Nadia shakes rap

THE South African hip-hop and rap music industry is dominated by men… however, over the last few years there have been women who have made it into this all-boys club and have made a name for themselves.

One of them is Nadia Nakai. The 26-yearold, who released her hit EP Bragga in September last year, has been riding the wave of its success.

“It’s been a really great time since releasing that EP, and I am very proud of it,” she said. “Putting it together was not the easiest thing I have done. There were many challenges when I came back to South Africa from Kenya but I have such an amazing family around me in terms of the record label, Family Tree Records, that I am signed to.”

Family Tree is owned by Cassper Nyovest, someone Nakai says has been instrumental in her career.

“At first working with someone as big as Cassper was overwhelming, but over the years he has become like a brother to me, and he has really had my back and given me great advice and guided me”, she said.

“I have had to learn a lot of lessons really quickly, like not trusting everyone and not telling everyone your business, because that has come back to bite me, I have been very naive, but people like Cassper and Riky Rick have taught me a lot.”

Nakai recently released the music video for The Man, a single off her EP that she says she wrote while going through some frustrations in the music industry.

“In The Man I am referring to myself

as the man. Because the hip hop and rap industries are dominated by men, it’s very difficult for a female to be taken seriously and to be given a chance, so I basically wrote that because I am owning the fact that even though I am a female rapper, I am making a name for myself and I deserve just as much respect as the men in the industry,” she said.

Nakai said she would be dropping a new album this year. “With this album, people are going to see a completely different side to me. They are going to see a softer side, and I think that is going to be a surprise for a lot of people.

“My fans are used to my hard exterior and my lyrics that are also rather vile, and without a doubt the album will have that, but also other elements of me”, she said.

“I know my mother will be very happy to hear that this album is going to be softer, because although she supports my career and is very proud of what I am doing, she is not the biggest fan of some of my lyrics. And I completely understand that.”

Asked if there was a sisterhood between the female rappers in the industry, Nakai said: “I think that if we know each other we are certainly cool with each other, but I don’t know all of them.

“I also think that we are all so busy trying to make it that there is no room for beefing with each other, because we are in our own lanes.”

Nakai said that although she was still working on the new album, which had been therapeutic, she did not want to put pressure on herself by announcing a release date.

“I am actually not the best writer; it takes a while for me to write a track, but I have found that process very therapeutic so far and I am enjoying it tremendously.

“I just want to put a great product out there, but I am also not going to put pressure on myself, because I do that every time.

“However, my album will definitely be released in the first half of this year,” she said.