Nice to be Nasty: the second coming of a music warrior

Killer album? Acting with Nicole Kidman? Rap star Rico Nasty is back and doing it all her way

- INDIA BLOCK

The best thing about getting older is learning how to stop caring what people think about you. At 27, Rico Nasty, real name Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly, is still working on it. She's been famous since her teens for her genre-bending, high-octane, punk-rap-rock music and in your face attitude, and people always have something to say about her not all of it true. "Being an artist, I hate when people think that they know me. I hate when people hear something about me and they lie," she says. "Realising that you can't respond, that's what makes me angry."

She hit the rap scene hard with a string of acclaimed mixtapes and singles like Poppin, before working with super-producer Kenny Beats and signing to Atlantic. Rihanna recruited her as an ambassador for lingerie brand Savage x Fenty, she worked with Gucci Mane and Lil Nas X, and is best friends with Doja Cat. But still, a quick look online shows most people are asking: did she really jump into the crowd to fight a fan when she was supporting Playboy Carti? The problem, she says, is if you try to correct the record, that becomes news itself. So now, she ignores it. "I don't give a rat's ass what they're saying," she laughs. "Girl, please put that in print!"

It's taken her years to come to terms with the fame machine and rumour mill that fuels it. "It can be hard learning that," says Kelly. "Even though it feels like they have the power because they're attacking you, overall you have the voice." You won't find her crashing out on social media, but she will peruse the gossip channels for her own amusement. "I just let them have fun with that shit now 'cause it's like fanfiction. Turn it up, Miss Rico Nasty. What did I do?" It's a staggeringly mature approach when there are rockers in their fifties who seemingly haven't learned this art of letting go.