Big Latto graces the studio for Episode 12 of New And Making Noise with hosts Incognito and DJ Misses. The Grammy-nominated artist discusses her next moves and her thoughts on the current state of Hip-Hop.
The Atlanta-raised rapper describes what it was like to transition from the 16-year-old who won The Rap Game to the Billboard chart-topping success that she is today.
“It was [difficult], just because I had so many opinions and people in my ear and so many hands on my career, and I feel like I wasn’t really telling my story how I wanted to tell it,” she says. “So I had to get to a point where it was like… there is no right or wrong way to do this. I just gotta be me with it.”
Now 24, Latto is enjoying life fresh off the success of her multi-platinum breakthrough single ‘Big Energy’ and her last two albums Queen of da Souf and 777.
“I’m learning to live in the moment lately,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been rapping for so long, so it could start feeling like a routine sometimes… But I’m learning to live in the moment and appreciate and just take it all in.”
We can expect more freestyles on the way—Latto’s way of responding to critics who question her lyrical ability. “That’s a joke. We laughed at that for sure. Y’all gotta remember, I came in writing,” she says.
Latto is taking the momentum from ‘Big Energy’ and running with it. “I think after Big Energy, my horizon was just different,” she says. “I didn’t put myself in a box anymore. I learned to think bigger. I saw the bigger picture.”
From releasing new music to appearing on the big screen this year, Latto isn’t limiting herself. “I want to step into the business world,” she says. “Music is not going to last forever… So I’m getting ahead of that while I’m young.”
The artist also gives a nod to other women in the music industry who have supported her, including the late Gangsta Boo and Mariah Carey, who is featured on the ‘Big Energy’ remix with DJ Khaled.
Latto stans for her fellow women in Hip-Hop as well. “I love the inclusivity of everything right now. And I’m really a fan of the movement,” she says.
Latto also discusses her current style inspiration, her first tattoo, and what she would change about the music industry.