'Being an independent artist is awesome'

Rapper Nasty C is ready to thrive as an independent artist without a major record label backing.

His new offering, Free, out today, gives music lovers a glimpse of what is to come under his label, Tall Racks Records.

He chats to Sowetan about his new era – from music to fitness and fatherhood.

How is life as an independent artist?

I know people like to connect the title of my album with me being free from a recording label, and they think it stops there, but in essence, it isn’t. You can see from my social media presence over the last couple of months that I am free. It's awesome being independent.

When you’re signed to a label, there are expectations, deadlines, and so many logistics that make you feel confined. So this feels like I have walked away from a hazy situation where I put too much of my trust in other people. Now, the trust is all in myself. It sucks when you work on something and it doesn’t turn out as you expected because there were too many hands on it.

Now, the trust is all in myself—whether things work out or not, big or small, there’s no blaming anyone else, just lessons to do better next time.

Tell us about your new album.

This album is something I started focusing on around the time when I was changing a lot as a person. Having been a new father, there were a lot of things that I had to let go of and free myself from – mainly internal and external pressures. I was also about to go independent, and that symbolised being “free” from a label.

There were a lot of things changing in my life, and I felt it was the perfect time to craft music that reflects where I am in my life.

How long did it take to complete this album?

Some songs I made a couple of years ago, and they were snippets that I put out, but my fans kept begging me to release them officially and to complete the ones that were unfinished. Some songs on the album are over three years old, but I really started locking in and turning it into a project last November.

What’s your biggest takeaway from this project?

Being free from any expectations. I’ve freed myself from worrying about what happens to the music after I release it, which is something that brought me a lot of anxiety in the past. I used to be too attached to the music, especially after I released it, and in hindsight, it made me feel too vulnerable to what people thought about it. It hurts when they don’t like it.

Right now, I tell myself: “Yo, I did what I could with the gift I received from God. I exercised it, and after I release it, I’m just going to let it do what it does and be okay with any kind of feedback". This gives me room to keep creating without worrying about what’s already out there.

How is fatherhood?

I still feel blessed. I’ve been a dad to my son, Oliver David, for two years now, and it’s been an amazing experience to see him grow. That little man has taught me a lot about myself that I never knew I’d be. He’s actually made me the man I am today. I love how smart he is. He has such a great memory – he always mimics me whenever I’m shooting content. He’s such a cool dude.

What inspired your fitness journey?

It was the insecurities that I started having. My shirts didn’t sit well the way they used to because my belly had become an issue; I knew I had to deal with it. I felt it was time to shed the excess and firm up. I’m not the one to hit the gym often, but I took a liking to boxing.

I love the sport more now that I box in the ring. Cassper [Nyovest] and I have spoken about doing a few rounds in the ring, but it would never be televised—there won’t be any cameras either. It will just be me and Cass in the ring. I’m not ready for all of that yet. Maybe one day, just not now.