"Roof" is a song by American rapper

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper from Prince George's County, Maryland. She began Self-publishing, self-releasing while in high school, and had released five solo mixtapes by ...

. It was released as a single on January 29, 2019 through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and produced by Rico Nasty's frequent collaborator

Kenny Beats Kenneth Charles Blume III (born May 10, 1991), known professionally as Kenny Beats, is an American record producer, DJ, audio engineer, and songwriter. Early life Kenneth Blume III was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He got an early ...

. A trap song, it features Rico Nasty aggressively rapping in a raspy voice. A

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

music video for the song was released with the song and directed by Cody Dobie. The song and its video were positively reviewed by critics.

Background and release

In the months leading up to the release of "Roof", rapper

released the singles "Big Dick Energy", "Guap (LaLaLa)", and "Wanna Do". "Roof" was released on January 29, 2019 through

. It was produced by

Composition and reception

"Roof" is a trap song. Tobias Handke of ''

The Music The Music was an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the releas ...

'' called it "a futuristic slice of space rap" in which Rico Nasty rapped with a "raspy voice". James Rettig of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' wrote that "Roof" had "an abrasive beat over some loose-lipped boasts" and "a characteristic Rico Nasty brag". ''

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

''s Aaron Williams described the song as containing "her usual array of raspy threats over a blaring Kenny Beats production". Israel Daramola of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' wrote that "Roof" was "funky" and had "an excitable aggression that serves to heighten how the pleasure found in repeating ico Nastys hype-filled brags and crass lines". Desire Thompson of ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' called "Roof" one of the "many things" Rico Nasty did "right". Michael Love Michael of ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

'' praised "Roof" as "stat ngthe case for why ico Nastycommands such attention" and called the beat "menacing" and "bass-rattling". ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

'' called "Roof" "very fun".

Music video

The

music video for "Roof" was released on the same day as the song and directed by Cody Dobie. Its aesthetic, which Rico Nasty described as "cyber

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970 ...

future retro", was inspired by the 1997 science fiction film ''

The Fifth Element ''The Fifth Element'' () is a 1997 English-language French science-fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, and co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, an ...

''. It begins with a robotic voice introducing Rico Nasty and features

glitch art Glitch art is an art movement centering around the practice of using digital or analog errors, more so glitches, for aesthetic purposes by either corrupting digital data or physically manipulating electronic devices. It has also been regarded as a ...

and various unrelated scenes in which she wears different outfits, including at the

Walter Pyramid The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Long Beach Pyramid, is a 4,000-seat, pyramid-shaped indoor arena on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California. It serves as home venue to the University's men's and women's ...

, Rico Nasty wearing a shawl, her dancing in the desert, her on a jet ski, her as a mountain, and her breaking through a television screen. Robby Seabrook III, for '' XXL'', wrote that it had "a bigger-than-life feel to it", while ''

''s Mike Beckles described it as "a surreal, futuristic dreamscape". ''Vibe''s Desire Thompson wrote that the music video for "Roof" was "filled with goth dystopian planets and psychedelic VHS recordings". '' XXL'' included "Roof" on their list of the best

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

music videos of 2019.

References

{{reflist 2019 singles Rico Nasty songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Kenny Beats