Rye Rye

Rye Rye in Nylon!

BEAUTY QUEEN

M.I.A. can be held responsible not only for bringing Rye Rye’s infectious hooks and booty-shaking jams into our lives, but for inspiring her playful, rainbow-hued style, too. “In Baltimore, I wasn’t exposed to different types of art scenes and fashion,” says Rye Rye. “M.I.A. would dress me for our tour, so it rubbed off on me.” Today, perched on a stool in the corner of a photo studio, in her ripped jeans, pink vintage baseball T-shirt, and lavender Dr. Martens, she looks like a candy store confection. Even her hair – cropped close at the sides, erupting in a pile of curls at the crown – is layered, like a parfait, in sections of black and blond.

Rye Rye’s much anticipated debut album, Go! Pop! Bang! will finally be released this summer (many of the tracks were completed two years ago), and to celebrate she has created a trio of nail laquers in turquoise, neon yellow, and fuchsia (colors lifted from her album artwork) for Pop Beauty, available at Urban Outfitters. “it’s refreshing; the album is different. I feel like I hit different lanes,” she says. “It’s a party album, of course – very fun, crazy sounds. There’s so much going on that you can’t really classify it.” Much like Rye Rye herself, then: “I’ve always been a smiley person – energetic and happy. As I started doing music, I developed a style that matched my personality,” she says. “At first, I was more relaxed and ‘hood. Then, when I started wearing makeup, everybody was like, ‘Oh, you look like a member of Destiny’s Child.’ That wasn’t who I was. Now I want to incorporate sexy with being real chill – I’m always putting on dark eyeliner and a popping lip – it’s a futuristic look.”

- Natalie Shukur