This Black History Month, Music Daily is celebrating Black artists, creators, and everyone involved in the music industry. Today, we are featuring Black American female rapper and singer Rico Nasty.
“Miss Rico If Ya Nasty”
Born Maria Kelly in Maryland in 1997, Rico Nasty knew from a young age what she was going to do with her life. While still in high school, she began recording original songs and self-released a mixtape on Soundcloud in tenth grade. After finishing school, she put out three more mixtapes, gaining more traction locally and online with each release. Certainly prolific and dedicated from the start, she’s carried her work ethic into her professional career.
Her fifth mixtape arrived after signing to Atlantic Records. She then released another, Anger Management, this time a collab with Kenny Beats. This release produced her breakthrough single, “Smack A Bitch”. The song became certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in summer of 2020.
In December 2020, she dropped her debut album: Nightmare Vacation. The fourteen-track LP is Rico Nasty’s biggest and best musical creation yet. The anticipation for the release alone put her on the front cover of NME, the legendary English music magazine beloved by both brithop heads and rap fanatics around the world. Shortly after becoming a cover girl, modern music icon Rihanna made her a Savage X Fenty ambassor.
The rising artist made her live TV debut just last month, performing her album’s fourth single “OHFR?” on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show.
Sugar Trap
As well as innovating rap in general, Rico Nasty has developed a truly unique musical style she coined (and later trademarked) as ‘Sugar Trap’. In an interview with the Recording Academy, she described the genre as this, “…trap music like Chicago drill music, Atlanta trap music, Memphis trap music, little bit of California trap music. I mix everything. If the sound catches my ear, I mix it”.
The Sugar Trap genre is but one aspect of her uniqueness as an artist. She’s rightfully beloved for her music, but her fashion sense has earned her acclaim as well. American style magazine W and British style magazine Dazed cite her punk fashion and androgynous nature as proof she’s not just an music artist to watch, but an iconoclast of pop culture to remember.
You can listen to Rico Nasty’s debut album on your favorite streaming services or buy a digital copy on her online store. Celebrate Black History Month with us by checking out more stories like this one we are sharing about Black artists all month long.
