Las Ruinas
The multi-faceted Maryland rapper’s been pumping out mixtapes since she was in high school. Since then, it’s been a thrill to watch her self-proclaimed “sugar trap” evolve into a sound that’s hard to describe in a nutshell; sometimes she’s a nu-metal scream queen, sometimes a hyperpop raver, and other times she’s straight-up spitting. On *Las Ruinas*, she’s all of those things at once—plus a grunge wallflower (on “Easy”), an East Coast boom-bapper (on “Gotsta Get Paid,” whose production credits include 100 gecs), and a London junglist circa 1994 (“Intrusive”). There’s a bit of contention over whether it’s her second album or her umpteenth mixtape, but *Las Ruinas* might make even more sense considered as a DJ set of Rico’s new material—an uncontainable, indefinable, throw-it-at-the-wall mix of aggression and vulnerability like only Rico can do it, preferably played in a dank basement with a fog machine.
Rico Nasty’s latest project skews wider and weirder, even for her. Combining patented rage raps and tender singing, its variety is overwhelming in every sense of the word.
Rico Nasty still seems to be seeking to codify her brand of balancing horror and pop with posture and vulnerability on Las Ruinas while she still embraces the violent and industry-standard personae of her debut
The Maryland rapper and singer's latest release gets off to a strong start, but ultimately fades over its prolonged runtime