Since she started rapping as a teenager, Nitty Scott MC has always had an eye for the social injustices that come with being black or brown. On her Cassette Chronicles mixtape and her EP The Boombox Diaries, Vol. 1, the Afro-Boricua rapper tackled everything from fuckboys to racism to mainstream hip-hop’s plastic veneer, spitting fiercely lyrical rhymes over boom-bap beats by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. In 2013, she dropped “Flower Child,” a collab with Kendrick Lamar, her former boo. The song was a breakout moment for her, showcasing her knack for elegant, cerebral couplets, right along with the fame Kendrick garnered following the release of his sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d City.

But last fall, Nitty had a revelation: so-called “conscious” rap wasn’t just limiting, it was elitist. In her view, that community was plagued by an “intolerance for music, culture, people, that aren’t ‘woke’ or aren’t considered intellectuals. And I think that’s when you get into a lot of respectability politics.”

So Nitty is retooling her creative vision for Creature, a new album set to drop this summer. She’s envisioning this record as a space to be reborn, to refashion her views on feminism, art, and healing – a wicked musical brew she calls “Afro-Latina girl magic.” At SXSW, we caught up with the 25-year-old MC to get the scoop on where she’s headed next.