The Singles Jukebox

The score is relatively nice though.

[Video][Website]
[5.60]

Nortey Dowuona: Snarling, buried guitars rumble under the walloping drums as Rico cartwheels and handflips over the beat, pausing occasionally to somersault.
[10]

Ryo Miyauchi: While Kenny Beats’ “made for mosh pits” production provides a space for Rico Nasty to push her already-brazen growl to its brink, “Rage” functions best as a stylistic exercise. Though the result is no deeper than a teenage tantrum, she’s wise enough to contain her teenage anger as a short yet intense burst of energy.
[6]

Alfred Soto: Clumsier than it needs to be but I wouldn’t change it on the radio.
[5]

Micha Cavaseno: Two years ago Rico Nasty borrowed the ‘sugar trap’ aesthetic from former collaborator now nemesis Bali Baby, and it resulted in some radio airplay and recognition after years of trying to make it. Recently she’s abandoned that aesthetic for her “Rage” aesthetic which is cribbed from the late XXXTentacion’s more dunderheaded post-nu-metal material: a sea of snarling in a Rocket Power-esque drawl and thrashing over clamorous aggro production. It’s not the constant biting that has me turned off but how perpetually one note she remains whenever attempting to redefine herself. “Rage” loses steam right out the gate with clunky rapping full of generic bars that undermine the absurd ‘Extreme Kayaking‘ vibe Rico’s going for. You can work as many gimmicks you like, and hey they don’t even have to be original, but please at least do something with it other than cover up how mediocre you are at your job.
[2]

Iain Mew: Adding nu-metal guitar churn and chop to better-done rapping is a nice idea. Rico Nasty shows two ways it could work out — spitting petty complaints about broken nails and traffic, or just howling brokenly — but gets caught between the two in a way that stops the humour or catharsis hitting the target.
[5]

Julian Axelrod: As a nice boy with severe anxiety and a Midwestern disposition, I’m usually not into this kind of aggressive noise rap. Why would I listen to Death Grips or clipping. when I’m already halfway to a panic attack on any given day? But Rico Nasty sounds like she’s screaming with me instead of at me, and that makes all the difference. She’s got a bratty tween vibe and endless charisma, so it’s downright cathartic to hear her lose her shit over a war zone drone that sounds like Hans Zimmer and Papa Roach fucking in a crack house. Her ad-libs are literal screams! Your fave could never! I can’t wait to have a full-on anxiety attack when I see her play this live.
[7]

Stephen Eisermann: I remain unconvinced that this isn’t some SNL skit that Rico Nasty has the displeasure of being a part of due to contracted hosting duties. 
[2]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Every beat of this sounds like it’s doing damage to my HP but in an extremely good way.
[7]

Andy Hutchins: When the rage of being alive in America in 2018 is channeled by a black woman who sounds like she’s actually trying to rap, and not a person whose idea of being edgy is yelling threats while having pink hair, the audacity, it turns out that it makes for a decent rap song. Rico has only one killer bar about a donkey and what the choppa can do to a donkey here, and the hook isn’t really a hook, but this is gale-force stuff.
[6]

Ashley John: “Rage” feels like turning your body inside out. It boils over with unrelenting energy for just over two minutes, a heaving sprint without a moment of pause. “Rage” exudes undeniable confidence but the pounding thrum of momentum underneath fills the track with an amorphous sense of paranoia, like sprinting ahead but always looking back over your shoulder. 
[6]