Here's What It's Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

By Nandi Howard · Updated October 23, 2020

When we walked into Rico Nasty’s hotel room, to our surprise it was pretty empty. No hairstylist, makeup artist, or stylist in sight. This was shocking considering the maintenance a female entertainer usually requires. Instead, Rico had a few suitcases filled with designer digs and a bathroom covered in makeup and skin products. After coming off the road for two-weeks, Afropunk was the last stop for this raging queen.

In the short time Rico Nasty has made it mainstream, (she had a prominent Soundcloud presence) the 22-year-old has managed to make groundbreaking moves. Her aesthetic is a mixture of rock and rap and her confidence beams through her eclectic style and spanking music. “I don’t know why black women are scared to rage, we got more shit to be mad about than anybody else on the f– planet.”

Rico’s authenticity is easily why she is a fan favorite. She’s proven that black women can be angry without shame, express themselves through different facets of fashion, and rock a spiked mohawk if they want.

Here’s what it’s like to get ready with Rico Nasty below.

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I was going through a depression. I was trying to find myself so I cut all my f– hair off. Too short for braids, too short for a bob. I called my hairstylist and I was like, “You think you could do spikes? I was beyond nervous. I was like, “Oh my God, I look a mess.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I’m never going to be one of those girls who’s just beautiful. Just effortlessly. I’m never going to be that. I’m too rugged. I’m too hard for that shit. So if I’m not going to be that, then I need to find my identity. I felt like that was my identity. I felt like myself.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I would Google, “What did Rihanna wear last night?” I would try to find my own way to wear this shit. I would watch a lot of interviews of not Rihanna, but Joan Jett. I’m really obsessed with Joan Jett, because she came out in a time where rock and roll was definitely male dominated.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I work with stylists. I work with Fucci a lot and I work with Haylee Ahumada. There’s been shoots where a lot of people on set were like, “Oh I love that,” and it’s shit that I brought myself.

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I love shoes. My favorite brand is Maison Margiela, because I feel like they always break the barrier of what shoes are supposed to look like.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I was always into fashion. I was really big on Tumblr. The only dilemma that I had was I was poor. I remember when I got my first big check, minus the shit I did for my son, I went and I bought everything on my wishlist. I had like 12 boxes come to my house, everything I wanted.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“My style is random as f–”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“Black women got more shit to be mad about than anybody else on the f– planet.”

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“Expression is the only honest thing we have left in this world. People can fake anything else. You can’t fake expression. You can’t fake feeling. That’s one thing about me. If I’m having a f– up day, I really try my best to let my music get that out of me. Because a lot of times, as a black woman, it’s like, “Oh, she’s so angry. I don’t even think it’s just anger, it’s just expression in general.

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Here’s What It’s Like To Get Ready With Rico Nasty

“I feel like black people are fashion. I feel like people take it from us and sell it back. They definitely are in the hood, looking at what we are wearing. It’s the stuff they get from seeing little black girls on the street”