Rico Nasty announces album RX and rediscovers her sugar trap roots

Rico Nasty has announced her fourth studio album: RX, set to drop on July 24. The album marks a reunion with producer Kenneth Blume, who until recently went by the name Kenny Beats. The lead single 'Cupcake' has been released, a track the Maryland rapper says puts her signature "sugar trap" sound front and center again, following the rap rock direction she took on her 2025 project Lethal.

Rico Nasty and Blume's collaboration goes back to 2018, when he produced her breakthrough single 'Smack a Bitch' and half of the album Nasty. In 2019 the two released their joint mixtape Anger Management, which Pitchfork included in their list of the fifty best albums of that year. More recently, the track 'PEPPER' appeared on the deluxe edition of Lethal, and last month 'Rituals', also from the upcoming record, already signaled the return of their partnership.

Rico Nasty spoke candidly about her motivation to work with Blume again in a press release: 'I missed someone that was honest with me. And I missed someone who knew me back then, before I had any success. I felt like if I'm going to get back to doing me, I should go back to someone who can be real with me, somebody who's not too serious or draining.' Blume responded with equal enthusiasm: 'From the day we met, no one has made me laugh harder or pushed me further out of my comfort zone. RX feels like homecoming. This project is a reminder of where she came from, what made us all fans; and a scary look at how much better she KEEPS getting.'

Alongside Blume, Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs also contributed to the album. Brady produced the track 'Butthead', which sits as the seventh song on the nine track tracklist. RX was recorded in part while Rico Nasty was making her acting debut in the Apple TV Plus series Margo's Got Money Troubles, based on a novel by Rufi Thorpe and created by David E. Kelley. In the series she plays the character KC, an OnlyFans content creator who goes by the name WangMangler. The video for 'Cupcake', directed by Miggy, shows Rico Nasty joyriding in an SUV.

Following the release of RX, Rico Nasty will head out on a US tour. Starting September 3, she will serve as the opening act for Hayley Williams on The Hayley Williams Show Tour, with stops in West Palm Beach, Charlotte, Cincinnati and New Orleans, among others. The tour runs through mid October with shows in cities including Los Angeles, where she performs on October 5 and 6 at the Hollywood Bowl, and wraps up in Southaven, Mississippi. For Dutch fans there are no European tour dates announced at this time, but the release of RX and the accompanying tour schedule make it clear that Rico Nasty will be very much in the spotlight during the second half of 2025.