Nasty C, the #1 most-streamed South African artist on Apple Music for four years in a row, has signed an exclusive contract with Def Jam Recordings through a joint venture with Universal Music Africa.  Nasty C makes his official U.S. debut with “There They Go,” his brand new single premier­ing Thursday, March 26th at 4:30 p.m. (ET) with Ebro on Apple Music Beats1.

“There They Go,” with producer Cxdy at the controls, is the first advance track from ZULU MAN WITH SOME POWER, Nasty C’s forthcoming album.

“Nasty C is a unique and forward-thinking artist who is at the forefront of a new generation of rappers emerging from Africa,” said Jeff Harleston, interim Chairman & CEO, Def Jam Recordings.  “Def Jam is a globally recognized brand synonymous with excellence in hip-hop, and we are excited to welcome Nasty C – an international star with real vision and talent – into the family.”

“It’s powerful to be a part of the Def Jam family,” said Nasty C. “It’s an iconic record label and has made the careers of many of the artists I look up to.”

The video for “There They Go” was shot on location in Nasty C’s hometown of Durban, South Africa.  Director Andrew Sandler (who has worked with Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and others) has focused a new lens on the region, where Nasty C’s most recent (second) multi-platinum album Strings And Bling was #1 for three consecutive weeks.

With over 120 million streams, Strings And Bling was far and away the most streamed South African and African album on the Apple Music streaming platform in Sub-Saharan Africa. The album spawned three multi-platinum singles: “King,” “Jungle,” and the radio smash, “SMA,” as well as the platinum title track, “Strings And Bling.”  A further 14 songs off Strings And Bling were certified gold.

An unstoppable force of nature, 23-year old youth phenom Nasty C’s profile earned him a berth on the Forbes “Africa Under 30” list, and the prestigious Musician Of the Year accolade from GQ magazine.  He boasts brand endorsement affiliations with top-shelf companies Puma, Red Bull, and Mercedes.

Nasty C has always sought to make the globe even smaller through his music. He has toured Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.  He has brought his own live performance headline package, the Ivyson Tour, to Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and more. The most recent six-city Ivyson Tour last year was a sold-out smash with over 16,000 attendees in each of the four cities in which it was held (Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Namibia).

ABOUT NASTY C:

For nearly a decade, Nasty C (Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo) has had a singular focus: to push the boundaries of his own potential.  He has been pursuing his hip-hop dreams since childhood when, legend has it, he began rapping and learning to lay down tracks at age nine under the tutelage of his older brother.  At just fifteen years of age, Nasty released his debut mixtape,One Kid, A Thousand Coffins (2012).  He shot to stardom in 2014, with his boundary-breaking second mixtape, Price City, and “Juice Back,” a continent-wide instant classic smash.  The “Juice Back” remix featured Nigerian muso, Davido and South African rapper Cassper Nyovest. This early success won Nasty C the Best Freshman prize at the highly competitive South African Hip-Hop Awards.

Nasty C’s popularity detonated with his 2016 debut album Bad Hair, which hit #1 on the iTunes local chart and was the country’s most-streamed album within 24 hours of release.  Its re-release, Bad Hair Extensions featured French Montana. The seminal album earned him Nasty C four Metro FM Music Awards, a South African Music Award and a BET Awards nomination. The momentum surged with Strings And Bling in 2018, named one of South Africa’s greatest hip-hop albums by such influential local outlets as TimesLive and IOL.  Nasty C was the only South African nominated for a BET Hip- Hop Award in the Best International Flow category in 2019, and was also nominated for an MTV Europe Music Award that year.  Strings and Bling won him two South African Music Awards and two AFRIMMAs (All African Muzik Magazine Awards).