Bad Hair & Bad Decisions

by Phil Chard

Friday September 23rd was meant to be the day that marked another significant step forward in South African Hip Hop, a day that would signify the passing of the guard as a new, young and extremely talented artist who seemed to have the support and adoration of all was poised to cement his arrival and carve the first major etch of his career. Nasty C's début album Bad Hair was poised to be a seminal offering. However not everything always goes to plan.

After announcing on Thursday the 22nd of September that his album would be delayed due to clearance issue Nasty reappeared late on Friday evening to declare that the album was now available for download and streaming via audiomack - a free streaming service. The same platform that he uploaded his breakout Price City Mixtape.

Decided to release Bad Hair for free. This is for my family 🙏🏾☔️😤: https://t.co/8WqHyWg7Xu

— Bad Hair 👇🏽 (@Nasty_CSA) September 23, 2016

The response on social media reflected just how extensive the demand for this project was. At the time of writing this Nasty C has the biggest song and album on Audiomack across all genres. In just over 48 hours Nasty C's Bad Hair has generated 245,000 streams and is more popular than releases from Juicy J, Young Thug, Fabolous and TI's Hustle Gang. That in itself is an incredible achievement and a testament to how popular Nasty has become. A teenager from Kwazulu-Natal released an album that has more INTERNATIONAL appeal than releases from some of the world's biggest rappers including Young Thug who is one of Nasty C's idols. This achievement supersedes those of his compatriots who celebrate reaching the top of the iTunes chart, as that chart is limited to purchases made from users with South African Apple IDs.

This is the kind of impact that @Nasty_CSA's Free Album #BadHair (#1 Album on Audiomack) is having on his fans!

— audiosnap on the app (@audiomack) September 24, 2016

So if Nasty C managed to release his album and it basically went Diamond on Audiomack shouldn't we all be celebrating and hailing Nasty C for the Hip Hop messiah that he has clearly proven himself to be? In short- Yes and No.

This is what led us to this point.

Nasty C dropped Price City, one of the best mixtapes to ever grace South African Hip Hop in early 2015. Word of a rap wunderkind soon spread and Nasty's song Juice Back helped break him into the mainstream. He followed that up with a series of notable features, the Juice Back Remix and a 2015 SA Hip Hop Award for Rookie of The Year. In 2016 Nasty then dropped the Price City Deluxe project which was a re-release of the 2015 mixtape of the same name including 5 new songs. Nasty then announced that he had received a call from Jay-Z's Roc Nation which triggered a rumoured bidding war for the rapper's signature behind the scenes. Surprisingly the rapper opted to sign with the relatively unknown label Mabala Noise which opened a completely new set of questions. Nasty then announced that he would be releasing his debut offering Bad Hair on September 23. At this stage Nasty's position as the heir apparent to the SA Hip Hop thrown was all but guaranteed. All was left for him to produce an album that fulfilled all the promise and potential he had shown up until this point. Early reviews from the album suggest that he managed to achieve that.

[button url=https://www.africanhhb.com/2016/07/mabala-noise-just-turned-the-industry-on-its-head-we-try-make-sense-of-it-all.html target=blank icon=windows]Read More About Mabala Signing Nasty C [/button]

So where is the problem?

Well the first sign of trouble came on September 22 when Nasty C announced via Twitter that the album would be delayed due to a sample clearance issue. Clearing a sample is not a new a issue in Hip Hop, it is in fact the bedrock in which the sound of the culture was built. Since sample clearance is such a fundamental part of compiling an album it was a surprise that this would hold the project up. Surely someone in Nasty's team or Mabala Noise had budgeted for this occurrence?

Nasty C fans, myself included, took the news with disappointment. As long as Bad Hair dropped in good time we would all show support and buy it. September 23rd rolled around and Nasty then announced that Bad Hair was now available for free download on Audiomack.

Had the sample been cleared? Had the young rapper decided to release the album without confirming with the label ? Why release an album for free?

While I made an attempt to contact the relevant parties to get some answers I speculated about the details of the album release on Twitter. On early Saturday morning I got my answers from an individual intimately acquainted with the situation.

According to him, Universal Music South Africa had partnered with Mabala Noise on a Production And Distribution deal with Mabala Noise for Bad Hair. What this means is that Universal would pay for the pressing of CDs and distribute the album across various physical and digital outlets. Once those costs had been recouped it would then share the profits with Mabala Noise dependant on whatever deal they struck. Track 10 of Bad Hair titled A Star Is Born features a sample from Grover Washington Jr. This sample failed to be cleared on time and Nasty, possibly overcome with frustration or a desire not to disappoint his fans (probably both) decided to release to the album for free.

There are several reasons why this was short sighted. Firstly, Nasty C is no longer an independent artist. He is now signed to a label that is rumoured to have given him a more than a substantial signing bonus to secure his talents. One of the ways Mabala would get a return on their sizeable investment would be via album sales.

Secondly, Nasty C circumvented the distribution deal with Universal Music who signed onto distribute a paid album based off the demand they estimated it had. Now that the album has been released for free this demand is no longer as high as it was a day before the album dropped. According to this report from Rapport the cost to produce and distribute a Bad Hair CD without royalty considerations is approximately R19 a disc. Based off recent sales and the demand for this album as displayed by its high stream count, let's say Universal printed 10,000 CDs of Bad Hair for a first run. If that math holds up Nasty C cost his label and universal R190,000 just off the top in input costs for CDs that were printed but may no longer be purchased. No to mention costing himself a potential R83,000 in mechanical royalty payments.

A brealdopwn of revenue splits from a R100 CD via Rapport SA Music Report

There is no way to tell how many of the fans that have generated the 244,000 streams or the thousands of direct downloads of the album would have actually bought the album . But it is hard to imagine a scenario where a casual fan who might have purchased Bad Hair legally had it been released via a store, still opting to spend $10 on it, when they can download it for free with Nasty C's tacit consent.

The Real Cost

But all these costings are hypothetical. Let's look at the real costs here. Firstly Nasty C still went ahead and released a song with a sample in dispute. Even though he released it for for free, as we've seen with lawsuits filed against Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller he could still find himself in court for using the sample. Nasty had so many other options available to him with regard to that sample, such as getting a Jazz musician to recreate the Grover Washington sample and produce what is called an interpolation or sourcing another sample altogether. Releasing the album while the song was in dispute was the worst option.

Nasty C could also find himself being sued by Universal and even his own label if they fail to recoup the expenses incurred on this album.

The biggest cost caused by this disastrous release however will be felt by the music industry at large. Particularly the South African Hip Hop community who are looking to build a sustainable industry that pays its members. Without a doubt Nasty C's album was the most commercially viable South African Hip Hop release in recent years. Possibly ever. Nasty C was and still is Sa Hip Hop's chosen one in many respects. He represents the nexus of intricate, skilled lyricism with commercially viable hit making. That is a rare skillset that few artists before him have possessed.

Nasty has built a throng of fans who were clamouring to support him and buy into his brand. I personally feel Bad Hair was poised to go double platinum within 6 months of release. It's hard to argue with that when Nasty C is generating more streams than established American artists who have marketing budgets that far exceed that of Nasty. When the most commercially viable artist in an industry who is loved and revered by a whole new generation who are poised to become the next wave of Hip Hop fans, releases the most anticipated project in recent history history for free, he is essentially devaluing the whole market. What Nasty C has done is tell his fans that an album that takes untold hours to make, with 16 solid tracks and a hit single, is essentially only worth the megabytes it costs you to download/stream it. As it stands the cost of a good album is free ninety nine according to Nasty. If you are a rapper looking to break into this industry or feed your family this does not bode well for you. When the rapper who is literally at the top of the totem pole releases work for free what message does that send to young fans when another artist tries to charge them for an album that is not as popular?

Some might argue that releasing the music for free doesn't affect Nasty because he could easily make back these losses on performances. That is true. But what happens when Nasty is 40 and tired of touring? Or when his music isn't as commercially viable? It is at those times that royalty cheques for PAID releases help sustain an artist. Long after their career has had its time.

There are others who might point to other artists who have released free albums that later found their way onto paid platforms. However in those instances those artists did not violate existing distribution deals when releasing their work. You will also find that artists release free projects to help build interest and awareness in their brand. This interest is then converted into demand which then justifies the release of a paid project. There is a long list of artists who started by releasing free mixtapes before offering a fully commercial debut. With Nasty C, his Price City projects were the appetisers, the streams on Bad Hair prove he created incredible demand, enough to justify a paid release.

Releasing this album may have helped appease Nasty's fans and display his incredible talent to the world. But this was a highly short sighted decision that could prove to be very costly in the long run. There is no way Nasty will sell as many copies of Bad Hair as he would have had the album dropped first for purchase. Ultimately, the streaming numbers may look incredible but NBasty was in ooaition to achieve much more and possibly smash a number of records in the process. He still do it, but we may also never know.

Nasty is only 19. He is young, handsome and talented. Every weekend he goes out and performs to thousands of adoring fans screaming his name and reciting his lyrics. Everyday I'm sure his phone is filled with messages from fans expressing their appreciation for his talents in various ways. That alone is a powerful drug, sometimes it can prove to be too much for someone that young. Therefore I don't expect Nasty to know any better. He is a kid. His job is to enjoy life and produce good music. He fulfilled his end of the bargain. However, his team and record label SHOULD know better. Where was his manager and legal advisor to detract him from going through with this idea? Why didn't someone call him immediately after he initially released the project and instruct him to delete the tweet and album? Why is it that a whole two days later the project is still available for streaming and free download? Even though Universal has scrambled and managed to get it into stores for purchase, Mabala Noise is losing revenue every minute it remains up for free download or streaming? There seems to be a real lack of leadership in Nasty's camp and my biggest concern is if the people who are paid to protect his interests actually have Nasty's interests at heart.