“Kenny!”

If heard on the radio, this is the kind of shout that would cause an unsuspecting driver to slam their vehicle into the highway guardrail. It’s screamed at the beginning of nearly every song on Anger Management, as it kicks off the unapologetic rage of rapper Rico Nasty and producer Kenny Beats’ new collaborative album. Over the last year, Kenny has become one of the most sought after producers for the newest generation of rappers, and Rico has carved her own path of her unique brand of punky hip-hop. They have proven themselves to be a formidable duo in the past, but Anger Management marks an official artistic convergence, as the two friends link up for an intense and aggressive collaborative project.

The album’s opening track “Cold” begins slowly, setting up a perplexingly futuristic theme. But after a misleading 24 seconds, Rico takes a jarring turn, screaming “Kenny!” as she leaps into the true chaos of Anger Management. She rips through the intro’s tranquility, offering a brutal contrast with her fast-paced and angry verses. Below this, Kenny’s thunderous and distorted beat is layered with Rico’s adlibs, the shouts and screams falling into a beautifully violent harmony with her rapping.

The sound of aggression continues to soar as the album progresses, with new developments such as obscure sound bites and like-minded collaborators to heighten the intensity of the sound. On “Cheat Code,” “Harlem Shake” producer Baauer lends his talents to one of the harshest songs on the album, fitting it with samples of guns cocking and little girls screaming on top of Rico’s combative adlibs. Two songs later, EarthGang leds their high pitched wails and wild lyrics to provide a fitting addition to the album.

Kenny Beats’ uninhibited musical influence provides a unique foundation for Rico to build upon. From the bold sample of Jay-Z’s classic “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” to Kenny’s characteristic minimalist style, he shows off his favorite musical tools and techniques. The song “Mood” is a great example of Kenny’s signature style, as the pounding bass and piercing drums are brash and assertive, yet their simplicity leaves room for Rico to shine and innovate on her own. His instrumentals are the perfect complement for Rico’s lyrical rage, and they explore an abrasive method of beat-making that employs a percussive sound rather than melodic intricacy.

However, by the last two songs, the album takes a turn both sonically and lyrically, as Rico and Kenny experiment with more challenging and complex styles. On Anger Management’s latter portion, Rico raps about self-love and her own anxieties surrounding love, money, success, and friendships. The lyrics address more intimate themes than the first part of the album, conveying a previously unseen depth to Rico’s music. Kenny’s producing makes similar ventures into the unknown, as his beats become less abrasive and loud. While they retain some of the pounding bass lines and background screaming, they explore a more harmonious sound. But while this is an interesting new direction for Rico and Kenny, it falls short, as the lyrics feel underdeveloped and the instrumentals are a weak imitation of popular trends in modern hip-hop. While it’s refreshing to see these two try out new musical styles, it ends up paling in comparison to the vibrant front half of the album.

The lyric “If you feelin’ like a boss bitch, go’n / Go to the club, leave that n**** at home” from “Hatin” marks the long-overdue rise of women in hip-hop. Since the genre’s birth, rap music has been a male-dominated genre, focusing and masculine themes and fantasies. But Rico is part of a new generation of female rappers who are flipping the genre on its head, creating rap music that can actually be relatable to women. In their songs, they are the ones who are smoking, drinking, and getting money while the men are left at home, uprooting a deep history of misogyny in hip-hop. Though at times its experimental efforts fell flat, Anger Management is a unique and vibrant project from Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats, and represents a cultural movement that is already taking hip-hop by storm.