South Africa’s Nasty C and Philippine’s Zack Tabudlo Team Up to Release New Single “Fallin’” with Coke Studio™

Released today alongside new music from Sam Smith, Jessie Reyez and Cat Burns as part of season two of Coca‑Cola’s global COKE STUDIO™ program

[JOHANNESBURG] (July 14, 2023) – Today Nasty C and Zack Tabudlo have released a new song – “Fallin’”, their first collaboration project with COKE STUDIO™, Coca‑Cola’s global music platform, which brings the most exciting emerging and breakthrough artists from all corners of the world together to create ‘Real Magic.’

Coca‑Cola's 'Real Magic' brand philosophy celebrates the magic of human connection and the belief that our differences make the world a richer and more interesting place. It is a celebration of the real-life moments and the magic, that happens when people come together.

The performance video for “Fallin’”, which brings Nasty C and Zack together for an exclusive performance of the track, is available on the Coke Studio YouTube channel.  

The multi-award winning, platinum selling South African Nasty C originates from Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. His escalating success led to his 2020 signing to the esteemed Def Jam Records in the USA, and the release of his third album Zulu Man With Some Power, which saw him making global waves.

 “Exchanging vibes with Zack on this record was special. Collaborating with him was an organic process; we connected creatively and found a perfect balance between our unique styles,” said Nasty C. “I enjoy collaborations that highlight the magic that can happen when artists from different backgrounds come together to create music. I can’t wait for the world to hear what we’ve cooked up!” said Nasty C.

Zack Tabudlo may be the quintessential Gen Z Southeast Asian star of the new 20s: an alternative-pop and R&B singer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based in the Philippines. In 2022, he emerged as Spotify’s most-streamed local artist in the Philippines, next to Taylor Swift and BTS. Zack has recently become the first Filipino male solo artist to achieve 1 billion Spotify streams, with multiple songs charting #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral chart.

“This is my first time releasing a track with a rapper like Nasty C. I’d always had visions of doing more pop-hiphop tracks in the future, so when I heard Nasty C was going to be part of Coke Studio, it felt like the perfect time to do it,” said Zack.

Also released today is the COKE STUDIO™ version of “Perfect,” by multi-platinum, GRAMMY®, BRIT, Golden Globe and Academy Award winning Sam Smith. Originally from Sam’s top-charting album Gloria, and featuring celebrated JUNO-winner Jessie Reyez, the new version adds double-platinum-seller South Londoner, and BRITs Rising Star nominated, Cat Burns, with a self-reflective but hopeful new lyrical take. 

The release of “Fallin’” and “Perfect” follows “Be Who You Are (Real Magic),” this year’s COKE STUDIO™ anthem by Grammy-award-winning American musician, Jon Batiste featuring NewJeans, J.I.D, Camilo and Cat Burns. This release was succeeded by NewJeans and J.I.D’s “Zero (J.I.D Remix),” an Imagine Dragons and the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles version of “Symphony” as well as Shae Gill and Evdeki Saat’s original song “One Love.” More tracks will be released to global music fans on all music platforms across July and August. 

“Collisions’ are central to COKE STUDIO™ and are all about bringing incredible musical talent together across genres and cultures, to create fresh new sounds,” said Joshua Burke, Global Head of Music & Culture Marketing, Coca‑Cola™.  

More than 16 of the biggest breakthrough music artists of the moment have been brought together from South Africa, Egypt, US, UK, Canada, Colombia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Korea and the Philippines for COKE STUDIO™ 2023:
 

• Nasty C (South Africa)
• Afroto (Egypt)
• Zack Tabudlo (Philippines)
• Jon Batiste (US)
• Camilo (Colombia)
• NewJeans (Korea) 
• J.I.D (US)
• Cat Burns (UK)
• Imagine Dragons (US)
• Sam Smith (UK)
• Diljit Dosanjh (India) 
• Evdeki Saat (Turkey) 
• Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (US)   
• Jessie Reyez (Canada)
• Shae Gill (Pakistan)
• Shreya Ghoshal (India)   
• XIN LIU (China)

The COKE STUDIO™ platform is a space for true borderless creation and collaboration amongst emerging and established music artists globally. Curated in collaboration with Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment. It offers the rare opportunity for artists from all over the world to collaborate creatively and experiment with sounds from different cultures, fuse genres to create new music and reach global audiences – whether bringing Punjabi music to the US or South African beats to India. 

Content from the COKE STUDIO™ global platform is available for fans to access on https://www.coca-cola.com/cokestudio.

About The Coca‑Cola Company

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca‑Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest and Ayataka. Our nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

About Universal Music Group

At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audio-visual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information on Universal Music Group visit www.universalmusic.com 

About Nasty C

Nsikayesizwe David Ngcobo, known as Nasty C, is a South African multi-platinum music sensation and award-winning artist who has generated over 1 billion streams globally. Nasty C's talent has garnered international acclaim, leading to his signing with Def Jam Records in 2020. Featuring collaborations with esteemed artists such as T.I., Ari Lennox, Lil Gotit, and Lil Keed, his album “Zulu Man with Some Power” made an undeniable impact globally, solidifying Nasty C’s position as a force to be reckoned with worldwide.

Nasty C is currently focused on creating his fourth studio album, to be released via Def Jam Records, sure to exhibit his innovation as a true pioneer and game changer in the African musical landscape.

About Zack Tabudlo:

Zack Tabudlo may be the quintessential Gen Z Southeast Asian star of the new 20s: an alternative-pop and R&B singer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based in the Philippines. In 2022, he emerged as Spotify’s most-streamed local artist in the Philippines, next to Taylor Swift and BTS. Zack has recently become the first Filipino male solo artist to achieve 1 Billion Spotify streams, with multiple songs charting #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral and Billboard’s Hits of The Week PH Chart.