Rico Nasty – Nightmare Vacation

I feel like I should type this whole album review in all caps for Rico Nasty and to express my excitement, but I’ll refrain. Fans were patiently waiting for Nightmare Vacation since early Fall of 2019. Then after six years in the game, she released her debut studio album Nightmare Vacation on December 4, 2020. Rico explained in an interview with Dazed that the album “is not based on one aesthetic,” and that the album includes “another voice” she has created which she does not consider rap nor rock. I agree, as I would not put this album into a box. I feel the best way to describe the genre is just Rico being her authentic self. That’s one thing I love about Rico’s energy and personality she just does whatever she feels is right. But enough of my fangirling, this album deserves all of our attention. Nightmare Vacation has 16 tracks (two being bonus tracks), 6 features, and 5 singles. During the two days following its release, the album did remarkably well. On Spotify, Nightmare Vacation was the second most streamed album debut in the U.S. and the tenth most streamed album debut worldwide.

Rico starts off the album with “Candy” which is one her more chill songs, but she slid on the beat. I like that she started off with this song because I think it showed off her versatility. Some people may be used to Rico’s heavy bass rage songs, but this song gives the reminder that she does it all. We still get the rage Rico we love on the songs “Check Me Out”, “OHFR?”, “STFU”, “Girl Scouts”, & “Let It Out”. On each song, her ad-libs really bring extra flair to the song and you can feel her having fun with creating it.

The album continues with a futuristic beat for the song “Don’t Like Me” which has features from Don Toliver and Gucci Mane. This was one of the only four songs with features, and I think each song choice fit the artists featured. For instance, “Back & Forth” feat. Aminé has a conversational aspect at the beginning of the song, and it flows well. The listener can hear them feeding off of each other’s energy. “Losers” fits for a Trippie Redd feature to me, I don’t listen to Trippie that much, but the few songs I have listened to have a similar dark beat to this, so I feel it’s safe to say he was the right choice for this song. The last song with a feature was “Smack a B**** (Remix),” and I did not know I needed that remix, but I am not complaining. The original version has been one of my favorite Rico songs since 2018, so I was a little hesitant that a new version was released. I feel like each of the featured artist, Rubi Rose, Sukihana, ppcocaine, all brought the energy they needed to come with for the song in their own way. So, for that I like the remix.

“IPHONE” was Rico’s first single for the album released in August of 2020. The song had to grow on me due to Rico’s voice octave being raised for parts of the song, but after a listening to it a few times, it grew on me. “Own It” was overplayed after its release in September of 2020, I feel like. Maybe in about a year when I listen to it again, I will like it, but as of right now I just have heard it too much to give a real opinion.

I love this album and believe this was a great debut studio album for Rico because it captured her uniqueness. I’m very excited to see what she has in store for us next!

Favorite Tracks: “OHFR?”, “Candy”, & “Smack a B****”

Rating: 9/10