JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
No one owns a song quite like Rico Nasty.
(SOUNDBITE OF RICO NASTY SONG, "ON THE LOW")
SUMMERS: Hip-hop, punk rock and a lot of unabashed feminine confidence. These are the ingredients that have turned Rico Nasty into a genre-bending force of nature over the course of a decade.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHO WANT IT")
RICO NASTY: (Rapping) I walk in like royalty, weed aromatherapy. They front row. They watchin' me. Cash out, then fly to a beach.
SUMMERS: But even after two studio albums and establishing herself as a singular artist with frenetic energy and distinctly feminine style, Rico Nasty wanted something more. There was pressure to conform, and she said she felt creatively stifled.
RICO NASTY: When something works, there's going to be people who tell you to keep doing it, disregarding the artistry and the art of it - of evolving, of coming out one way and leaving completely different.
SUMMERS: So Rico Nasty made a big pivot. She walked away from her former label, Atlantic Records, and signed with Fueled By Ramen, alongside alternative rock bands like Fall Out Boy and Twenty One Pilots. She's the label's first-ever rapper. When I spoke to her, as she released her third studio album "LETHAL," she said making the leap allowed her to expand her range and to feel true creative freedom.
RICO NASTY: I just felt very, like, seen and not ostracized. And I say that because it can feel very staggering being a female artist, and a lot of the market is sex. You know, a lot of the market is sex. But then you realize people aren't coming to the shows because I'm cute. They're coming to the shows because they want to get stuff off their chest, and I provide them a space for that, and I have to honor that. And I felt like I couldn't conform. I have to find a place that honors me and feels like I'm special. Because there's - you know, there's just - there's no way that I'm not - JK, JK, JK.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHO WANT IT")
RICO NASTY: (Rapping) Who want it? Who want it? Who want it?
SUMMERS: Is there a song that you'd point to on "LETHAL" that you don't think you could have made anywhere else?
RICO NASTY: I would say "Smoke Break."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOKE BREAK ")
RICO NASTY: (Rapping) I don't want nothing. I don't have nothing. I don't need nothing. Get the f*** away. I don't like anyone. I don't trust anyone. I don't let anyone get in my face.
Well, as my other team with Atlantic wasn't necessarily blocking me creatively, I think that they slightly were stunting my growth, though. 'Cause I wanted live instruments in the sessions. I wanted to feel like this was a band. I wanted to bring that angst from my voice into the production, and I struggled with that for years 'cause I didn't study music in a way where it's like, I went to school for it and I learned instruments. Like, I learned it from friends. I learned it from spending hours in sessions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOKE BREAK")
RICO NASTY: (Vocalizing).
(Singing) I don't see anyone. I don't feel anyone.
So, you know, when you're asking them for instruments and you don't play any, I don't think they take you serious. They didn't believe that I knew what I was asking for. So records like that just remind me, like, I knew what I wanted. I knew I could do that. And just being able to be with a team that allows me to be vocal. And, you know, anytime that I get to scream, I'm just having a blast.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOKE BREAK")
RICO NASTY: (SCREAMING)
SUMMERS: I always love to know where artists get their inspiration. I wonder, was there something specific that you were reading or watching or an artist that you were listening to that really inspired the direction that you took with "LETHAL"?
RICO NASTY: Oof. I feel like I was inspired by life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEETHSUCKER (YEA3X)")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We up in this b***. We up, we up in this b***.
I was so inspired by life because, you know, in making this album, you know, there were moments that were harder than others. There was periods in my life that were happening that I had thought I couldn't overcome. And when I did, like, just being able to see the other side, that things can get better. So I just wanted a body of work that encapsulates that, encapsulates the cockiness of it all, and thinking you're the best and, like, feeling like you're the worst sometimes, you know? Like, I think it's superhuman.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEETHSUCKER (YEA3X)")
RICO NASTY: (Vocalizing) Yeah, yeah, yeah. (Rapping) We up in this b****, kick my feet up in this b****.
SUMMERS: You talk about those moments that are maybe harder or tougher than others. Is there a song on "LETHAL" that was born out of one of those difficult moments that you could tell us about?
RICO NASTY: I think "Can't Win Em All."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN'T WIN EM ALL")
RICO NASTY: (Rapping) Crash out, go AWOL. I don't wanna talk. Red flags, I seen them but I let you walk. Outline all my issues, should've wrote in chalk. You wouldn't believe all the s*** that I saw.
I'm sure first listen, most people would think that it's about, you know, a relationship. But it's not just about, like, relationship. It's about, like, what do you do when you try your best to win everyone over and you just can't? There's just people out there sometimes who just don't like you. And I think being a Black woman in America, that's something I felt the need to touch on - super, super passionate about it because of everything that's happening right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN'T WIN EM ALL")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Put you on a pedestal, put you on the game. It's already clear that you wouldn't do the same. Before you got with me, you didn't have a name. How can you look at yourself? You should be ashamed.
And I just wanted young women listening to my music to understand that you don't have to break your back to fit into the cookie-cutter fit of what people think you should be. Like, there's no way - impossible - you can win everyone over, and that's OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN'T WIN EM ALL")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Scared of the fall. Is it ever enough? Can't win 'em all.
SUMMERS: I can't let you go without asking about "Smile" because it's such a beautiful song and such a loving ode that I think resonates for any of us who have kids in our lives that we're caring for.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMILE")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Rub your back till you fall asleep. Can't believe you belong to me. Every day is everything.
Well, I feel like throughout the timeline of making this album, I have woken up every day, and I take my son to school, and I pick him up. And I spend every day with my kid, and I would not be the person that I am if it wasn't for him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMILE")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) The best parts of me. It's true that I'm only smiling 'cause of you.
You know, you go through up and downs in your career. You go through moments where everybody hates you, and you're the ugliest person on Earth. And then - and you're laying in the bed, and you're scrolling, and you're reading the stuff people are saying about you, you know? And then your kid comes in your room, and they're doing something crazy and funny, and you're just like, why do I even care about these people? Like, life is right in front of me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMILE")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Only 'cause of you.
And I'll just always be thankful for all of the laughs that he's given me over the years. He's the funniest person ever. And I just feel like that song - it was well deserved. He needs a song like that. And I can't wait to sing it for him when he's, like, 20 or something. I'll be like, this is our jam. He's going to be so tired of that song (laughter).
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Rico Nasty. Her new album "LETHAL" is out now. Thank you so much for joining us.
RICO NASTY: Thank you. Have a good day.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMILE")
RICO NASTY: (Singing) Are like mine. Your laugh is so bright. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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