South African rapper Nadia Nakai, known as the “Bragga” hitmaker, says the largest single payment of her career came from the first season of Netflix’s Young, Famous & African, and she used it to buy a home.
Speaking on My Biggest Bag, Nakai traced her earnings from an early alcohol brand campaign to the reality series payday that became a long-term investment.
Early brand payday#
Nakai said her first major commercial deal was with Brutal Fruit, secured while she was still working a corporate 9-to-5 job and building her music career.
“My first biggest bag, I think was Brutal Fruit. That was the first biggest brand that I had worked with, and I was still working a 9-to-5 when I got that brand, funny enough,” Nakai said. “While I was working my 9-to-5, I was still doing music. They hired me and a few other girls, I think it’s the first time I met Sarah Langa, actually. Lamiez was also part of that campaign, K Naomi… and that was my biggest first bag.”
The Brutal Fruit campaign also included:
- Sarah Langa
- Lamiez
- K Naomi
Netflix earnings and home purchase#
Asked about her largest career paycheck, Nakai pointed to Young, Famous & African Season 1.
“I think my biggest bag had to be Netflix, the reality show, especially season one,” she said. “The coins were very nice there.”
Nakai said she put the payment toward a deposit on her house rather than short-term spending. She credited her mother, a financial analyst, for shaping her approach to saving.
“My mom is a financial analyst, so I’ve always had that financial savviness of being able to save money and knowing what I need to do,” Nakai explained. “So that money, I put it towards a deposit and was able to purchase my house.”
