SA: Listen to Tellaman and Nasty C’s joint album T’s & C’s Apply

The Durban artists developed the project through several years of working together in the studio, with the collaboration eventually taking shape while they were recording Big Timing for Nasty C’s FREE project.

Tellaman said the session for Big Timing, recorded about a year before the album’s release, helped establish the creative direction for the joint project.

“The moment we realised that the collaboration had a lot of potential to become a complete album was when we were working on ‘Big Timing’ for FREE a year back,” Tellaman said. “That is when we locked in to really solidify what the T’s & C’s direction entails sonically.”

The album combines Tellaman’s melodic vocal and songwriting style with Nasty C’s rap, storytelling and vocal harmonies. The artists move between hip hop, R&B and other African influences rather than adhering to a single genre.

Nasty C said: “For us it has really been about creating something so authentic and so rich in detail whenever we get in the studio. Tellaman brings his own vibe that dabbles between Hip Hop and R&B across melodic flows and hooks, whilst I bring a twist of storytelling across raw bars and harmonic interludes.”

He added that the project was an extension of the creative relationship evident in their previous collaborations while reflecting their individual artistic development.

T’s & C’s Apply was developed over more than a year and recorded during multiple sessions, primarily in Johannesburg. The album features contributions from Nigerian singer Oxlade, South African rapper Blxckie, Lusanda and CrownedYung. DJ and broadcaster AyandaMVP also features as the voice guiding listeners through Isinqa FM.

The album’s title combines the artists’ names, with “T” referring to Tellaman and “C” to Nasty C. It also references the concept of rules and boundaries, which the artists explore through themes of personal growth, vulnerability and self-definition.

Nasty C said the title reflects the project’s broader themes.

“It was simply a play on words that not only serves as an invite into our world, but also as a way to express how we feel without any limitations,” he said. “The project is about the breaking and establishment of rules that make us human, such as living life to its fullest and allowing oneself to be hurt.”

The artists said they also hope the album contributes to broader conversations about genre boundaries and the movement of African music between different markets.

“We hope that the album can shape how people define R&B and how artists can transition between sounds to find themselves and detail their story better,” Nasty C and Tellaman said. “We also hope that it embraces collaborations across various genre-bending artists and countries.”

T’s & C’s Apply marks the latest development in a longstanding collaboration between the two Durban musicians, following their work together on previous releases. The album brings their hip hop and R&B influences together while reflecting their continued development as individual artists.