Eighty percent of the best new rappers of the last decade have been female. After years and years of misogyny in the music industry that, lets be clear, does still exist, it does at least seem to have gotten through to some of the people at the top of the industry tree that, hey, if there's more than one female rapper in the charts at the same time, the world won't implode.
So, beefs aside, we have Cardi and Nicki, Megan and Doja. Bubbling under, we have a lot more strong, talented women ready to make the break into arena-level shows. Saweetie, Ice Spice, Doechii, Coi Leray, Kash Doll... the list goes on and on. And let's get this right: If Rico Nasty isn't headlining the Kia Forum in two years MAXIMUM, then something's wrong with the world.
She's got it all. Rico Nasty's rhymes are incisive, intelligent and, in the very best possible way, cutting. Her delivery is rapid-fire and, most importantly, very much her own. There's a little snarl in there, that bit of nasty, which is partially why she's so attractive to the contemporary punk crowd. That, and she performs on stage with a live guitarist as well as her DJ.
She's a consummate show-woman. She holds the crowd at the Fonda, Hollywood in the palm of her hand which, given the length of her nails, is a precarious but elevated position to be in.
And then there are her songs which are either gloriously memorable or rabble-rousingly anthemic. Oftentimes, they're both.
Weighing it at about 40 songs, her setlist at the Fonda was lengthy but didn't outstay its welcome by one microsecond.
"WHO WANT IT" and "EAT ME!" gets the crowd yelling along early, and there are some awesome choices of covers (Doechii's "Swamp B*tches" and Doja Cat's "Tia Tamera"). The set flies by, one killer tune after the other. Teezo Touchdown and Molly Santana join Ms. Nasty at various points, and Paramore's Hayley Williams gets up to help her with "Smack a B*tch," increasing the scream volume.
Towards the end, we get set highlight "TEETHSUCKER" and "Son of a Gun," but in truth the set was packed with highlights. Rico Nasty is the real deal--make her huge!
Photo credit: Emily Eizen, @emilyeizen
