Rocking a new set of nails from King Nails in Detroit, rapper Rico Nasty was spying on fans as they lined up outside the venue ahead of her Michigan concert Tuesday night.
The Oct. 7 show was the 11th stop on Nasty’s “Lethal” North American Tour in support of her latest album, also called “LETHAL,” that dropped in May.
While some get their spot in line even before Nasty arrives at her next tour stop, the rapper joked that she would like to see a little bit more effort from her fans.
“I want them to be like the Grateful Dead, though, so it’s not enough for me,” Nasty, whose real name is Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly, said. “I’m like, ‘Why are you guys not following the bus?’ Come on. What happened to fandom?”
Jokes aside, the Maryland rapper does feel her fans’ devotion whenever she is in their presence — especially when it comes to their outfits that embody Nasty’s “sugar trap” aesthetic.
“Sometimes I’ll be on the bus all day until it’s time to go in the venue and I just see them and I’ll be like, ‘Damn, they look fly,’” she said. “But I also am like, ‘Oh, OK. They’re watching. I love it.’”
In addition, Nasty often gets fashion tips from her fans. When they’re not suggesting certain brands, concertgoers are literally trying to hand the artist articles of clothing at her shows.
“They give me wigs. They’ll give me nails. Yeah, they’re very kind and creative,” Nasty said. “We’re like a whole ass community. They put me on to stuff. They bring me stuff. They’re always letting me know what’s cool.”
Aside from every concert being “the epitome of a Black alt fashion show,” no Rico Nasty show would be complete without a mosh pit.
Fans should expect to “get tossed around, wear big shoes [and] drink your water” when the rapper plays the House of Blues in Boston next Wednesday, Oct. 14.
“The point is to release your inhibitions,” Nasty said of the extremely physical concert ritual. “If you don’t want to do that, then just listen to me on the playlist. It’s fine.”
Nasty’s mind instantly goes to the hit 2012 film “Ted” and Boston’s distinctive accent when she thinks of the city. However, there is a less flattering association she has with Boston that originated from a previous show.
“The very first time I ever had a tour in Boston, someone literally stole a piece of merch, and I had to get it from them. I had to chase them down,” Nasty recalled. “It’s so Boston-coded.”
Despite this rather unpleasant interaction, the rapper praised Bostonians for their bold personalities that put them on par with another notorious city population in the Northeast.
“You guys are very ballsy. You guys aren’t afraid of [expletive]. I love it there,” Nasty said. “You go to Boston, and it’s a rude awakening. You guys give very much New York vibes.”
“LETHAL” is Nasty’s third studio album and first project with her new label, Fueled By Ramen. The release marks a return to Nasty’s signature “aggressive grit” as heard on her earlier works, including her breakthrough project, 2020’s “Nightmare Vacation.” It also signifies a new era of creative freedom that the rapper said she lacked under her previous label, Atlantic Records.
“I’ve always been the type to be hands on when it comes to production. I’ve never been like the type of person that just hops on a beat. I’m always helping,” Nasty said of her creative process.
“So I think when they started hindering me with production, it was just like, ‘Let me just do my own thing now.’ So I definitely feel like you can hear it on the album.”
Nasty said the song “SON OF A GUN” is the album’s best example of her returning to the “kind of rage” that’s heard in some of her biggest songs. This includes her 2018 platinum-certified hit “Smack A Bitch” that helped her gain wider recognition, mostly thanks to its virality on apps such as the now-discontinued Musical.ly and TikTok.
Not only was “SON OF A GUN” one of Nasty’s favorite songs to make, the track almost didn’t make it onto “LETHAL.”
“I damn near turned the album in, and ‘SON OF A GUN’ was not on there,” she said. “It’s one of those things where you turn the album in, but it’s not really done. Like, it’s not really done done. I kept working on it. I did not stop working on it.”
“We had records like that, and I just remember making ‘SON OF A GUN’ and I immediately knew,” she continued. “Immediately after I made it, I went outside. I smoked a blunt. And I called my manager and I was like, ‘We got it, bro. We [expletive] got it. We did it.’ And she was like, ‘Oh, my God. OK, let’s get the ball rolling on that one.’”
Nasty then got her label’s blessing and included the track on “LETHAL” even after the album was essentially finished. Not only that, “SON OF A GUN” got its own video after Nasty had already released ones for the singles “CRASH,” “BUTTERFLY KISSES/CAN’T WIN EM ALL,” “ON THE LOW” and “TEETHSUCKER.”
Nasty said the response to “SON OF A GUN” has been “like crack cocaine in the ‘80s,” with her team and fans becoming overly obsessed with the track. Overall, “LETHAL” has gotten favorable reviews from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Clash, DIY and Kerrang! Outside opinions aside, Nasty is more proud that she stuck to her own guns putting out the music she felt so strongly about.
“I was really just happy about being right and having that intuition, that gut feeling of like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna love this one.’ And then they actually do,” the artist said.
Fans can also expect to get a deluxe version of “LETHAL” in a couple of weeks. Along with the new album, Nasty will make her acting debut in Apple TV+ & A24’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.”
The rapper will star in the drama series alongside Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfieffer, Nicole Kidman, Nick Offerman and Lindsey Normington. The show is set to premiere on Apple TV+ in 2026.
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