NICE ’N’ NASTY
NASTY C has become one of the biggest hip hop stars in the country in a matter of months.
He has won a string of major awards and has performed alongside other leading musicians since releasing his debut album, Bad Hair. Hot on the heels of winning four statuettes at the Metro FM Music Awards earlier this year, Nasty C has now been nominated in four categories at the upcoming South African Music Awards.
“I’m not really into awards, I don’t look forward to them. They are not something that I think about when I’m making music. It’s nice to get nominated and win, but whether or not I’m involved in awards, I’m still going to make music. I must admit, though, that a part of me was kind of surprised at the nominations I received for the Samas,” he said.
The star is nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Male Artist, Best Newcomer and Best Album of the Year. However, scoring four nominations does not faze this 20-year-old.
“I’m not overwhelmed at all. Yes, I’m a little surprised, but I work very hard so there is no way I can be overwhelmed by my success and acknowledgements. Hard work and prayer pay off,” he said.
When asked if he expects to walk away with any awards come the Samas, he said: “I have no expectations at all. Who doesn’t want to walk away with the award they are nominated for, but I’m not going there thinking it’s all in the bag for me.”
Nasty C would have been included in the Best Video category as well if his music videos for two of his songs, Good Girls and Phases, had not been disqualified because of a difference in air dates. According to the Recording Industry of South Africa, only videos that have already been aired can be nominated before the cut-off date.
Although Nasty C did not want to be drawn into that controversy, he was willing to discuss the concept behind the videos.
“The videos are a reflection of the lyrics. For Good Girls, I think I lot of people expected me to be surrounded by a bunch of skinny, light-skinned girls, but that isn’t the case. The video is a reflection of every kind of girl, big, small, dark, fair, natural hair or weaves. That’s something I really wanted because I noticed that whenever I have performed this song, there wasn’t just one type of girl that liked it, but all types,” he said.
Phases, however, is a little different as it features only the young rapper. “With Phases I didn’t want too much acting, and for me no acting portrayed the message of the song a lot better,” he said.
The rapper, whose real name is David Ngcobo, was also heavily involved in the production of his hit album, even putting together his own beats.
On whether he expected to blow up in the industry this fast, Nasty C said: “When I was putting this album together, I just wanted to tell people my story and I knew that people would be able to relate to certain aspects of it, and I actually consider fans that can relate to it my friends. I never expected to see this success in such a short space, but I did hope that the album would do well.”
He is currently working on new music, but was mum on whether he would be releasing an album any time soon.
“I’m very interested in producing music for other artists and it’s definitely something I want to get into. Right now I’m working on creating videos for a few more singles I want to drop from Bad Hair. I don’t think that I’m ready to put together and release an album just yet. I’m also working on a solo tour for later this year,” he said.