Album review: Rico Nasty – Las Ruinas

Rico Nasty explained her musical manifesto in her recent cover story with Kerrang!. “I treat genre like a bitch on the street,” she said. “I think genre deserves to get bent and broken. I don’t ever look at genre; I only look at vibes.”

Rico’s new mixtape, Las Ruinas, undoubtedly abides by that mantra. Trap, hip-hop, rap-rock… it doesn’t really matter how you label these 17 songs. As was Rico’s aim, the vibes Las Ruinas gives off are thrilling, engaging and the mark of an artist who’s becoming impossible to ignore.

There’s plenty of aggression on show throughout Las Ruinas. Opening track Intrusive finds Rico singing about how she’s ‘Only here to smoke blunts and spit on racist cunts’ over some belligerent hip-hop beats, while the venom with which she delivers Black Punk makes for another winner. Across the board, she sells her material with enthusiasm and an appealing zero-fucks-given attitude, something from which the excellent Gotta Get Paid, Blow Me and Dance Scream all benefit.

Of the numerous collaborations present, trap number Watch Your Man – which features Marshmello, a previous collaborator YUNGBLUD and A Day To Remember – stands out, while Rico demonstrates her ability to rein things in considerably on emotional acoustic track Easy.

It all makes for a record which never really sags – an impressive feat for a mixtape of 17 songs, none of which are interludes – and instead engages the listener throughout, with a constant stream of fresh ideas thrown into the pot. When it comes to rock and hip-hop colliding, this is the sound of the future.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Denzel Curry, Nova Twins, Ashnikko

Las Ruinas is out now via Sugar Trap