South African hip-hop heavyweight Nasty C is kicking off his tour this weekend off the back of FREE, his newest album but it’s not only the music and the eleven country tour that has social media talking. His promotional strategy is a case study in how today’s artists can’t just drop songs and wait for the world to show up.
Artists have to become content creators, influencers and master storytellers. This is no longer optional, it’s essential. And in 2025, that’s where the real game is won.
A recent study found that 80% of music listeners discover new artists via social media platforms, 85% of artists use social media to promote their music and significant numbers of fans are influenced to listen or purchase when music is promoted through influencer or user-generated content campaigns.
Nasty C’s approach especially with this album roll out has been to lean into these dynamics in ways that feel authentic, consistent, and audience-centred and the numbers speak for themselves.
We can all agree that social media has gone from being a social space to being a digital marketplace. Nasty C recently shared what we can only describe as a masterclass in 1:12 minutes using a shopping mall as an analogy to describe how people are always scrolling, comparing, judging and unless you grab enough of their attention, they move on. But if you can arrest that scroll, even for a moment, you begin to convert that glance into engagement, loyalty, streams or even ticket sales.
“Social media is not a social medium, twin. It’s a marketplace. People come here to advertise and sell things. Music, art, nails… Instagram is like a mall, your account is like a store and so everyone that scrolls past your account is pretty much window shopping. You have your find a way to get them to come in, and feel at home so they can start shopping. The haters in your comments section are like people walking into a Nike store and going, ‘this is not Adidas… I want Adidas. Give me Adidas.’ Instead of just walking out and around the corner to Adidas. All good stores have good traffic,” the rapper explained.
“So let the crazies come in if they want because anyone that’s scrolling by they’re just a number. It just looks like good foot traffic. And so that makes a person stop and watch a little longer. They give a little bit more of their time. And then the algorithm goes… ‘people like this guy and then it exposes your [content] to even more people,” he added while proceeding to promote his new album.
From including fan reactions and social proof in promo content to accepting the noise. The analogy of “haters = foot traffic” underscores something many creators resist, which is negativity or criticism still counts if it increases visibility. It feeds the algorithm. Nasty C has also managed to blur the lines between promotion and content, you see the story, the moment, the lens into his life then you also get the invitation to stream, buy, attend. It feels less like a billboard and more like sharing.
For creators and influencers, Nasty C’s strategy offers lessons that are highly relevant, that sometimes consistency and authenticity can outdo big budgets. In today’s feed algorithms, engagement equals exposure. Every like, share, comment, even dissenting comment contributes. As Nasty C says, even “haters” help. Turning window-shoppers into interactors is key.
Nasty C’s insightful post is more than just promo for his new album, it’s educational. It positions him not just as a rapper, but as a thinker about the business of culture. And as the rapper said: ‘Do with this information as you please’.
