Nasty Girl

Nasty Girl

Vanity 6

“Nasty Girl” was the most memorable hit from Vanity 6’s only album. It was written, produced, and composed by lead singer Vanity Matthews‘ boyfriend and lauded singer-songwriter, Prince, as were most of the songs for their debut self-titled album. Prince saw her as the female version of himself, and treated her as a protégé.

The song received only moderate airplay because the lyrical content was considered risqué even for 1982, and like the album as a whole, did not garner the anticipated success. After Vanity 6 disbanded, Vanity and Prince broke up as well. Vanity went on to have a somewhat successful movie and solo career, before recommitting herself to evangelical Christianity upon a drug overdose in 1994; she removed herself from Hollywood and denounced her past provocative work, specifically “Nasty Girl,” before her death in 2016, two months before Prince’s own passing.

The song appeared in the films Beverly Hills Cop, Private School, and Girl 6, and became successful overseas upon Inaya Day’s 2004 cover.