Rico Nasty Talks 50 Years of Hip-Hop: Odd Future, Nicki Minaj and 'Scary But Cool' Artificial Intelligence (Exclusive)

The musician opened up to PEOPLE about her many influences and hopes for the future of hip-hop in celebration of the milestone anniversary

Rico Nasty says she sees artificial intelligence like she sees herself: “Scary but cool.”

When the DMV-raised musician takes a few moments to talk about hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, she isn’t as focused on the past as her peers are. She’s also really excited about the future, and the positive ways in which hip-hop and artificial intelligence can collide.

“In Japan there's artists who are AI and they have holographic performances. It's weird and I want to see rappers do that,” she tells PEOPLE. “And I just want to see us evolve along with technology. I'm very excited to see what this AI s— does. I don't know why I am so excited about it, but I am excited, especially for references or just little things. Maybe even for producing or collabs.”

“It's interesting but also what the f--- is going to happen if this thing takes over. But it's cool.”

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Luckily for us, AI has not taken over. But over the last five decades, hip-hop has. And Rico, 26, has left a major imprint on it.

From her days buying Odd Future merchandise in Hot Topic, to learning new terms through Nicki Minaj's Nictionary, to inspiring newer artists to rage just like her, Rico is a student just as much as she is a teacher. “I hope that I just showed somebody that you don't have to do the norm. The norm works fast, but you don't have to do the norm if that's not where you feel like you fit.”

Rico is one of the over 30 game-changing artists sharing their stories as part of PEOPLE’s celebration of hip-hop’s milestone 50th anniversary. For more on the anniversary, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

When you think of that number 50, what does that milestone mean to you?

50 years is a half of a century, so... I don't know. We can look at the glass half full of the glass or the glass half empty, but I'm really, really happy just to be a part of it. To be named or to actually just be able to live as an artist in today. I'm very happy about that. I'm excited for the future especially with AI and s---.

In what ways did the DMV rap scene shape you as a musician all around?

Well, my dad was an up-and-coming rapper in the DMV area, so he was friends with radio. There was a radio host back home, his name was Tony Redz. And he passed away a couple years ago. But he's a really big influence as well. Because I used to ride around in the radio truck. And I just feel like always hip-hop was a really big part of... reading for me too, because I felt like I would learn songs way faster than I would learn stories or poems, just things that rhymed.

And me and my dad would have freestyle competitions and stuff like that. Yeah, that was really what it was like. And I know as artist wise, she's not a hip-hop artist, but she was in my house all day and day out and that's Jill Scott. That song, “Let's Take a Long Walk,” that song actually came out when I gained my first stream of consciousness. That was the first song that I ever learned top to bottom on the radio. My mom would play it. I used to love that song. Still do love that song. It's kind of weird. But that was the first song I ever learned. And I love Jill Scott.

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And I know with your dad, he would be playing Nas, JAY-Z, Eminem throughout your early years. Is there an album or song that made you feel like you wanted to do this for a living?

Oh no. You know what's so crazy, it was “Stan” on the Marshall Mathers LP... It was “Stan” by Eminem that made me want to be a rapper. I loved how it invoked every emotion. You felt scared, you felt excited, on the edge... It was almost like a horror movie. On the edge of your seat, waiting to see if this person was going to make the right decision. You almost feel bad for this person. It was very cinematic, that movie, it felt... that video was so cinematic. And then it also gave me a perspective that I never really had before, which was like, "Yeah, a lot of these people, they have fans, but some of these people have fans that are..." They're die hard, man. They wait for your responses. And that was... besides Tyler and Nicki Minaj, that was my first example of what a fan was, low key, just obsessive. He even looked like him. He even looked like him in the video. That was crazy.

What did Tyler and Odd Future represent to you at the point in your life that they arrived?

For me, they represented that I wasn't weird. Because at the time I was weird and there wasn't other people that were interested in the things that I liked. Tyler, he used to love cats a lot and wear cat shirts and he would wear... he would draw on s---. He's just random. And that's how I was. But a lot of my friends weren't like that, so oftentimes I would be called white, s--- like that. They was like, "You white for real," or dumb s--- like that. And then Tyler did it. And then it was like I found my niche group of people. It was literally I would go to school and be like, "Did you listen to the new Tyler?" And be like, "Oh my God you listen to Tyler?" Because he was still rather underground? It was like, if you knew, you knew. And I don't mean that you knew “Yonkers,” because Yonkers was like... I meant if you like f---ing... “She” or “Her” or “Tron Cat.” The crazy ass s---. Crazy stuff.

And then it became just one of those things where I fell right into that thing that I liked where I saw that fan and he dressed this artist he liked and he's upset, he is die hard and can't nobody talk s--- about this artist. And that's how I low key became about Tyler. I was like a diehard fan, bought their merch. And then it transpired into Nicki Minaj and Rihanna and it kept building. I definitely was the type of kid that I was like, "Mom, can I get the shirt?" Or, "Mom, can you buy me this CD?" And my mom didn't buy any Tyler the Creator things for me, but she did buy some Nicki and Rihanna stuff.

You mentioned Nicki. What did 'Pink Friday' mean to you? I know you've talked about it in the past and that being the album that defined middle school, but looking back at it today.

I think that album represents being a girl who wants everything. And a girl who knows that everything is right on the tip of her fingertips. Which is just a great coming of age project when you wouldn't think about it. Literally I was a little girl. I was first experimenting with my hair and Nicki Minaj bang was the first haircut that I got.

I was a follower for real. That s--- low key funny especially because obviously I don't really remember these phases up until I get to talk about them like this. But the Nicki Minaj one was definitely... I had a cousin as well and he was gay, but he wasn't out to the family and that was our s---. We would just have competitions on who can learn the words faster. And we would both dress like Nicki Minaj. We would talk like Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj had an app. It was called the Pink Friday dictionary. And on it, every day she would upload new words that she would use. We had notifications for all that s---. And we would learn the words and we would use them in our sentences and s---.

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What's your favorite word that you learned through it?

Fire marshal. I just think you trying to be the fire marshal. A n—- that's ruining the vibes, trying to shut s--- down. Keeps getting in the way.

And Rico, I've wanted to ask you too, what's your specific definition of hip-hop these days?

Well, I think these days artists like... We are juggling up hip-hop with rock and hip-hop with R&B and hip-hop, with all types of s---. I just think hip-hop is becoming... it's becoming a mixing pot of all the things that people have learned over the years and all the things that have drawn their attention and things they like growing up and shows they liked. It's just a huge mixing pot right now. Sometimes I listen to rap music and I hear them... They might do a bar, but the bar is about some rock s---. But you would only know if you listen to rock music. But that's the way the times are. You know what I mean? It's like you can almost rap about anything because everybody is aware of so many things. Before rap music used to just be about rap topics. And now... I just heard a f---ing Kali rap over a Beethoven beat. They're having fun. The internet is at our fingertips. We can sample anything, we can pull anything, we can record anywhere. And I think that's what music sounds like right now.

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And how do you hope that you've expanded the definition of hip-hop? And what do you hope your music has contributed to these last 50 years?

Well, I hope that I just showed somebody that you don't have to do the norm. The norm works fast, but you don't have to do the norm if that's not where you feel like you fit. And don't be afraid to show people where you pull references from and the things that you were interested in as a child. Because, like I said, some people would've... "Oh, she was into rock, she's white." But I thank God for my Tyler phase and thank God for the people I surrounded myself with that I felt confident to add that into what I used in my music today. I felt confident to teach people about that and to try blending that. You never know. It's something that you could have heard when you were a kid that you really liked. You got to tap back into that. You really do.

And what does it mean to you when you hear newer artists let out screams and shrieks and embrace the rage of it all?

At first I get scared and then I imagine myself the first time that I screamed in the studio and that sense of liberation, genuinely not caring what nobody thought. Everybody deserves to experience that. I can't be scared of people enjoying life. They might not scream forever, but as long as they scream to get that s— off... I know a lot of us as artists, we have a lot of just built up aggression and built up tension from so many nos or just mixed motions. Because you get so many nos and then you can go into another room and get so many yeses. I think the scream is crucial. I think it's crucial. I think we all need to scream a little bit. I try not to take everything as, "They are trying to steal." And I look at it, well technically I'm stealing from Joan Jett.

And do you have any advice for a young person who wants to just be themselves within the genre, sound different, dress differently, and do what they do best?

Be you. Because I didn't get any of the attention that I got from dressing like Tyler or having my hair like Nicki Minaj. And these are people I love. I love them and I love their craft, but I didn't get on by riding their coattails. I might have grabbed one or two things that I love about them, but be you for real because there's never going to be another you. Show that.

What do you hope for the next 50 years of hip-hop?

I hope we never, ever, ever, ever... jk. There's no rules in this hip-hop s---. I'm excited for the future. 

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