Nasty C, real name Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo, is the voice of his generation. “The Coolest Kid In Africa,” a multi-award-winning rapper from Durban, has dedicated years of his life to pushing the limits of his talent. His albums, mixtapes, and hit singles have helped him rise to greater heights, and the rewards are evident in his appearances (and victories) on South African, pan-African, and international chart-toppers like the South African Music Awards, Metro FM Music Awards, AFRIMMAs, BET Hip Hop Awards, and the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Through a partnership with Universal Music Africa, Nasty C is one of the first South Africans to be signed to Def Jam Records. Nasty C joined a list of music aristocracy with the agreement, joining artists like Kanye West, Justin Beiber, and Nas. The hitmaker’s success story is still being told and being the most streamed South African artist on Apple Music is telling that his story will be told for years to come.
Coco Brown caught up with “The Coolest Kid In Africa” about his musical journey and upcoming feature on E! Entertainment’s E! VIP which will be airing on Sunday, 19 February 2023 at 20:00 CAT on E! Africa (DStv channel 124), available on Universal + immediately after.
How would you describe yourself in five words?
[NASTY C]: Creative. Hilarious. Passionate. Focused. Driven.
You got into the industry when you were very young. Have your musical influences changed since you entered the industry?
[NASTY C]: Oh yeah, 1000%. When I got in, my main musical influence was TI, and then it was followed by Tupac, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Slaughterhouse. I don’t listen to it anymore, I listen to TI still, but I don’t listen to a lot of Busta, mainly because he hasn’t put out a lot of music. Slaughterhouse also hasn’t really put out a lot of music, so I don’t really listen to them as much as I used to. Oh, you changed over the years. It kind of went from artist to artist, but as of recently it’s just been like Young Thug, Lil Wayne, I still like his old music. I still listen to that to this day. And then there’ll be a lot of other new artists, new World artists anyways, like Travis Scott, Don, Toliver, Ivory and those guys.
Your debut mixtape ‘One Kid, a Thousand Coffins’ will be turning 11 years old this year. If it was possible to go back in time, would you alter anything in your journey?
[NASTY C]: Oh, I would alter a lot in my journey if I could go back in time, just mainly because I listen to a lot of the stuff I made when I was younger, and I just cringed dude. LOL. But like, only because of that, you know what I mean? When I look back at it, it’s like I cringe, but like I also kinda salute myself for being bold, to put that kind of music out. I obviously thought it was the best music someone my age could make at the time. So I mean, at least I had that much confidence and I believed in myself that much. So it’s a yes and no answer. It’s like I would because it’s cringe. But like, if you take that away, then definitely no, I wouldn’t change anything. That’s led me to where I am today. A lot of people can listen to that and be like, wow, that kid worked before he got like this. I could do this too, type of thing. I don’t know, something like that.
E! Entertainment Africa has been profiling various superstars and your episode is airing this Sunday. How does it feel to be part of E! VIP. What does this profile mean to you?
[NASTY C]: It feels very good. I feel honoured. It means a lot, man. Just to get my story out there to add more context to my music and the content that I put out is always a great thing.
Can you give us a sneak peek of what your fans and viewers can expect?
[NASTY C]: My fans can expect to get an inside look at how I grew up, the conditions I grew up in, what kind of parenting I was raised under, and what really inspired me to start making music. Why and how I’m so humble. How I stay humble and I and all types of stuff like that, you know? What really makes me me kinda.
Back to your music. What were you up to when you got the first notification that Chris Brown had shared a recording of your freestyle and this Instagram?
[NASTY C]: I was home. He was over there though. I was probably playing Call of Duty. My friend Mark sent me a screenshot of the Chris Brown story in a group chat. We have a group chat on WhatsApp, so he sent that in the group chat and that’s when I saw it. I immediately went on Instagram to check if that was real, and to see how recent it was. And sure enough, I found it! And yeah, man, I was, I was excited. It’s just a really silly thing to experience because I’ve always been a fan of Chris Brown. Just to see someone that you’ve always idolized as a kid, just watching him on TV, seeing them recognize you and respect you for your art.
If you had to switch professions with someone, would it be? Oh, who would it be and why?
[NASTY C]: I would switch professions with someone like swag or Joe. With Tim the tat man. Those are streamers. Slash gamers gamer slash streamers. Just because I’ve fallen in love with gaming on another level. And streaming. And those are the people that I really watched the most, you know? Yeah, I guess, yeah.
What can fans expect from you in the near future?
[NASTY C]: A lot of new music man! I’ve been in the studio cooking up a new album and I have a couple of songs that won’t make it to the album, obviously, but I will be putting them out, whether it’s through collaborations, giving them to other artists, or just dropping them myself. Thank you. I look forward to that. We’ve been coming up with a lot of new live show concepts just to bring something different to the space. So you could look forward to some dope experiences in this regard. A lot of gaming stuff, of course. And merch. I’ve been teasing a lot of merch in the past couple of months. I think in the past year I’ve just been wearing merch that we haven’t dropped. And fans have been getting the feel of what it’s gonna be and stuff like that. We have just been making changes based on people’s comments. So I think we’re very close, we’re in the final stages of just stamping everything with the pool and dropping it. Yeah, a lot of exciting stuff. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Have a nice day!
Nasty C’s E! Africa episode will air this Sunday… be sure to set those reminders to watch this exclusive!
Featured Image Source(s): Supplied
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