The highly favoured 23 yr old rapper from South Africa divulges to Reform The Funk about his upcoming album “Zulu Man With Some Power”, his musical roots and why African artists need to tell their stories.

“You can call me Junior,” says Nasty C after the formal introductions were made by his team. We’re chatting on a zoom call around 2pm London time which is 3pm in Durban, South Africa, where he instinctively refers to as home. It’s the afternoon and although he would have jumped from meeting to meeting he was still gracious with such vitality and calmness. Ironically I never once referred to him as Junior after that Introduction because in that very moment we were simply two people sharing what’s missing in the world right now — a connection.

How has It been creating music during a global pandemic, did you face any challenges or have you learnt anything new about yourself?

Yes, these are both true I did go through a little bit of a challenge, one week where I couldn’t come up with anything and another week of complete writers block, just because there was a lack of inspiration. The other side of writers block is always beautiful and colourful because the only way you get through writers block is to try something new. And when you get on the other side, It’s always good as an artist to feel fresh and new.

What was it like going to school in Durban, how has it helped you become who you are today?

I switched schools a couple times when I was growing up. School was fun. I got to see both sides of it because my first 5 years of primary school was in a white school and the rest of the school years was in an Indian school, predominantly black, but it was still and Indian school. They’re very different, when you’re in a white school you have all these things like swimming to make it more fun. But when I went to the Indian school all that was gone. It was like you’re here to study and that’s it. I grew from both experiences it made me who I am.

Were those early experiences the early roots of your musical dreams?

I was lucky that I caught up to this music thing whilst I was still in primary school. My primary school didn’t condone Hip-hop but they encouraged using your skills whereas the other school just didn’t care about skills at all, they just wanted you to learn textbooks. When I got to that school I was already the type of kid that was confident in my dream and I had stuff to focus on. The other stuff didn’t really get to me.

You’re known as the coolest kid in Africa but you also go by a different name “Ghetto kid”. How are you reclaiming that name and using it as a signature for your identity?

When I say ghetto it’s not even just about the appearance or where I come from, its more about the culture where I come from. The ghetto is just different from everywhere else you can go in the world. All ghettos are similar that’s the craziest part. The ghetto for me is a home it’s a place where culture comes first, there is no social standard, it’s just a kid and a grown up. That’s it. That’s the only margin, nobody treats somebody like they’re rich or poor.

What does success mean to you as you continue to embrace your roots?

Success means to me when people look at me like that guy and say look how he did that that’s how I want to do it. He wasn’t very secretive about it, he did it and made sure he left behind a blueprint for everybody else to follow and be even bigger than him. To me that’s success. The way people look at Jay-Z, 50 cent, Snoop Dogg, those guys are successful because they made something that was only cool in their neighbourhoods. They made it cool in the whole world and opened the door for everyone else behind it wasn’t just about them. I want to be able to exit the game, I wanna to do my time, as soon as I feel like I’ve done enough for the culture then, I don’t want to be another product that’s still around. When I’ve done what I need to do I want to exit and start sharing my game. Look at what Jay-Z is doing, he’s freeing guys out of Jail and getting them out of tricky situations. He’s butting into peoples businesses not to take over but to help them out. I want to be that guy right there.

South Africa has a strong ‘home-grown’ sound and your single Palm trees has a unique backing almost like Bhangra music. Do you like Indian music or see cultural influences in Durban as an inspiration for your music?

Yes I do. I guess it kind of sunk in subconsciously, I never do it on purpose, like when I did the beat for Eazy it sounded soo familiar. It sounded like home. I guess it’s one of those instances where it’s just embedded in you.

When do you feel most powerful?

I definitely feel the most powerful when I’m onstage. I think stage is number one and studio is number two. And the times when I don’t feel the most powerful would be in a field where I’m not the best at it, only then. Like when it comes to producing and making beats from scratch, I like making beats from scratch but it always takes me way longer than anybody else. And maybe that’s how I work, maybe I’m just a person that likes to take their time with things, maybe that’s not a bad thing, yeah I don’t feel powerful then. Anywhere else I don’t really ever feel powerless in any part of life. I’ve trained myself to live with confidence not just walk and talk with it.

You mention not being afraid to do a song in Zulu, there are some songs on this album including the highly anticipated “Zulu Man”. What was the writing process like for this?

There’s really only one verse in Zulu, other songs have Zulu now and then. You might hear a Zulu line. It’s just one of those things. It happens in the studio and you just feel like doing it. You do it and it works out and you’re just grateful that it works out.

And the song “Ababulali” what does that word mean?

Ababulali means murderers or killers and I took that from the choir voices that I sampled in the background and really just kids I saw singing on YouTube in their living room. The message that they had on that song is that they take our parents from us—they take us from our parents. They are murderers. When you are speaking it out it doesn’t sound that interesting but when I heard that it moved me. That’s powerful and I decided to make that song about my father.

How does your father feel about where you are now?

He’s so happy. I get to do stuff for him he couldn’t do for us when we were growing up, he had it hard. Me and him never used to get along until I was 18/19 and I really started to get paid and go back home and fix things in the house. Because I was contributing now it gave me a chance because before that we never really had conversation. Now he’s very happy and now me and him are on good terms.

Why is it important that African artists embrace their culture and languages?

I think it is important, because a lot of eyes are on Africa now. There were eyes before but not like this so we have to give them every piece of our story now. It’s not cool that when they think of Africa they think of safari. No, we have so much more than that. So rich in culture, we supply the culture. We can make it as personal as possible but at the end of the day people should walk away and be able to say where you are from and what you are.

The album gets quite soulful towards the end with certain references to god with lyrics like “church on the moon”. Would you say you’re a spiritual person and has that influenced how you make music?

Yes I am a spiritual person. One of my most spiritual leaders is my mum who passed away when I was 11 months old, I don’t have a single memory of her, so in my mind she is perfect. I don’t pray to her but I ask her for guidance and blessings. I get chills and I try and see her in my mind and how she must be feeling watching her son.

“Getting my brothers outta the streets” I thought was a powerful message on your song with T.I “They Don’t” on your new album. How important is it to share the power with people from your community and is that the change you see that will improve the world we live in at the moment?

Yes definitely. One of the things I go by is to lift as you rise. What I mean is to give them something to live for to focus on everyday, because a lot of them are still where we used to be and just chill by the tuck shop, just doing nothing and smoking so I want to give them something to do. Give them a camera, give them a sewing machine, give them something to start. My best friend is my photographer another one of by best friends is my DJ and my blood brother is my manager. I’m just trying to get them out of there, it’s such a toxic place to be in. I know how toxic it can get especially if you know and allow them.

Your previous album Bad Hair also had a visual short-film to match and your hit single SMA featuring singer Rowlene also had 3 parts, how important is storytelling to your musical career?

It plays a very important role because there are different types of people so they’ll like different types of music. A lot of people gravitate to the English story telling type of music so they’ll not want to hear slang or party music and this and that. But some people really need music to get out of certain places that they are at like mentally, so whether you’re telling a love story or sad story or heartbreak or how you lost someone. You have to do that as an artist and you have to cater for the soul.

And obviously talking about feelings did you feel misunderstood when you were young and so was making or writing music your therapy?

I mean the thought that I could create something like a universe or an escape world Just fascinated me you know. Being able to create something that people can take in and be blown away it just kind of got me and I was like wow. I’m actually good at something this is crazy and because I was such a shy kid I didn’t really get along with my parents or a lot of people. A lot of people looked at me as weird so I always felt like an outcast. So once I found something that I was good at that became my best friend.

I guess you could say everyone wants to be weird now. Most of the successful people we know tend to be misunderstood?

Right and that’s what I say, yeah its funny you say that. It’s okay for people to think that you’re crazy because it gives you a chance to do something crazy. They’ve already titled you crazy why not do it.

You’ve recently booked a recurring role on the hit Netflix show “Blood and Water”, this is your first acting role. Do you see more acting in the future and are there any roles you are excited to try out?

Now that I’ve tried it out I don’t really want to. I know what comes with it now and I don’t want to do something that I’m not passionate about. Because I’m not going to go as hard as I go when I make my music. I’ve seen it for what it is. I think I can make my exit well.

If you weren’t making music or acting what other avenue in life would you love to get into?

I would still be in the arts, I draw and I know how to use photoshop a lot at an advanced type style. So I’d probably be a graphics designer. I just like art and would still be in an art space.

7 days till your album drops, how are you feeling?

I’m ready and excited. I can’t wait for people to hear it because It’s so different and the party stuff are still party and the chill stuff too, but it’s so different. I can’t wait to hear what they think about it and how they feel when they listen to it.

We end the interview by talking about our plans for the day and the weather, it was important to feel grounded after such an in-depth conversation. “More press, zoom calls and pushing,” is what Nasty C will continue to do even after the release date. It’s important to remember that if things were different he would be on countless flights with sleepless nights and a lot of schmoozing with friends to spread the word. Somehow I feel like he prefers this: to be in the comfort of his home, releasing an album that in some ways feels very different for him, which makes it all the more personal.

Nasty C’s album “Zulu Man With Some Power” has been released everywhere and is out now.

Interviewed by Funmi Olagunju