Courtney Mthethwa, professionally known as Xxc Legacy is a 23-year-old artist. She is from Johannesburg and is a multi-faceted artist that can rap, sing and play the violin, clarinet and piano. She studied music theory and participated in musical theatre productions at The National School of the Arts where she was a part of the class which graduated in 2017. In the music industry, she has worked with Moozile, KiD X and UNCLENERO. Outside of music, her accomplishments are just as impressive. Xxc Legacy has done voiceovers for Coca-Cola and worked with MTV. Her work with MTV includes about 5 seasons of MTV’s Girl Code, Guy Code, Gay Code, Lesbian Code as well as YOUGOTGOT.

Daniel Young: What was your first experience of music?

XXC_Legacy: I think my first experience of music has to be listening to Back Street Boys and Foxy Brown. I remember when I was younger I loved the idea of memorizing song lyrics.  

Daniel Young: Why did you decide to further your music career? 

XXC_Legacy: I think I discovered or let me say my parents discovered that I have a love for instruments when I was four years old. It’s important for parents to pay attention to what their kids like doing. I had my first violin lesson at the age of four, and my parents had bought me a violin and from there I went to an art school where I could broaden my music career and love for music ultimately. That’s when I discovered, you know what, if I’m in the arts, I can do everything. I can play instruments, I can sing, I can rap. I can do whatever I want because I’m studying this at the end of the day. 

Daniel Young: How would you describe going to an art school? 

XXC_Legacy: Well, a lot of people think it’s [like] High School Musical. It’s literally the same thing as a normal high school, but instead of three complimentary subjects, we have two. Then your major would be either music, dance or drama. I chose music. 

Daniel Young: Were there any difficulties with grasping the concept of writing music when you were in school? 

XXC_Legacy: When I went to the school, I only knew the basics, not in terms of the theory, but like I knew what a C code was and d major code. The small basics. By the time I got to the school, learning for me, because I loved it so much, it was so good and exciting. 

Daniel Young: I’m sure like back then when you were in high school, you probably dreamed of stuff that you’re doing now. Did you think that you would’ve made it this far?

XXC_Legacy: I did but when I left high school I went to study business. Then a friend of mine asked me why am I studying business if I went to an art school.  Ever since then, I knew that whatever I did I needed to be a star. We are all hard on ourselves, but at the end of the day, I’m happy with where I am and I’ve worked for it. I’m proud of myself. 

Daniel Young: How do you deal with self-doubt? 

XXC_Legacy: Praying is number one and consistency. It’s important that artists believe in something and are content with themselves. If you’re content with yourself, you are technically going to be content with God and consistency. The moment you doubt yourself, always stay consistent in everything that you do. It is difficult to wake up in the morning and decide that I have to go to the studio or record songs or do whatever.

Daniel Young: What drives you to make music and get up every day to go to the studio?

XXC_Legacy: The feeling of making music. It’s an easier way for me to express myself sometimes and convey what someone else is going through. Sometimes I write music based on what my friends are going through.  Being able to express or convey a specific emotion through my music — I love the feeling that it gives me. 

Daniel Young: What do you think about the current South African hip-hop music scene? 

XXC_Legacy: I can’t necessarily say it’s dead because there are a lot of upcoming artists and people that have been pushing and staying consistent. What I would say to new wave artists is that stick to making one genre up until you “blow” up. Bigger artists are able to jump from different genres because they have an established fan base already. 

Daniel Young: How would you describe yourself as an artist? 

XXC_Legacy: I would say I am a singer, a rapper, an instrumentalist, and a voiceover artist.

Daniel Young: How would you describe yourself as a person? 

XXC_Legacy: I’m naturally a hyper person. If I’m comfortable with you, I will show you certain parts of me. But if I’m not, then obviously you get to see the professional side where I’m enclosed. So I think it’s both introverted and extroverted.

Daniel Young: What are some of the challenges that you’ve experienced in the music industry so far?

XXC_Legacy: I would say that upcoming artists and also established artists will come up with an approach where they want to work with you, but the intentions are not pure. So it happens a lot with the males in the industry, they can approach you to say that they want to work with you, but they don’t have intentions of working with you. So I think that’s the biggest challenge that people will approach you to say they want to work, but they’ve got other intentions. 

Daniel Young: So, how do you deal with that?

XXC_Legacy: I think it took me a while to understand it. I have a lot of mentors that help me. But if someone wants to link up with me, I tell my mentor that this person wants to do this. if they say, I don’t have a good feeling about it, or You’re not going to meet up with this person then I listen because they have more knowledge than me. So it’s important as an upcoming artist to have someone to guide you because you don’t know anything. 

Daniel Young: In terms of working with other creatives does it come naturally to you?

XXC_Legacy: It does. I prefer working with… Um, and this is going to sound off but I prefer working with established artists. The reason being there is no drama there at all. Upcoming artists have egos, and I think it’s important as an artist in general, that you humble yourself and get to learn from other people as well. Upcoming artists have this ego of, you can’t tell me anything. I don’t need anything from you. Established artists are more open to collaboration ideas when you work with them. They can give you advice to be like, okay, why don’t we try this? Or, I love this can you continue doing this? They can give you solid advice.  

Daniel Young: What advice would you give up-and-coming artists that want to know more about the business side of music? 

XXC_Legacy: Sometimes the best school to go to is the “University of YouTube”. Research, research, research. It’s important to research. Know the terminology that is being used. So when they say spreadsheets or they hit you with the contract, you already know what is going on. When they say your music is going to be played on all DSP, then you already know what that means. It’s important also to ask questions. As much as I research a lot of things that I do, there are some things that I don’t know and I’m not afraid to ask questions. 

Daniel Young: What is a piece of advice that you’d give your fans?

XXC_Legacy:  Stay away from drugs. Two, God’s timing is not your time. You could push for 15 years, but when God decides it will happen. Don’t look at other people but look at yourself because your biggest competition is yourself and lastly consistency and prayer are key.