Did you experience any culture shock dealing with the American audience?

No, man. I think the internet makes the world a small place, so you don't feel too much of a difference navigating diverse cultures. Social media integrates cultures, so when you travel around the world, it’s like you’re merely moving from one village to another. 

We love how remarkably striking SMA, one of your biggest songs, is. Was it inspired by a personal experience? 

Yes. Everything I said on the song happened, almost word for word, in a span of 3 or 4 years. (With longtime girlfriend and baby mama, Sammie Heavens). 

Like most African parents, your dad wasn’t very supportive of your Rap career at first. How did you get him to change his mind? 

When I started building him a house. At first, the money I was bringing in wasn’t enough to convince him. But when I started building him a house, he was like “oh, alright”. 

He wanted me to be in the medical sciences or a lawyer or some other professional course. When I was in high school, I was studying to become an electronics engineer. I was terrible at it though. 

After high school, I quit academics. I do want to go back to study now, but I don’t know what I want to study. I think I wanna study business administration or sound engineering, but I don’t think I will do well in sound engineering. I don’t know if I will opt for a diploma or a degree, I’m not very familiar with the differences because I left that scholarly zone completely after high school. But whatever I eventually decide to study will be an online programme, for sure. 

We love that you are taking a step further with education. Why do you want to return to school?

When I hear people talking about their accomplishments, I’m like “Damn, I wish I had that”. 

We love that you are now a father. Would you be glad if Oliver took the music baton from you? 

I will be okay with it because I now know enough to be able to guide him. I will be with him a thousand percent. I don’t want him to do music though, because they would be comparing him to me and he might be living in my shadow, I don’t want that for him. I would prefer if he did something else, but if he decides on music, I will be with him all the way. 

Sammie (Heavens) has gotten into her rapping bag. Is there potential for a collaboration project between both of you at some point? 

That would be very easy because we have already worked (together) a lot. But she wants to put out her own stuff. People try to give her credit with me, so she wants to build her own thing outside of me. She’s going beyond rap too, she sings, and she also does afrobeats. 

We love that you are a superstar who stays away from drama and scandals. How do you balance being in the spotlight and away from the spotlight simultaneously? 

I think it’s just me personally. I stay out of the way. When I do a show, as soon as I’m done, I’m back in the house. And in the house, I don’t record much. I also don’t go to places where people will record me for controversial reasons. 

We love your growth as a rapper. If you had to retire right now, what’s that one thing you’d want to get off your bucket list?

I want a platinum record. Platinum in maybe the US or something. I don’t care whether it’s going to be a solo song or it will have a feature, I simply want it to be my own song—not a song that I’m featuring on. There are a couple of other things that I'd like to do before retirement, but the platinum record is my main goal.

We love your FREE era. Is there information on tour for the FREE album?

I’m doing an Ivyson Tour. Not a dedicated tour to this album, but the Ivyson Tour will be centred around my new album for sure. All information about the Tour is on my Instagram, I revealed it a couple of days ago. Starting on the 27th of this month, I’ll be going to Abuja, Abidjan, Accra, Freetown, a lot of cities. Until the tour wraps up in early November, all necessary information will be revealed on my Instagram.