From Megan Thee Stallion’s hot-girl rhymes to Tierra Whack’s quirky bops, women have batter-rammed down the doors to hip-hop’s boy’s club. None are louder or as full of fire as Maryland’s Rico Nasty. As women assert their long-overdue dominance in rap, the 22-year-old born Maria-Cecilia Kelly stands apart.

Rico’s playful, rowdy bangers are full of crunk-era energy and savage bravado. Songs titles like “Smack a Bitch” and “Rage” speak for themselves. For her, music is a means to find peace, let out aggression, and channel trauma into cocky motivation. “How is you hatin’ on me from a cubicle/ I got more money than you on my cuticle,” she quips on XXXTentacion’s “#ProudCatOwnerRemix.”

We caught up with the explosive rapper by phone from her Maryland home ahead of her November 2 performance at Day N Vegas to talk about black girl energy, camaraderie and coping with loss.

You have a very punk swagger in both your look and sound. Where does that come from?All black girls have punk in them. I see it in all of them when I perform. I see them and I see their energy. I feed off of it, ’cause it’s not just me that’s punk. They get up every day and go against the odds; they just don’t rap about it.

Is that who you make music for?My [music] isn’t targeted toward gender or race. If I wanted [a group of] people to listen to me more, it’d definitely be young black girls, because I just want them to have a sense of rage and peace. It’s hard to find that.

How do you find it?I don’t think I’ve found it myself, but I give it off in the music. I try my best to exude it in the vibes that I bring.

You went through a lot at a young age [her high school boyfriend died when she was 18, before either knew she was pregnant’, but you’ve always kept a positive outlook.When you have a newborn or something that’s a constant reminder of new life, it makes you anticipate the future. It makes you want to wake up every day. .... I’m not trying to tell everyone to go out there and have kids, but it’s very important to be around that type of energy. New life is the most pure. They’re like sponges. They pay attention to everything. That helps keep me on my toes as well as happy, because I feel like kids are the only thing we have left that’ll bring you joy. They’re the future. I’m still a child in a way; I’m still young as f*ck, so it’s weird to think about it like that, to be 22 and thinking a 3-year-old is the future, but they really are.

Now more than ever, women are running hip-hop. It feels like such a historic moment. How does it feel to be a part of this wave?I’m happy that I have a group to come up with and a group to watch grow. It would probably get boring if it was just me watching myself, only feeding off myself, only sending vibes myself. It’s pretty cool that it’s, like, friendly competition, and you get to watch people do what you do in their own way. And I love that it’s just more girls—it’s more people to collab with; it’s more space.

DAY N VEGAS November 1-3, noon-1 a.m., $199/day, $429-$899 three-day. Las Vegas Festival Grounds, daynvegas2019.com.