Anger Management - Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats: Review

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Rico Nasty

is an up and coming voice in rap who has spent the past five years trying to nail down her style and hopping onto some trendy auto crooner beats, before dropping her Nasty mixtape in 2018 after signing to Atlantic records. Nasty was a big change of pace that saw her taking on some much harder beats and a much more explosive delivery in line with the emerging trend of SoundCloud rap. Kenny Beats is a west coast producer who has been blowing up the past few years making beats for the likes of Vince Staples, Jpegmafia, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Travis Scott, Quavo and of course Rico Nasty. The duo has some solid collaborations in their history and chose to drop this album without a ton of promo. 

Review By Lavender:
Given how little notice I was on before this album actually dropped I didn't really get the time to build up my expectations sky high. But I don't really think I would have either, Kenny Beats is a pretty good producer but one that definitely has his highs and lows and I wasn't completely sold on him producing an entire project. Vince Staples AM! was my baseline for this, a project I enjoyed but one that didn't really feel complete. Despite this Kenny's high points on tracks with JPEGMAFIA and Ski Mask The Slump god prove his pedigree. Rico Nasty on the other hand has an incredibly unique style and cutthroat delivery that I enjoyed on Nasty, but she has proven to do one thing very right and not much else that thrills me. Even at just 19 minutes both of the artists manage to show off what makes them special, but also fall into what makes them a little bit one dimensional. 

The low end of songs on this short album is thankfully a pretty short category. The closing song Again is really one of the only tracks I just straight up don't like. It's the only non-banger here and has a sung hook that calls back to Rico's earlier days. It is awfully generic and very trendy and just sitting way under the level of talent Rico has and pretty consistently operates with, tacking on a generic beat and some interesting lyrics makes this a moment I'd rather forget right at the end of the project. Relative is a decent track with a pretty good verse from Rico but it is gone as soon as it arrives and its brevity makes it a questionable entry on an already short album that doesn't thrill me. Hatin pulls its beat and the refrain that serves as its hook from Jay-Z Dirt Off Your Shoulder, a great track in its own right but this interpolation feels unnecessary and doesn't add much to the tune. Finally Big Titties is a banger that features a killer beat and a decent Earth Gang feature. The problem with the song is that the verses are completely conflicting and bring a strangely conflicting energy, with Rico being mixed so much higher the song is full of good elements, but they don't seem to work the best together.

The album gets off to a very hot start with it's two first tracks. Cold is the opening song and an absolute banger that gets right to it. The beat is a rapid fire banger and Rico delivers one of the best hooks on this project with her "None of these bitches cold as me" refrain. The next track Chest Code is an even better banger with one of Rico's tightest flows on this entire album, more cutthroat lyrics and another excellent and exciting performance from Rico. Mood features Splurge and Rico trading off bars with effortless chemistry that never lets the song get boring. This moment could use a little bit better instrumental from Kenny's side but it works even with what is here. Finally Sell Out is an absolutely killer banger that is by far Rico's best performance here. She drops two killer verses with flow switch-ups and a sharp demeanor as well as a killer chorus that makes the entire song a big highlight.  

At just 19 minutes Anger Management is barely able to make much of an impression but what is here has moments of brilliance but is ultimately a little bit mixed. For every great song there is a track that is so close to being great but slips up somewhere and a few straight up duds. This is far from a standout moment in either of the artists careers but it is a pretty decent listen while it's on. 6/10

Best Track: Sell Out

For more hip hop check out my review of Kevin Abstract's Arizona Baby here.

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