Anger Management (mixtape)

Anger Management is a collaborative mixtape between American musicians Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats. It was released independently on April 25, 2019 through Rico Nasty's label Sugar Trap as a surprise release. Featured artists on the record include Baauer, Splurge, and EarthGang.

Background and release

Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats recorded the entirety of Anger Management within a five-day session in early 2019. On March 24, 2019, Rico Nasty announced the project on Instagram live and noted that it will "probably come out in April ." On why she kept the project a secret from her fans, Rico Nasty said: "I want you guys to really enjoy it and I want you guys to let me enjoy creating it and not be rushing to finish." She revealed the tracklist on April 24, 2019, and Anger Management was officially released the following day.

Cover artwork

The mixtape's cover art was created by Keith Rankin, and was inspired by the cover of the 1991 psychology book, The New Primal Scream, by Arthur Janov. Dom Glover, the creative director of the project, originally approached Rankin with this cover as inspiration. Rankin told The Fader, "As soon as I saw that idea I had a pretty clear image of what it should be, just a straight up view of Rico’s face with the gradient background." The cover art was created using the pen and airbrush tools on Photoshop.

Composition

Musically, Anger Management was noted by critics to be a hip hop record with elements of trap, punk rap, metal, and nu-metal.

Critical response

Reception

Anger Management received positive acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the mixtape received an average score of 79, based on 4 reviews. Album of the Year collected 6 reviews and calculated an average of 74 out of 100.
Kyann-Sian Williams of NME described the mixtape as a "bracing, addictive record" which "takes the listener on a journey through anger to acceptance, finally arriving at a sense of calm. It's a great concept, and a great album." Lakin Starling of Pitchfork described the record as "a hell of a rap-production slapper, but most of all it's a turning point in Rico's evolution," noting that " remains one of the heaviest hitters in the no-rules arena of rap." Nathan Ma of Highsnobiety wrote "At its heart, Anger Management is an overwhelmingly visceral, engaging, and consuming project," and concluded that "Rico Nasty is, among other things, a professional." Danny Schwart of Rolling Stone praised the collaborative efforts of the project and the energy between the duo, writing, "This overpowering 18-minute release reveals Rico and Kenny to be the most high-voltage rapper-producer combo around. the progression they've achieved on Anger Management, indicate that Rico and Kenny will probably be career-long collaborators. Rico is only 21 and her future is incredibly bright — especially with Kenny at her side to help her realize her potential."
In a slightly more negative review, Daniel Spielberg of HipHopDX noted that "Instead of replicating last year's, is clearly set on experimenting and expanding her sound. Even though it shows that she's a risk taker, Anger Management is unfortunately half-baked."

Accolades

Anger Managagement appeared on multiple critic's lists.

Publication	List	Rank
Billboard	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	—
Complex	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	16
Complex	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	35
Crack	The Top 50 Albums of 2019	39
Dazed	The 20 Best Albums of 2019	8
Dummy	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	32
Fact	The Best Albums of 2019	—
	The Best Albums of 2019	—
GQ	The Best Albums of 2019	—
NME	The Best Albums of 2019	—
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	43
Rolling Stone	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	45
Rolling Stone	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	—
Rolling Stone	The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2019	10
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	23
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2019	9
Stereogum	The 10 Best Rap Albums of 2019	3
Vice	The 100 Best Albums of 2019	21

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal and ASCAP.
Sample credits

"Hatin" contains a sample from "Dirt off Your Shoulder", written by Shawn Corey Carter and Timothy Mosley, as performed by Jay-Z.
"Relative" contains a sample from "Can't Be Wasting My Time", written by Christopher Martin, Lawrence Parker, Johntá Austin, Andre Evans, and Alfred Antoine, as performed by Mona Lisa.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

Kenny Beats – producer
Rico Nasty – vocals
Baauer – producer
Harry Fraud – uncredited co-producer
Splurge – vocals
Nils – uncredited co-producer
Jozzy – writer
The Crate League – uncredited co-producer
Alex Tumay – mixer
Joe LaPorta – mastering engineer