Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
YouTube is one of the widely-used video streaming platforms in the world and one day in August, Ryan “Retro” Machiva stumbled upon visual gold.
This led to a collision course with South African rapper, Nasty C (real name Nsikayezwe David Junior Ngcobo) and also American record producer, DJ K.i.D (real name De’Juane Malachi Dunwood.)
But how did Retro get Nasty C’s attention? According to him, his unwavering self-belief and a steely determination to prove himself at the highest level underpinned his eye-catching design skills that landed his design on Nasty C’s profile picture.
Chronicle Showbiz is in possession of screengrabs of Retro’s handiwork plastered on Africa’s coolest kid’s profile picture on social media.
The dam began to burst when social media went abuzz with the news of Nasty C and DJ K.i.D confirming that they would be releasing a song together titled Fun.
Retro saw this as an opportunity to sprinkle some Zimbabwean magic into the collaboration via a song art for the duo.
“I was scanning the internet one day when I saw that Nasty C and Dababy’s producer, DJ K.i.D were going to make a song. I just felt compelled to make a cover artwork for their song before its release,” explained Retro.
The adage, “The more the merrier” came to life when Retro enlisted the help of a friend to design what would have global musical proportions. Together with Kyle, Retro conjured up a Boondocks-inspired artwork that lit social media into flames.
“I didn’t expect Nasty C to see it, let alone DJ K.i.D but to my surprise, the latter did and asked me to send it to his email and posted it on his Instagram story.
“Before long, Nasty C posted it on his story and their fans also posted on their fan pages. The song is still in the vault but they promised they’ll drop it really soon,” continued Retro.
The next question that one is bound to ask is, has Retro spoken to the SMA singer. He has not but said Nasty C interacted with his artwork in a few instances before this latest one.
If Retro’s artistic prowess can catch Nasty C’s attention, what can stop him from reaching his other idol Chris Brown?
His next move will see him designing for Chris Brown and buttressing himself as a renowned graphic artist.
Since 2017, Retro has embraced digital drawing and only time will tell of how far he can go. – @eMKlass_49
Online Reporter