According to XXL Magazine, rapper Rico Nasty confronted an audience member after he threw a bottle at her while she was performing in Portland, Oregon on Nov.13.
Rico Nasty has been touring with rapper Playboi Carti on his King Vamp Tour along with fellow rapper Ken Car$on. None of them spoke out about the fan disrespecting her. This displays a consistent cycle of misogynoir and anti-Blackness within the music and entertainment industry.
In an interview with Complex, Rico spoke about the situation. She said she felt the need to confront the situation by herself because no one was moving fast enough after she yelled on the mic to security so they could get the person who threw the bottle at her.
This isn’t the first incident of Rico being disrespected while on tour. A week prior to this incident she was booed by Playboi Carti’s fans while performing.
She took her frustrations about the incident to Twitter calling the predominantly white, male crowd anti-Black.
There have been multiple videos circulating of both incidents and Rico has also spoken publicly about them. Because she was invited on the tour, it would make sense the people on tour with her should defend her.
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Why hasn’t Carti or Car$on spoken up to talk to the crowd of white fans blatantly disrespecting Rico Nasty?
Other rappers and producers, like JT, Coi Leray, and Metro Boomin came to her defense on Twitter after both incidents. However, neither Carti nor Ken Car$on, who is also on the tour, have yet to speak up about either situation.
According to BBC, because hip-hop/rap is dominated by men both on the artistry level and executive level, this impacts the way women are able to navigate in the genre.
You can only name a handful of female rappers, while there are plenty of male rappers to choose from. While there has recently been female rappers are on the rise they still aren’t given the same opportunities and exposure as male rappers. Most executives on labels and in management positions are also male so within these environments specifically for black women they encounter misogynoir.
Anti-Blackness has also always impacted hip-hop in addition to the male-dominated community but as rap becomes more mainstream, some people believe the genre has become gentrified.
Rap started with poor Black people rapping about their environment and their struggles in America. As of recently, there have been more white people entering the genre over the years like Eminem, Jack Harlow, Iggy Azalea and Tay Money.
This would mean there might be more white people in the audience as well. While people may see rap becoming more diverse as a good thing, some things need to stay true to their roots.
More white people entering hip-hop/rap allows for a change in the audience dynamic. The audience that was once predominantly Black now has an influx of white audience members.
This new audience leaves some Black rappers to be antagonized and subjected to anti-Blackness in a genre created to uplift Black Voices like Rico Nasty, who is being disrespected by some of the white people in these crowds.
Touring is supposed to be an enjoyable experience for artists and a way for them to interact with people and fans. They shouldn’t be antagonized by disrespectful audiences and left to defend themselves.
It is important for other male rappers to speak up and defend female rappers, who already have cards stacked against them in a male-dominated industry but also have to navigate through anti-Blackness.
