The rap industry looks a lot different than it did a decade ago, and thanks to women like Rico Nasty, it'll never be the same again. After being expelled from her affluent boarding school for smoking weed and becoming a teen mom at only 18 years old, Rico had no clue what was in store for her life. Little did she know, her life would one-day be comprised of NYFW runways, mosh pits, and a whole lot of empowerment. Rico Nasty, born Maria Kelly, is the epitome of electric and her makeup routine keeps that same energy.
For Rico, there are no limits, and this is a mantra that is consistently reflected in both her music and her electrifying beauty regime. In a makeup tutorial for Vogue, the punk rock rapper revealed that she only became interested in the makeup world after becoming a mom at only 18 years old:
"I started doing my own makeup when I found out that I was pregnant. My son used to give me these really, really, real bad red blotches. I would never want to go anywhere, so my friends were like, 'Why don't you just learn to do your makeup?' After I had my son, the blotches went away and the makeup skills did not."
Rico said that for her, makeup is a form of therapy that she's cultivated over the years by studying influencers like Makeupmouse, Sonjdradeluxe, and Alissa Ashley, and making well-known application techniques her own.
"Makeup became a way that I could relax and meditate before a show. I never knew how much I needed that. I watch a lot of makeup tutorials. I like Makeupmouse—I think she's in London—Sonjdradeluxe, Alissa Ashley. There's this girl on Instagram called Melovemealot, and I like her stuff, too. I grab inspo from them, but they've also taught me about making the face what you want."
When it comes to beauty, there is no boundary Rico won't cross, even if that means shaving off her eyebrows to create a fresh canvas:
"Fun fact: I shaved my eyebrows so that I can make them go any direction that I want."
From her bold platinum eyebrows to her edgy and eclectic style, Rico Nasty is the punk rock goddess that lives inside of us all, but according to her, some of her craziest looks have evolved out of a desire to fall in love with her flaws, one of which includes her eyelids (or lack thereof):
"Sometimes I feel like it draws away from the real shit that I'm insecure about. For me, that's probably my nose and my eyelids—once I started doing makeup, I wished I had bigger eyelids. I know, it's fucking weird. But my best friend has eyelids like Cher—the sunken in kind—and it's like a big canvas. With makeup, I can get bigger lids. The more I've gotten into it, the more I learn that it's about whatever makes you comfortable."
Rico recently sat down with Into The Gloss and gave us the details on all her favorite beauty products. Here's what we learned:
Bioderma Micellar Water
"To take off my makeup I've been using Bioderma, the micellar water. Then I use the Bioderma serum—it's like a gel, and it's clear. I feel like it's a drink of water for my skin. After that, I'll put on the lotion version of it to seal everything."
TONYMOLY Panda's Dream Rose Oil Moisture Stick
"If I have two shows in a row and I've been sweating, it might cause a couple bumps that makeup won't sit right on. I put the rose oil where I get dry, and then put foundation over it. It's so bomb."
BLK/OPL TRUE COLOR® Skin Perfecting Stick Foundation SPF 15
kasha-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com
"I was using Huda Beauty foundation for the majority of the summer, but now my skin has gotten a little bit darker, so I'm using Black Opal stick foundation."
Rude Cosmetics Mimosa Highlighter Palette
"A lot of times when I get palettes I only use one color, but with this one, I run the brush up and down, up and down the whole thing. If I'm going somewhere with my kid, I'm going to do a more natural glam."
To read her beauty routine in full, check out Rico Nasty's feature with ITG here.
Featured image via Giphy
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Feature image by Leon Bennett/WireImage
In a recent interview with Democracy NOW!, Ryan opened up about the inspiration behind Sinners, his longtime collaboration with Michael B. Jordan, who plays dual roles in the film, and why this project marks a turning point in his career.
“It’s ironic because what my grandmother and her mom before her and my mom are known for is their gumbo,” Ryan shared with the outlet. “They cook a style of gumbo that comes from Port Arthur, Texas... and this was my opportunity to make some cinematic gumbo. I took some things that might seem disparate in the description, but I think they go really well together.”
That gumbo? A moody, blood-soaked love letter to the blues, to his late uncle, and to the genre-bending power of Black art. After his uncle passed, Coogler turned to blues records for comfort, describing how it felt like conjuring his uncle’s spirit. That led him to Delta blues, and ultimately, to Sinners.
“Through my research into the music, I learned more about the music industry and how much the concept of genre is related to racism,” he said. “The classification of different types of music… even though it was the same song sung the same way, they were looking at the color of the skin of the person who was singing it and enforcing the apartheid even through the artistic business model.”
The film, in many ways, is his rebellion against that system. “I wanted to make a film that was kinda raging against the concept of genre,” Ryan explained. “Making the audience constantly question, even while they are watching it, whether genre is a music angle or a film angle.”
But Sinners is more than about transcending genres, it’s also a family affair. Ryan's wife and producing partner, Zinzi Coogler, helped bring the vision to life through their production company Proximity Media (founded in 2021 with producer Sev Ohanian). Currently pregnant with their third child, Zinzi remains an essential force behind Ryan’s work and his world. “Zinzi is my favorite person in the world,” he said tenderly.
“I’ve been around her a long time, and it still somehow feels like it’s not long enough. She knows me very well… We’re very different, which is very helpful. We got two different communication styles, two different ways of seeing the world. So in general, if I have an issue-situation that I can’t crack, because she comes at things with a different angle, normally she can crack it very easily.”
Their partnership is as spiritual as it is professional. When asked about how he got into filmmaking in the first place, Ryan reflected on Zinzi’s early support, calling her gift of Final Cut Pro the “kindest thing” anyone has ever given him.
(L to R) Zinzi Coogler and Ryan Coogler photographed at 'Sinners' premiere.
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures
And while Sinners is a love letter to the past, the business side of it is firmly about the future. His now widely discussed deal with Warner Bros. includes First Dollar Gross and IP ownership after 25 years, something that’s raised both eyebrows and excitement within Hollywood circles. “I’m not the first filmmaker to get any of these deals,” he told the host.
“And Warner Bros is not the first studio to provide these deals to a filmmaker. I think that a lot has been made of my deal in particular. I’m not totally sure why… I have my guesses, but I’ve been in the industry long enough to know what kind of deals are possible.”
When Democracy NOW! host Amy Goodman pressed further, referring to headlines like Vulture’s "Hollywood Execs Fear Ryan Coogler’s Sinners Deal Could End the Studio System," Ryan chuckled and offered a smooth but telling: “I’d rather not say.”
Still, he made it clear why securing that deal mattered:
“As a writer-director, I’ve made over $2 billion in the global box office, I’m not yet 40 years old. It’s taken a lot of time, commitment, energy, and I’ve missed out on a lot of things in my life on films that will always be owned by other people. For this one, because it’s so personal… I asked for a few things that were very important to me… Thankfully, I was able to get those things I was asking for.”
Sinners may be a film about blood, spirits, and survival, but more than anything, it’s a story of legacy.
For Ryan, it’s not just about the art or the accolades; it’s about reclaiming the stories, sounds, and soul of Black America and owning the narrative, both on-screen and off.
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Featured image by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures