Nasty C: ‘I want the world to know there’s more than just Afrobeats in Africa’

Last night, Nasty C held a listening session on Zoom in which he played four songs from his upcoming album Zulu Man With Some Power to several journalists.

Asked by one of them if he will ever consider experimenting with other genres such as Afrobeats and gqom, the emcee responded, "Only when I'm featured," and added that he's comfortable with who he is, and has no desire to playing to the confines of what an African artist is supposed to sound like. "I want the world to know there's more than just Afrobeats in Africa," he added.

Nasty C said that he doesn't get intimidated by people who have issues with him rapping almost purely in English with an adopted Southern accent. "Even my Zulu verses," he added, "I kept them for my album. Everyone had been saying 'you from Durban, why do you never rap in Zulu?" the emcee said.

Read: Nasty C's Leap of Faith Into Unlikely Superstardom

Nasty C also expressed that through conversations he had with No I.D, he was able to "organically" embed who he is in his music without forcing things. It wasn't the first time the rapper touched on the topic. In an interview with OkayAfricalast year, he said of No I.D:

"He unlocked something in me that other people were failing to get across to me, like, 'Sound more African.' Blah, blah, blah... He put it in the perfect words, and I understood it. And I implied it in my music. You'll hear it. When you hear it, it's crazy, it's going to drive you nuts."

Last night, Nasty C added that No I.D only produced a song that never made it to the album, but he's responsible for shaping the project's sound. He emphasized that he contributed largely to the album's production, which is the same for all his previous albums.

Nasty C - Palm Trees [Official Music Video]www.youtube.com

Last night, Nasty C shared the cover of his album which looks the cover of a fairytale movie or book. The emcee explained that the idea was for him to not look intimidating on the cover, so when one listens to the music, they won't know what hit them. On the cover, Nasty is wearing a crown and is carrying a spear on his right hand—a weapon of choice for ancient Zulu warriors.

Nasty C's Zulu Man With Some Power is due for release on August 28, and the album will feature T.I., Ari Lennox, Rowlene, Tellaman and a few others.

The latest single from Zulu Man With Some Power is "Palm Trees" which comes with a superb music video. A snippet of the song appeared on Nasty C's mixtape Zulu, which he released in July and was hosted by DJ Whoo Kid.

Previously, the Def Jam Recordings/Universal Music Group Africa signee released the singles "Eazy", "There They Go" and "They Don't" which were all accompanied by outstanding visuals.

Preorder/pre-save/pre-add Zulu Man With Some Power on your platform of choice.

For more Nasty C coverage on OkayAfrica, click here.