Despite being a clear forebear of the newer crop of SoundCloud rappers that have emerged in the last two years, Rico Nasty hasn't let them overtake her. On her 2020 project Nightmare Vacation she focused on the side of her persona she's most popular for – steel-toed provocation with a metal frontperson's heart – and brought it into underground hip-hop's more rave-centric world.
That continues on her new song "Skullflower," out today in anticipation of her upcoming album Las Ruinas, out on July 22. The influence of Crystal Castles can be felt both in the track's distorted dancefloor propulsion and Rico's pitched-up vocals; rather than derivative, it's compelling to hear her one-of-a-kind flexing, part Valley Girl and part switchblade, processed into the realm of Alice Glass. In the song's video, she dons a possessed Wednesday Adams look and cavorts in a field of sunflowers. Watch above, then check out her previous 2022 singles "Black Punk" and "Intrusive."
