Redress: The rapper Nasty C recently released a new 16-track album titled Free
Nasty C is a changed man. “There’s a lot of loosening up I did within the past three years,” he says.
His latest album Free, his fifth since his 2016 debut, is a show-not-tell declaration of liberation. “You can feel the freedom to create in the way I created the songs,” he says.
After the rapper’s 2015 generational hit Juice Back, he became a teen sensation, the boy wonder of South African hip-hop. AKA wanted to sign him, Stogie T flew to meet him. Cassper Nyovest and Davido jumped on the remix for Juice Back. The game was in awe of his sharpness, especially at such a young age.
What followed was a run that shows no signs of slowing down. Collaborations with stars from South Africa, Nigeria and the US; blockbuster hits; streaming records shattered and an enviable cache of internet freestyles — Sway In The Morning, Tim Westwood, Fire In The Booth — cemented his reputation as a potent lyricist and recording artist.
For the first five years, Nasty C told his story solely through music, letting well-thought-out lyrics map the contours of his life, alongside interviews. But in recent years, he has begun to open up, revealing more of himself beyond the beats and bars.
And, with the launch of the new album, he showed more of his understated charisma and dry humour.
The roll-out, one of the most impressive SA music has seen in years, was as organic as it was curated, showing method in the madness — from working as a mechanic to presenting a current affairs show on eNCA, Nasty C found a way to make each episode quirky.
With Free his first independently released album since parting ways with Universal Music Group, Nasty C is moving fluidly and more … freely.
“I am having a lot more fun this time around,” he says, with an important caveat. “That’s nobody’s fault but my own. When I was signed, I had this assumption that everyone else would take care of anything else outside of making music. I thought all I had to do was make the music and, as far as promoting it, I was, like, ‘You guys are this huge machine, take it away.’”
“But this time around, I understand I’m the one in the driver seat, I have to call the shots.”
“It inspired me to get back in that bag where I’m having fun with all aspects, not just the recording side of it, but also the promotion side of it.
“I like making content, I like being a goofy person, so let me get the camera a bit closer this time and see what happens.”
Free captures Nasty C’s evolution into a man unafraid to share his domestic life online, a far cry from the reclusive persona of his early career when he interacted with fans and artists purely about music and culture.
These days he doesn’t mind showing himself changing his son’s nappy and quiet, playful moments with his partner, Sammie Heavens.
Fans and artists alike can’t help but be delighted to witness the boy wonder growing into a family man — effortlessly cool, not by chasing the cool, but by pursuing a sense of self.
“I’m really lucky,” he says. “My girlfriend is the perfect match for me. She’s just as goofy, playful and unserious as I am.
“The contrast of having the most fun at home, while being bored out of my mind at the places we’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves … that contrast made things clear for me.”
Nasty C’s previous album I Love It Here, released after the birth of his son, served as a family portrait, documenting both joy and reckoning.
Across the record, he revisited his mother’s death, explored mending his relationship with his father, embraced fatherhood and claimed personal freedom on the track Release Me, rapping over DJ Khalil’s soul sample: “I’m so, so guilty of not letting my fans see the real me / I’m so, so guilty of lying about the things that I get up to on the weekly.”
That candidness signalled a turning point for the rapper. Nasty C was no longer defined by the trappings of the rapper persona.
“It started with not enjoying the company of my friends at the time,” he says. “We were doing the typical late-night, club, rapper stuff. And then I realised, nah, this isn’t for me. I’m not that guy. I don’t want to stand somewhere all night being cool, rocking shades. I want to do fun stuff, real stuff.”
His transformation has been deliberate, he says. Meditation, therapy, and a heightened awareness of his surroundings and company have guided him towards balance.
“It was as if I was trying to become a monk or something,” he says. “It was intense. I got obsessed with things that are good for me, like reading, working out.”
And, in the midst of that, came ego death, the ultimate sign of growth in rap. “You take the medicine because it’s good for you, even if it tastes bitter,” he says. “There’s a lot I’ve had to let go of: people, situations, expectations that feed the ego.”
While much of Free radiates lightness, it is far from a one-dimensional record. Lines like, “My exes can’t come back to me cause I’m not where they left me / My bitch just gave me a baby, I’m watching her breastfeed,” on Leftie (Dallas Ngcobo) reflect a man in motion.
And, towards the album’s end, Nasty C invites listeners into his most intimate reflections.
On Selfish, he reflects on his relationship: “I speak about loving my partner but also accepting that anything could happen to any one of us.
“I say, ‘I wanna tell you this before God takes you,’ and in the verse, I explore what I would want to happen to my family if I were taken.”
Evidence turns inwards, wrestling with faith and the afterlife. He raps: “Wish somebody had left a clear trail / the rest of us would never see hell / we surviving, doing what it take / sinning for the family’s sake / hope I don’t repent too late and end up with the devil by mistake.”
Yet the song retains warmth through his melodic hook, “I got faith but it won’t hurt to give some evidence.”
“Those are real questions,” he says about Evidence. “Questions many of us carry. We believe in God, but life forces you to make decisions based on your moral compass. Sometimes it’s hard to take the high road.”
But Nasty C has long chosen the high road, even as fans and the media attempted to manufacture rivalries. Comparisons with A-Reece, a rapper who, like Nasty C, debuted in 2016, have persisted for years, with some hoping for an AKA-versus-Cassper-style showdown.
That hype intensified recently when A-Reece announced his EP, Business As Usual, was scheduled to drop the same week as Free.
Last year, rumours swirled about a potential feud with breakout hip-hop star Usimamane, but instead, the two artists collaborated on Soft, the lead single from Free.
“That’s when I got a taste of how fans pit you against each other,” Nasty C says. “Even when nothing is there, people try to manufacture tension.”
To this day, $limes and Ivysons spar online, comparing the two rappers. The AKA-and-Cassper template remains the fantasy, but Nasty C and A-Reece refuse to play into it. When Reece’s EP announcement coincided with Free’s release week, some interpreted it as a challenge or an attempt to ride Nasty C’s wave.
Reece dispelled the notion, posting on X: “If I can keep it a bean, dropping on the same day would actually be amazing for South African hip-hop … Two giants, two different sounds, two different fan bases, one culture.”
Nasty C echoes the sentiment, recalling a conversation with Reece years ago: “We agreed there was nothing there. Since then, I’ve handled these situations the same way. I speak to everyone fans try to pit me against. It dissolves before it even starts.”
Is there any beef between them now? “I haven’t sensed any subliminal disses or any jabs,” he says. “The last times we spoke, it was all good. I congratulated him on his kid, he did the same for me. We even discussed a potential collab with Stogie T.”
On dropping in the same week, he adds: “I’m with him on that. It’s a good moment for SA hip-hop.”
The message is clear: these two legends choose to coexist.
Beyond fan-driven rivalries, Nasty C channels his energy into creative and entrepreneurial pursuits. As he raps on Head Up, “Out here getting it in 100 ways,” he has merged music with gaming in his partnership with the mobile game publisher Carry1st; he’s explored NFTs; and collaborated with diverse brands such as Puma, Mercedes-Benz and Ellesse, proving that his focus extends far beyond the studio.
Recently, Nasty C restructured his company, TallRacks Records, transforming it into a DIY, artist-centric distribution platform.
“The platform works almost like social media,” he explains. “It takes away the pressure of releasing a song and eases the anxiety that comes with it. You can post your track the way you post a TikTok. Back in the day, it was datafilehost: upload, done. Having that kind of control as an independent artist feels empowering.”
In July, TallRacks distributed the inaugural compilation for YouTube freestyle series Red Bull 64 Bars.
“It was about showing Red Bull, other potential partners and fans what TallRacks has grown into,” he says. “There are a lot of things we’re not afforded as artists, which is unfair. Transparency, for example. Being able to track your releases from day one, seeing how many streams you get, how much revenue is generated, and being able to withdraw your money when you need it, those are freedoms artists should have.”
Even with these entrepreneurial ventures, Nasty C remains a full-time recording and performing artist.
He’s expanding his popular Ivyson Tour to more African countries, but with a new, fan-driven approach.
“We’re testing a model where fans decide where the tour goes,” he says, referencing his collaboration with Toorly, a platform that uses fan demand to guide tour planning.
“Touring is mad expensive,” he adds. “Every part of it becomes a huge bill and it doesn’t ease the pressure on the main artist.”
He knows firsthand, after his joint African Throne Tour with Cassper Nyovest, around South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique and Botswana in 2023. The tour was a success, but it came with hiccups and learnings that are informing his next moves.
“This structure,” he continues, “allows us to make informed decisions. Okay, it makes sense to take the tour there because fans will buy tickets. Often, you assume people love you somewhere but then ticket sales don’t match expectations. It hurts.”
Toorly’s approach is to gamify touring. Fans can request The Ivyson Tour to any city on the continent.
“Even though these places I’m going back to, I’m going back for the second, third time, it’s still nice to know the fans want you to come back.”
Nasty C is still carving out space to work on himself and nurture his family, sharing that life with his fans. This, he shows more than tells, is what freedom looks like — a balance of celebration and introspection.