For the last decade, the hip-hop magazine XXL dropped their Freshman list — their picks of the 11 names that were on the rise in the genre. This year’s list is a little different, as it includes the most women ever for a new class. Four female rappers — Flo Milli, Coi Leray, Lakeyah, and Rubi Rose — can be found on the 2021 iteration. Upon hearing the news, former XXL Freshman ladies Chika and Rico Nasty hopped on social media to show the newbies some love.
“Big Congrats to @_FloMilli @RubixxRose for making the @XXL list!!!” Rico wrote in a tweet. “Well deserved.” Flo Milli replied, “Thank you Rico, love you !” Chika gave a shoutout to Flo Milli as she’s a fellow Alabama rapper. “Congratulations @_FloMilli!” she wrote before adding, “Alabama royalty.”
As for the rest of the 2021 XXL Freshman class, Uproxx favorites like Blxst, DDG, and Pooh Shiesty can be found on the list. Other highlights include 42 Dugg, Toosii, Iann Dior, and Morray also appeared.
On a more recent note, Chika is just months removed from her Once Upon A Time EP while Rico Nasty found herself alongside Juicy J and Jasiah on a pair of tracks.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group
On June 25, Juicy J will release the deluxe version of his 2020 album The Hustle Continues and by way of announcement, he shared the stripped-down video for album single “Take It” featuring Rico Nasty. The video is shot through grainy, low-fi cameras as the two rappers turn up in the studio while recording their hedonistic verses, exhorting listeners to “take it to the head / Drink it ’til you dead.” The track is vintage Juicy J, with Rico’s unhinged yell-raps providing some extra uninhibited energy to its already propulsive vibe.
At the beginning of 2021, all signs pointed to the new year being an exciting one for Ohio native Jasiah. The prospering act has grown thanks to pushing his limits in a number of genres and seemingly staying focused on remaining true to himself and refusing to conform at any extent. Jasiah’s latest song, “Art Of War,” finds him side by side with a pair of energetic and sharp-cutting rappers: Denzel Curry and Rico Nasty. The trio combines their high-octane energies for an absolute head-banging track, one that should be perfect for the mosh pits that are set to return at festivals later this year.
The track arrives after Jasian dropped War back in April. The 7-track effort came equipped with features from Rico Nasty, Nascar Aloe, and Pouya. However, it’s not only Jasiah that’s been busy lately. Curry reunited with Kenny Beats to drop Unlocked 1.5 earlier this year, a collaborative edition of their Unlocked project, which this time came with contributions from Arlo Parks, Benny The Butcher, Charlie Heat, Kenny Mason, Jay Versace, Sango, and more.
Rico Nasty, on the other hand, is preparing a project to release this summer, or so it seems. She recently shared an image of two prescription bottles with the caption “Rx . This summer .” Perhaps this means the DMV rapper will grace us with new tunes in the coming months.
You can rock out to the trio’s new song in the video above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The rise of Rico Nasty has been one of the most interesting happenings in rap over the last few years, and the screamo rapper is by no means done breaking down barriers. Covering everything from pop-punk to trap on her debut album, last year’s Nightmare Vacation, Rico let fans know this weekend that they could expect something new by summer of 2021. With a cryptic Instagram post of two prescription bottles in a glowing hand, with the RX made out to Rico herself with “unlimited refills,” the rapper captioned the image: “Rx . This summer ” and tagged the artist, Karli Fetz.
For her part, the artist re-shared the post on Instagram with the following caption: “Dream come true for me. this summer, @riconasty x karlifetz,” they wrote on Instagram. “I can’t tell you much but just know we haven’t even started.” When a fan commented asking it his meant an album was on the way, the artist responded with the eyes emoji, an indication that Fetz knows more than they can say right now.
If you’re still unfamiliar with exactly who Rico Nasty is and what she has up her sleeve as an artist and performer, check out our mini-doc on Rico right here. And keep an ear out for more music coming this summer, which is just around the corner.
If someone had asked me what NFT stood for last year, I’d probably list off thousands of answers before correctly naming them “non-fungible tokens.” NFTs have become the new buzzword in recent months, and with reports of some artists making millions off them, it seems like everyone is trying to break into the cryptocurrency art market.
NFTs were originally designed as a way to allow artists profit off of their shareable digital content. Once an NFT is purchased, artists can continue to make a percentage from any further sale. If you’re looking for a in-depth description on what exactly an NFT is, revisit Uproxx’s explainer here, but Jack Harlow actually gave a fairly succinct definition of NFTs in a recent SNL sketch. In a rap with Pete Davidson, Harlow detailed how NFTs are unique, built on blockchain technology, and can be sold once they’re “minted.”
Since March, NFTs have been all over the news, with everyone from sports teams to toilet paper brands joining the craze. But the music industry in particular has been seeing an explosion of NFTs, and major artists like Grimes and Steve Aoki have made a head-turning sum of money off of them. All this begs the question: How did NFTs go from an obscure acronym to one of the biggest trends in the music industry in just the matter of a few months? Let’s take a look.
Grimes has always been a pioneer in music and culture, which is why it makes sense that she was one of the first big-name musicians to sell artwork as an NFT. The singer had teamed up with her brother, Mac Boucher, to release her first collection of digital artwork as NFTs. Titled WarNymph Collection Vol 1, Grimes’ art sold out in just one day and ended up raking in $6 million.
March 3, 2021 — Disclosure
UK electronic duo Disclosure were also early to the NFT party. After seeing the success fellow EDM artist 3Lau had with NFTs, Disclosure decided to produce a brand-new song live on Twitch and mint it as an NFT. Ever since, the duo have continued to sell various NFTs, including a token for the original “Disclosure face” seen in their press photos and album art.
Despite the public scrutiny Tory Lanez has faced in the past year after allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion her in the foot, the rapper has continued to debut new music. Days ahead of the release of his recent album Playboy, Lanez paired two of the LP’s songs with digital art and minted them as NFTs. He also gave fans access to an unreleased song off his upcoming ’80’s-themed album, which has yet to be announced.
Kings Of Leon had a similar approach to Lanez when it comes to NFTs. The veteran group minted their entire LP When You See Yourself, which they referred to as NFT Yourself, as an NFT and sold it alongside a collection of other art. Those who purchased the NFT were able to snag a digital download of the album, as well as limited edition physical vinyl.
Steve Aoki‘s addition to the NFT industry was a 11-piece collection of vibrant digital artwork titled Dream Catcher, and he was extremely successful. A part of the collection ended up being purchased by T-Mobil CEO John Legere, who bought just one piece for a whopping $888,888.88. In total, Aoki was able to earn $4.25 million in the 24 hours that the auction took place.
March 12, 2021 — MF Doom
MF Doom was one of the early adopters of NFTs. In fact, he tragically passed last October just one day after his first NFT auction of augmented reality masks closed. With the help of his wife Jasmine and his estate, more of MF Doom’s augmented reality were once again sold as NFTs in March in partnership with the crypto marketplace Illust Space.
In a statement about the second auction, a representative from Illust Space said: “Due to blockchain’s immutable and decentralized ledger technology, all of MF DOOM’s AR NFT collection will be available for future generations of fans and collectors, creating a new model for royalties and posthumous creative control legacies.”
A few weeks after Grimes made a sizeable sum from selling her artwork as an NFT, Elon Musk decided to follow suit. When he’s not working on the future of space travel or tweeting out esoteric memes, the billionaire makes EDM music in his spare time. As the self-professed “technoking of Tesla,” Musk decided to make a song about NFTs, and sell it as an NFT.
March 17, 2021 — Halsey
“People Disappear Here” An Original NFT Collection available March 17th on @niftygateway. A portion of sales will be donated to @MFPLA, as well as @carbon_180, a NGO dedicated to the mission of creating a world that removes more carbon that it emits. pic.twitter.com/0lPlNc7513
While Halsey is known for her music, she’s also an incredibly talented interdisciplinary artist. That’s why she was relatively early to the NFT game. The singer auctioned off a handful of hand-painted characters she created in the collection People Disappear Here. “The characters are all inspired by figures that occurred in a series of sleep paralysis nightmares I had at home during the quarantine,” Halsey said in a statement. “After seven years of bed surfing hotel rooms around the world, adjusting to my own pitch black cave in California had a little bit of a learning curve. From toddler TV programming evil dentists, a child born with massive claws who scratched her way out of the womb, to a woman who stood at the foot of my bed and demanded I watch her masturbate. They were memorable to say the least.”
March 22, 2021 — Rico Nasty
It’s been nearly half a year since Rico Nasty released her anticipated debut studio album Nightmare Vacation, and she decided to commemorate the release with an NFT. The rapper teamed up with her “OHFR?” video creator Don Allen III to sell artwork from the video as an NFT. The highest bidder not only claims ownership of the NFT, but they also received the physical hammer Rico Nasty used the video, signed by the rapper herself. One of the reasons why she decided to join the NFT fad is that it “needs more women entering the space.”
March 23, 2021 — Diplo
When Diplo decided to break into the NFT industry, he did it a little differently. His series of NFT art, titled Cloud10, was made in collaboration with the artistic duo of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III and features several cutesy animated characters. But rather than opening up the artwork to a bidding war, Diplo and his collaborators decided to offer their first NFT for only $1 in order for “for young collectors to grow their own wealth through the ownership of art.”
March 26, 2021 — Gorillaz
When Gorillaz announced they would be hopping onto the NFT game, it didn’t go quite as smoothly. While other musicians were welcomed into the world of NFTs, Gorillaz werechastised by their fanbase. The band announced that they would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album by teaming up with the toy company Superplastic for a series of toys, collectibles, and, of course, NFTs. Fans weren’t to happy with the news though, and were quick to point out the devastating environmental impact that the sale of a single NFT has. A petition was even created to get the Gorillaz to stop producing NFTs, and it already has over 3,000 signatures.
April 3, 2021 — The Weeknd
Excited to announce that my first NFT drop is taking place on Saturday at 2:00 pm EST on @niftygateway. The collection will feature new music and limited edition art. I developed the artwork with Strange Loop Studios pic.twitter.com/627BO4JekK
After The Weeknd was snubbed for a Grammy nomination in all categories this year despite the success of the album After Hours, the singer has begun to call for greater transparency in the music industry. He’s since decided to boycott the Grammys all together and made his displeasure about various aspects of the music industry abundantly clear. Seeing all the potential that NFTs have to offer, The Weeknd decided to hold a cryptocurrency auction where he would sell exclusive artwork, including an unreleased song, as an NFT.
About his decision to join the NFT market, The Weeknd laid out his vision for the future of the music industry: “Blockchain is democratizing an industry that has historically been kept shut by the gatekeepers. I’ve always been looking for ways to innovate for fans and shift this archaic music biz and seeing NFT’s allowing creators to be seen and heard more than ever before on their terms is profoundly exciting.”
M.I.A. is no stranger to taking her music to unconventional platforms. Last year, the musician launched a subscription-based Patreon page as a platform to share her new projects. Taking things one step further M.I.A announced a 24-hour NFT auction where she will be selling some of her original art for the first time in 25 years. “It’s only now that the appropriate gallery for my work finally exists,” she said in a statement.
Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl teamed up for the surprise collaboration “Eazy Sleazy” in April, which was meant to bring “some much-needed optimism” about coming out of COVID-19 lockdown. But a few days following the track’s release, Jagger announced that Berlin-based 3D artist Extraweg had turned the track into a digital animation, which he sold as an NFT during a 24-hour auction. All proceeds from the sale were divided up and donated between music-related charities.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Since the release of her anticipated debut album Nightmare Vacation, Rico Nasty has stayed busy. She’s already shared a visual component to a handful of the album’s tracks like “OHFR?,” “P**sy Poppin,” and “Let It Out.” But now, she’s called on claymation artists to envision an eerie world for her “Check Me Out” video.
Animated by the studio Open The Portal, the rapper’s “Check Me Out” video sees her armed with Edward Scissorhands-like fingers. She haunts the suburbs, keeping her eye out for her next victim. Rico Nasty eventually stumbles upon a family of wolves, but instead of turning them into a tasty meal, she simply offers her haircutting services.
Ahead of the release of Nightmare Vacation, Rico Nasty sat down with Uproxx to explain how she’s able to easily brush off haters:
“They just always saying something about somebody that’s different, but they still listen to them,” she observes. “It’s just like a new flavor. If I go to a restaurant and they tell me it’s a new dish I never ate before, I’m going to ask questions. ‘What is in this? What’s in this? Where did you make it? How did you make it?’ I’ve never had it before, so I’m going to ask questions. That’s how the audience is. They always ask questions. I feel like they’re never going to be satisfied because there’s no such thing as a perfect human being.”
Watch the “Check Me Out” video above.
Nightmare Vacation is out now via Sugar Trap/Atlantic. Get it here.
Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Hip-hop star Rico Nasty is heading to the big stage. The “Smack A B*tch” crooner is headlining a major online festival that’s happening very soon. Rico Nasty Lands Headliner For AFROPUNK Festival The Washington D.C. native will be a main act at this year’s AFROPUNK’s Black Spring online festival. The virtual concert event is happening on […]
Rico Nasty, the DMV artist who blends hyperpop and hip-hop with punk rock aesthetics, would seem like the perfect headliner for a festival called “Afropunk,” right? Afropunk announced the lineup for its 2021 virtual festival “Black Spring” today, and guess who’s headlining: Rico Nasty. I love it when a plan comes together.
The genre-agnostic festival, now in its sixteenth year, was forced to move online for its most recent iterations by the global coronavirus pandemic, but clearly, the show must go on. The Black Spring show, scheduled for April 23, will take place in Miami at 4 pm ET but will stream worldwide at planetafropunk.com.
In addition to Rico Nasty, who returns to the festival after previously performing in 2019, performers will include Black Pantera, ChocQuibTown, Dawerxdamper, Jup Do Bairro, Seafoam Walls, Seu Jorge, and Projexx. Afropop is also collaborating with NPR Music for “Tiny Desk Meets Afropunk,” a collection of stripped-down performances in the style of the popular NPR web show from Calma Carmona, ChocQuibTown, Luedji Luna, and Nenny.
Afropunk, which bills itself as the festival for alternative Black and Latin artists who are generally overlooked by the mainstream, has previously hosted such versatile, outspoken artists as Erykah Badu, Grace Jones, Solange Knowles, Tyler The Creator, and more.
While Rico Nasty is better known for her rebellious lyrics than her raunchy ones, that doesn’t mean she won’t get sexual when the situation calls for it — and with a title like “P*ssy Poppin,” her latest single from Nightmare Vacation definitely calls for it. The racy video features Rico’s signature surreal twists, but still probably shouldn’t be viewed at work.
It opens with Rico and a male lover in a bed draped with silk sheets as Rico writhes and toys with what looks suspiciously like a two-foot erection under the sheets. Rico also pulls out some silly costumes, dressing up as a human valentine and, yes, as an anthropomorphic penis. In her valentine costume, visual effects put Rico’s mouth, rapping the lyrics to the song, squarely between her legs, letting her “other” lips do the talking. The effect winds up more comedic than sexy but with Rico, that kind of goes with the territory.
“P*ssy Poppin” is the latest single from the DMV area rapper’s elaborate debut, which also boasted similarly wacky videos for “iPhone,” “Own It,” “OH FR?,” and “STFU.”
Watch the “P*ssy Poppin” video above.
Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
love you ! https://t.co/LyaBIr5X24
alabama royalty.
(@oranicuhh) June 16, 2021
.” Perhaps this means the DMV rapper will grace us with new tunes in the coming months.
