Nasty C's Fashionista Lyricism: A Literary Analysis of Fashion Discourse in Hell Naw

Nasty C

Upon revisiting Nasty C's music, I realised how under-appreciated his lyricism is in the mainstream. Given that this is a fashion-analysis portfolio, this essay will subjectively analyse how Nasty C alludes to fashion and iimpahla as metrics for success. I will mostly look at his use of different literary devices and figures of speech to convey his point.

'Hell Naw' is one of Nasty C's biggest hits and there are many ways he represents the culture and effort around fashion as a way of curating identity. The line that made me write this piece was "You ain't really hot until your wrist is cold". The use of paradox, visual and tactile imagery, juxtaposition/antithesissssss. THAT PEN? The tactile imagery of being cold so that you can be seen as hot would not make sense if people did not understand figurative Hip Hop and AAVE colloquialisms. This insider knowledge of the vernacular accelerates the paradox — the contradiction feels sharper, more deliberate, because it depends on a shared dialect that flips literal meanings.

It's paradox because, the line contradicts itself — how can someone be hot when their wrist is cold? That opposition between “hot” and “cold” is where the power sits. It’s a statement about success, about how heat (status, desirability, ukuduma) only becomes real when you can afford a specific type of “cold”. The "cold" is a colloquialism connected to jewellery being "ice" or "drip". This creates the impression that diamond jewellery is essential as a uniform signal for success and acclaim. It’s not just about raw talent or energy, it is also about the display of achievement through material coolness. And vele, the essence of Black South African materialism is maximalism, display, ukusiqhomela, ukudla ukotini.

Jalen Hurts wearing he iciest diamonds I have ever seen. Therefore according to Nasty's equation? He's the hottest

The first verse starts with "I'm making music for niggas in suits and ties" this is the use of metonymy and allusion to tell us that his music is being presented to corporate/ businesspeople. Additionally, because the connotation to music corporate/ business is that the executives have money, Nasty is implying that even the wealthy engage with his music. Moreover, his tone is very blasé, and represents the indifference and nonchalance a lot of South Africans perform towards people with power or authority. For example, calling the President 'Cupcake' or not greeting celebrities in the mall. There is this allergy to the 'grootman', 'odogwu', 'boss man' culture that South Africans like to perform even though it's not always genuine. Nasty C even challenges the pedestal that music elites stand on by saying that "There's not a thing I hate more than contracts". Like 'I'm meeting with these businessmen but their contracts are unappealing. Ke sharp ka vibe'. Fashion in the past two quotes was a signal of wealth and strata.

Moreover, he represents style as something you emit; an energy, an aura. He makes this point when he says "every girl I am with is either blessed or obsessed with dressing and looking like Beyonce". The connotation to Beyonce's fashion is tricky to explain because people do not understand that umswenko and style is not just iimpahla (clothes), it's primarily aura; your energy. It's why others look spectacular in a bogart with a white top while others don't. Style is curated around a person's expression. In 2016, when Hell Naw came out, Beyonce's AURA??? The girlies that had a main character syndrome and majorly intimidating aura often got called out for "doing iBeyonce". "Ucabanga ukuthi uBeyonce" or the famous 'The River' reference "hayi sijonge leBeyonce oyiyenzayo". People will always say that the IT girl is "the Beyonce of [insert friend group name, city, etc]". That's impact baby! Therefore, looking/dressing like Beyonce is less about a specific outfit and more about how much presence you have and how much attention you can command - because that is what Beyonce's fashion is.

Nasty C makes many more references to fashion in Hell Naw and other parts of his discography. While others could easily argue that this is shallow materialism, I would argue that this is an authentic reflection of Black South African urban material culture. Vele, people leave themselves in deep debt with TFG and Edgars accounts ngenxa yeempahla. I would do a psychosocial analysis of how structural injustice has fuelled materialism and debt-culture in South Africa, but am I in the mood for serious political convo right now? HELL NAW! Maybe next week.