From going to music video sets with her dad as a kid to representing a new generation of Atlanta’s hip-hop dominance. During her first ever trip to Paris, Latto spoke to Brut about her journey in the rap game, the female takeover of hip-hop, and paying it forward.
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00:00Where are we?
00:02Wee-wee!
00:03♪♪
00:08Where's your medley?
00:10Do you like Aya?
00:11Yeah.
00:12Yo, Aya!
00:14-♪♪
00:18It's not as good as Rihanna's, but it's good.
00:21How does it feel to be interviewing on French radio?
00:24I'm nervous.
00:26Why?
00:28What's up? It's big, Lado.
00:30Do you have, like, a pre-interview ritual
00:32where you just get in and get into it?
00:35I think I just get in and get into it.
00:37I just be sweating, heart pumping, shaking in my boobs.
00:42Uh-oh.
00:43Really good.
00:44Okay.
00:45I'm gonna die here.
00:47♪♪
00:51You're from ATL, right?
00:53Yeah.
00:54What is it about Atlanta that creates
00:56so many, like, musical dreams?
00:59♪♪
01:06You know what?
01:07I really want to know, too,
01:08because I'm like, how we been running it for a long time?
01:11Atlanta been running it for a long time,
01:12and we got, like, the lingo.
01:14New York?
01:15Okay, okay.
01:16Okay, we love New York,
01:18but Atlanta giving New York a run for its money.
01:22We have, like, a lot of lingo in Atlanta,
01:24so we, like, trendy, like, set the trend.
01:27I think also, too, when you have a lot of people
01:29from the city that have already made it,
01:31for people like me, the new way,
01:33or the new generation, it make it feel more obtainable.
01:36Shout-out to Halle Berry, Cardi B.
01:38They helped me with that whole thing.
01:40That was them allowing me to be a part of that project, so.
01:43This is the era of female rock.
01:45For real.
01:46Finally.
01:47Finally!
01:48Finally.
01:49♪♪
01:53What does it mean to you
01:54to have won Best Female Artist at the BET Awards?
01:57Ah!
01:59Ah!
02:01So crazy, because I would sit crisscross applesauce
02:03in front of that TV in the living room
02:05watching other women win that award.
02:08So I just wanted to show you your speech.
02:11Okay.
02:12Um, and, like, get your...
02:13I cringed so bad at myself.
02:15I loved it.
02:16I cringed so bad at myself.
02:17It was so natural.
02:18One heel on, one heel off.
02:19One heel on, one heel off.
02:21Shout-out to...
02:23God, God.
02:24I cracked myself up.
02:26He doing his big one on me?
02:28All the women who paved the way for this
02:30to even be possible,
02:31this category is going crazy this year.
02:33That's my sister.
02:34This is the year...
02:35Why am I out of breath?
02:36I walked...
02:38You've been in the music industry,
02:40I think a lot of people don't know,
02:42since you were a kid,
02:43like, trying to make it,
02:44going to the studio.
02:45April Fools, nah, nah, nah, this ain't a trick.
02:49Robotessin' and bein' flow so sick.
02:53What was it that drew you to music?
02:55And what was it that kept you going?
02:57I love, like, wordplay, metaphors, similes.
02:59I just love words.
03:01I would wish you the best,
03:02but you already had it.
03:03You with the flow,
03:04you try to keep up,
03:05but instead it don't know the team.
03:07So I read that your dad, like, had cars
03:09that he would rent to rappers
03:11for, like, videos and stuff.
03:12Mm-hmm.
03:13So tell me about, like,
03:14one of those experiences for you.
03:15What it was like being on set.
03:17Yeah.
03:19That's a good question.
03:21Okay, um, fun fact.
03:23When you say that,
03:24the most, like, distinctive memory I have
03:27is B-5, All I Do.
03:29I was on set with him,
03:30and it was a school night.
03:32I'm pretty sure it was a school night,
03:34because I remember my mama
03:35cussing my daddy out
03:36for having me up so late.
03:38laughs
03:39But I was watching them on set,
03:40and they was young,
03:41so I'm like, dang, like, I can do it too.
03:44If you ask me, I feel like
03:45I was gonna end up being a rapper anyways.
03:47The backlash ain't what I planned for
03:49Now I know better,
03:50so I'm moving better
03:5110 toes to the damn floor
03:53We talked about women
03:54taking over the rap scene right now.
03:56If I don't shit,
03:57it's f***ed over
03:58It's f***ed over
03:59That there's, like,
04:00women reclaiming their sexuality.
04:02Yeah.
04:03How they want to, like,
04:04present themselves to the world.
04:05Rip her out of the place,
04:06then she can act like brand new.
04:09screams
04:11Mm-hmm.
04:12What do you want to convey
04:13as, like, a woman
04:15I think I convey
04:16the self-empowerment thing as well.
04:18I love that a lot of women
04:19speak up for that.
04:25I grew up in a household
04:27where, like, they just
04:28taught us from the jump.
04:29Like, you that girl.
04:30Like, you be independent,
04:31you get your own money,
04:32you don't rely on no man,
04:33whatever.
04:34And I just, like,
04:35convey it through my music.
04:41My message to women,
04:43like, when they listen
04:44to my music is
04:45to feel empowered.
04:46I want you to feel like
04:47anything is possible.
04:48Like, period.
04:55You do this song
04:56with Lola Brooke,
04:57and you try to make
04:58other people, you know,
04:59get put on, too.
05:00Yeah.
05:01So why is it important
05:02for you to reach back
05:03and, like, pay it forward?
05:05I think having a sister,
05:06especially being that close
05:07with your sister, you just,
05:09I don't be with the, like,
05:11catty vibes.
05:12I really be like,
05:13sir, what's happening?
05:15Like...
05:16I be feeling
05:17the sisterhood vibes,
05:18and then, if you know me,
05:20it's been a long time coming.
05:21Like, I know, I know
05:23the work that these women
05:24put in to, you know,
05:25reach the amount of success
05:27that they are reaching,
05:28and we gotta go 2 times,
05:3010 times harder than men
05:32to receive the same
05:33amount of recognition.
05:35So I just be feeling like,
05:36I see you, girl.
05:37If no nobody else see you,
05:38I see you.
05:39This was your first
05:40interview in Paris.
05:41It was.
05:42Um, how did it feel?
05:43Oh, my gosh.
05:44It was, I was nervous,
05:45but I shouldn't have been nervous
05:46because they were so nice.
05:52It was so nice,
05:53and they knew a lot about me.
05:54They did their research.
05:55I like that.
05:56I respect that.
05:57Shout out to people
05:58who do their research
05:59on the artists
06:00before you bring them up there.
06:01We appreciate that.