Nasty C on how overthinking left SMA and Head Up on hold

Nasty C has spoken about a habit that once slowed his music down: overthinking. According to SA Hip Hop Mag, the rapper said it left some of his best-known songs unfinished for years.

Years spent waiting on a verse

He made the comments in a question-and-answer session with fellow rapper Tshego, filmed inside a VW Amarok. The conversation covered personal growth and how artists change their creative habits over time.

Asked what he had needed to unlearn as his career moved forward, Nasty C pointed to overthinking. He said he would get stuck on musical ideas rather than letting himself create freely.

By his account, he could keep a beat and a hook for a whole year while searching for the right verse. Two of his songs took far longer than that. He said SMA stayed with him for roughly four years before he recorded his verse. Head Up waited about six years before he completed it.

Parts of both songs had already reached the public, so listeners knew they were coming. Nasty C recalled that people kept asking when the tracks would be out, and that some eventually stopped believing they would ever hear the finished versions.

A new way of recording

The rapper said he got out of that cycle by changing his process. Rather than hunting for the perfect lines from the start, he now lets his first thoughts come out and tidies them up afterwards.

“I think that’s how I ended up coming up with this new formula to record,” he said, describing how he lets ideas out “just to get rid of that clog”. He then returns to fix the material later.

The shift suggests that, for him, finishing a song matters more than polishing every line on the first go. It also shows that tracks fans know well can spend years waiting before they take their final shape.

What it means for fans

The source does not mention any new release dates or projects. What it does offer is a look at how Nasty C now works, and why he believes letting go of perfectionism has become a key part of his growth as an artist.

This story is based on reporting by SA Hip Hop Mag.