What happens when two dope rappers are brought together to form a fierce team in the game? All the way in MP fate has worked its magic in bringing rappers abd “The Assassin” & Nash “Mr. Nasty” to form the duo First Class Audio. Straight out of Nel-City we chat to the upcoming duo as they give us an insight on what they’re all about, how they got together and their album project which is currently in the works.
What are you guys all about and how did this all start for you?
We are basically all about expressing our creativity. We started this after breaking off from a crew we were in before, which was based in Jhb, and it was always said that we were improving in our spit game, so we decided to do our own thing because of distance issues as we were based in Mpumalanga.
People would say you guys rep MP as a whole, others would say Nel-City specifically. Describe your local scene for us… is it as competitive as other SA provinces?
As freshmen we’re still in the process of getting our break and blowing up. It’s safer to say that we rep the people whose ears listen to our music because in a sense we can’t say we rep all of MP if not the whole of MP knows us yet. Nel-City made us though. Regarding the scene, we personally feel that there is a lot of room for growth. There isn’t much recognition for artists and producers out of the big cities, so competition is obviously not the same as other provinces.
What kind of sound do you produce & what would you say makes the duo stand out from the rest?
We are actually going the diverse route. We only work with what we feel would make good music – so you can expect to hear different types of production in the future or maybe even in The Vision. We have never been dealers of some sort or been “on the streets”, but we are making tracks for people who love good rap.
For most it’s such a norm seeing and hearing artists that claim to be the next big thing within our industry. What do you think causes failure on “the road to success” for upcoming artists? Is there a certain quality they lack?
The misuse of funds & lack of professionalism. The managers also play a part in their downfall. Some just lack vision.
Before the FCA was formed you guys first did a collab on a Mike Will beat, that you say created some hype towards your combo… What was some of the feedback you received?
From that collab, the feedback we got from people was that they liked our flow on the beat & the way we just switched it up.
You got an album you’ve been working on called The Vision. What approach are you taking with the album?
We are actually still working on it, but so far we can say there is a lot of experimental work to suite different rap styles. Not everyone listens to the same type of hip hop. Our vision is to improve in our art, get signed, have our music known by most of SA and parts of the world.
Who would say is leading our local game right now?
Honestly, Reason.
Top Five SA rappers according to FCA?
Not in chronological order… Tumi, Reason, Khuli Chana, PRO & Amu.
Top five international rappers?
Not in chronological order… Eminem, Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lemar, some where in-between Vick Mensa & ChanceTheRapper and A$AP Rocky.
One word that best describes you guys?
Ambitious.
Download and listen to FCA http:/tinyurl.com/FirstClassAudio-READY
@1stClassAudioSA
Written by: Rudzani “@Roo_AT” Netshiheni