Maryland’s Rico Nasty says ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ is ‘what the future might look like’

Rico Nasty is on an international genre-blending tear.

The 29-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican rap artist and rockstar, whose government name is Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly, claims Largo as her home and the culture of the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia region as foundational to her growth.

She is best known for her contributions to hip-hop’s cadre of alternative artists, her signature “Sugar Trap” sound and a highly provocative collaboration with singer Doja Cat, on “Tia Tamera.”

Rico describes “RX,” her album that was released on Friday, and her collaboration with “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” in the track “You Can’t Run From Me” as another set of musical detours that originate from Maryland.

“Pretty girl county, the best are from Maryland,” she sings along the melody of “Cupcake,” the debut single of her nine-track album.

Her music is compassionate and cutthroat — simultaneously silly and rugged, with instrumentals defined by blast beats and booming bass.

Perhaps that is precisely why CD Projekt RED, a major Polish video game holding company known for its award-winning science fiction role-playing game “Cyberpunk,” tapped her to shape the soundtrack of their Netflix show.

“You Can’t Run From Me,” a song that encapsulates the grit and chaos of Cyberpunk’s Night City, was released alongside the announcement of season two of “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” a 10-episode standalone story available to stream on Netflix this autumn.

In addition to the forthcoming second season of the hit animated series, the video game source material of “Cyberpunk” reached a milestone in June of selling more than 40 million copies worldwide.

The Banner spoke with Rico about songwriting, her Maryland roots and how she got involved with the show. The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How was your vacation? What does an extended time of leisure or fun look like for you? Hawaii is one of my favorite places to visit. One of my assistants is from there, so I feel some comfort in traveling to hike, go to the beach and enjoy my favorite food ever — poke bowls.

What have you been listening to lately, what were you bumping on vacation? I’ve been listening to Sade, Erykah Badu and the new Steve Lacy. I LOVE the new Steve Lacy. I’m a big Steve Lacy fan, I love him and have been bumping that non-stop. I listen to a lot of older artists. I haven’t done much underground music searching, but recently, because of TikTok, you can just scroll for a couple minutes and …

You can scroll and find out who’s popping where. I’ve been tapping into back home. I think the DMV has the best music scene and always has. The sound is top-tier. We do it big every couple of years and then everybody tries to take it. They call it Free Car Music — it’s been going on for a minute. I’m really into SlimeGetEm. The first person I heard play it was my kid, it came up on a YouTube Short.

The “Cyberpunk” game has sold 40 million game copies and you’re the face of ”Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” season 2 with your song “You Can’t Run From Me.” After playing them your song, how would you introduce a friend to the “Cyberpunk” world? I would point them to season one of the show. I love the show, and I’ve heard lots of people say it matches the game so well. I would say “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” is a very vengeful show, so don’t get attached to nobody. I love the overarching storyline of an evil government with people rebelling against it. I love the costumes, too, and how the writers will just rip people away from you out of no f---in’ where.

Perfect way to put it. I think that was the motivation for “You Can’t Run From Me.” It’s like karma in a sense, in this world, everybody always meets their fate and gets what the f--- they deserve.

What was your favorite part about working on “You Can’t Run From Me”? My favorite part was doing it on the road. There’s something very vintage, classic about writing a song on the back of a bus. I was on the road and got this big opportunity, and I’m hell-bent on making this song and putting my all into it. I was on the back of the bus for hours listening to Korn, Linkin Park and Rob Zombie.

I was locked in. I wanted to do something new and fresh for me. I was shocked to see it do numbers.

What do you think makes Night City, the world-building in “Cyberpunk,” so resonant? Night City is like f---ing Gotham City. It has that essence of evil and high tech futurism. When the beat was being made, that’s why I was referencing Rob Zombie. His beats are very funky and quirky and I like that.

In today’s time, there’s a clear division between the rich, with their technology, and the poor. I see the technology like looksmaxxing today. It shows us what the future might look like if people keep f---ing around.

Right. Pretty grim, no? Very grim, very dark, but the costumes are cool!

You got games on your phone? I do, I actually do because of my f---ing kid! What is “Thief Puzzle?” I don’t know what this is. I feel like a grandma. I got f---ing Yelp on here.

You said in your performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk that you would not be who you are if not for the DMV. What makes this place so special to you? Everything. The DMV is fly and first, yet doubted. It’s an “if you know, you know” type of place.

In Maryland, there’s some very rich parts and some very scary parts. There’s cities and there’s nature. I feel like anybody that’s grown up here and gotten to experience all of it, they would say the same thing.

I love where I’m from, it’s a hidden gem. We have our own culture, our own language and our own music.

That’s right. You go to D.C., Maryland or Virginia, then you’re gonna chill, get some good food and then maybe something crazy is gonna happen.

Who are you most excited to perform with when you get to the D.C. area for All Things Go? I’ve opened for some straight up icons. I’ve opened for Playboi Carti, Kehlani, and been on a f---ing tour with Hayley Williams. But lately, I’ve stopped looking at who is on the bill. It makes me nervous. When it comes to festivals, I try to lock in and focus on myself. There’s always a possibility of things going wrong. I can’t even think about the lineup while I’m thinking about logistics; if the mic goes out, what are we going to do?

Do you have a message for Marylanders? I would like to say this to Marylanders: You were right the first time. Be proud of who you are, and learn how to laugh a little bit more. Sometimes things are way more funny than they are serious. There’s a certain type of beauty I miss about growing up in the DMV; the fun, the joaning, the bidding.

Also, keep cooking! Don’t stop opening restaurants. I love the Black-owned restaurants in Baltimore.