Nightmare Vacation: Review
Maryland rapper Rico Nasty has officially debuted herself to the world, in a major label release sense of the phrase. One of the most hard hitting hip-hop artists has finally made her record label debut with a kick to the face type of album. Did you enjoy Anger Management or Nasty? The artistic styling of a throat punch is back in the best way possible. Rico Nasty’s patented aggressive delivery and harsh vocal tones return, and they’re being paired with loud, bass heavy tracks that just make you want to throw a lamp through your television.
Rico Nasty’s latest project, Nightmare Vacation, contains sixteen tracks and comes in at just under thirty-nine minutes long. This album is less a Nightmare Vacation and more a dreamscape for bangers. The album never gets stale, never feels tired, and is always ready with a new banger. Rico garnered notoriety and fame largely due to her harsher style and punk aesthetics. These things float around on this album in spades. From the first track you know what you are in for. What you’re in for is a wild ride.
The album opens up on the track “Candy.” This intro track is just that, an introduction to Rico Nasty. The track is backed by this pounding bass lead beat with a distorted synth sounding melody that acts as a guide to the flow Rico will be utilizing on the track. Rico asks if we can feel her and after this track we very much can. The following track features the talents of Don Toliver and Gucci Mane. Gucci fits beautifully on the trap instrumental beat. The surprise comes in the way Don Tolliver and an auto tuned Rico Nasty gel together on the track. The two sound like a couple just sharing some booth space and letting us all in on the process. “Don’t Like Me” is packed with sexual innuendos and talk of the lavish side of life.
Rico decides that next it's time for us to be paying more attention. The track “Check Me Out” is a short track with disgusting sounding base, a simple piano chord progression behind that, some trap drums, and Rico pulling out all of her punk sensibilities for the vocals. This track is a less than two minute long banger. In a shock twist, the very next track is the spacey, synth and distorted drum kit lead “IPHONE.” This track is a bit of a departure from the first three tracks. Rico makes a return to the auto-tuned vocals and is doing a great deal more singing. The track is much more pop inspired, yet still maintains the fast tempo and upbeat nature of the album as a whole though.
Next we get “STFU” which is another banger which uses the most bass-centric beat I have maybe ever heard. Unfortunately this track is completely overshadowed by the following track “Back & Forth” featuring Aminé. This woodwind led beat utilizes a unique trap instrumental underneath it and some absolutely fantastic harmonies between Aminé and Rico on the hook. Though the dominant voice through the opening minute of the track is Aminé. After that Rico joins in on the fun with the smoothest verse she puts down on the whole album. The song is just about sex but it discusses the topic in the most glossy way. The song sounds shiny and polished like a precious gem. This is absolutely my favorite song on the album.
“Girl Scouts” and “Let It Out” are the next tracks on the album. The tracks have similar lyrical themes. Their placement on the album makes sense. We’re fresh off the smoothest track on the album. So the next two tracks take us right back to our favorite park in Hip-Hop Land, Banger Mountain. The former is a much more deliberately delivered track with a distorted guitar lead that sounds almost out of an episode of Spongebob Squarepants about cowboys. The latter track is a much more noise rock inspired track where Rico’s delivery is somehow angrier and much quicker. These tracks give way to the electric guitar lead, SoundCloud rap track “Loser.” Trippie Redd lends his auto-crooner vocals to this utterly uninspiring track about going shopping. This track is easily one of the biggest lowlights on the album.
We are treated to the up tempo, trap groove track “No Debate.” This track has Rico utilizing her singing a bit more as she takes us through why she is where she is and how she lives on a daily basis. The beat uses some more exotic sounding woodwinds as the trap instrumental takes the song the distance. Next up is the sub two minute track “Pussy Poppin,” which is about exactly what you think it is. This is just a banger about sex. It uses a metronome type sound to lead the beat on top of the distorted bass and trap drums.
Rico Nasty takes it to her critics in the next anger-laced track “OHFR?” She just wants to let everyone know that she absolutely does not give a single fuck about what you think of her, the way she acts, or the way she goes about her career and music. We also get a little Aminé reference in the first verse and it makes me think of “Back & Forth” again and that is always a good thing. “10Fo” follows and is just another angry banger with a bass that is so big it spills out of the speakers on your floor making a mess that you have to clean up lest it stain the carpet. The real track on the album is “Own It,” which has this infectious synth lead that opens the track before Rico and the rest of the beat flood the track with a smooth flow and some powerful drums and a slightly more toned down base. The track would act as a good closer, however Rico throws on a remix to “Smack a Bitch” and the original version as the real closer. The remix is just a showcase for a couple of underground artists, while the original seems to be on here just to boost streaming numbers. I get the inclusion but it really does take away from the conclusion to the album.
As the album ends, and you wipe away the sweat from your brow, and you finish cleaning up the mess “10Fo” made, we are left with an interesting conclusion to come to. This album is excellently made. Rico Nasty absolutely kills every track she is on. The album leaves me wondering what more is there though. Rico never needs to stray from the lane she is in if she does not want. There are so few people that can appropriately fill it and do it with the consistency that Rico does it with. But when we get glimpses of a softer Rico on tracks like “Back & Forth” it leaves you wondering what an album event 40% filled with tracks like that would sound like. Maybe the sound would come off as more homogenized and less unique but I think it would at least provide a new experience.
Rico Nasty makes some of the best bangers in all of hip-hop right now. She has more than proved that with this album. The issues arise from lyrical fidelity and variety. The best thing about both of those issues are that they don’t actually take away from the listening pleasure of this album. They seemingly remove it from contention for an A, but the album as a whole is still a wonderful listening experience for fans of Rico’s and just bangers in general. A Rico drop will forever be an exciting venture.
The Grade: B-