Extending the shelf life of his fifth studio album and independent opus, Free, South African hip-hop superstar and producer Nasty C has released the deluxe edition of the project, featuring six brand spanking new songs, one of which being the single “No Typo” and the other being a reimagined “Head Up 2.0”. Enlisting the assistance of his longtime partner and mother of their only son Sammie Heavens as well as the Soweto Gospel Choir, the extension is brief but also shines with an uncanny sense of innovation which was largely inhibited by the safety of the approach of the standard version of the body of work.
Free (Deluxe) | SUPPLIED
With the new songs amounting to a total playback time of less than quarter of an hour, the production, composition, and lyrical dissection of Free (Deluxe) leans more into Americanised influences prevalent in Nasty’s music post-Strings & Bling. Doubling down on rumbling, lo-fi acoustics synonymous with trap music, rattling hi-hats, warped instrumentals and orderly chaos, the voice of the album fluctuates into something altogether experimental as much as it returns home to Nasty’s characteristic musical traits predicated on euphonic musicality braided with strong songwriting and the employment of melodies. This is a Nasty C album, and that goes without saying, quality factored in, that is. However, there is a sense of estrangement from his style in the name of innovation that identifies the album as a product of alien craftsmanship, though the man’s name is an indelible signature unmistakably engraved onto the collection.
What makes the deluxe of Free a curious exhibit is its ability to stay faithful to the controlling metaphor of liberty that the original album lived by while going for the wholesale abandonment of artistic censorship. Here the SAMA-winning rapper is an unabashed sexual libertine (“My Shxx”), a hedonistic braggart (“No Typo”), and a preening himothy cognizant enough to know he’s achieved enough in life and as a musician to walk around with his chin pointed to the clouds. However, there is also the grounded man who understands the value of being held down either by the people closest to him or through divine counsel (“My Heart” and “Head Up 2.0”). The deluxe is a dichotomous summary that might feel like a confused mashup only when listened to without any sort of immersion and investment to the point Nasty tries to fly across on the sextet of songs.
Nasty C | SUPPLIED
Free (Deluxe) offers a familiar sense of intimacy and a good time without compromising the integrity of the former and the intensity of the latter. The songs are everything the tracks of the standard album are, but the key difference is amplification. On this one, the Durban native flips all his unorthodox aces to churn out music that is evidently inspired by his time in the States but without the lack of the finesse and originality that tempers the contents, making them unique.
Check out Free (Deluxe)
