Rapper Latto on her stratospheric rise: “It’s like, I’m the chosen one”

“I don’t really believe in luck,” says the 24-year-old American rapper Latto, whose name, ironically, is short for lottery, among other things. “When I say luck, what I’m saying is blessed. It’s like, oh my gosh, I’m the chosen one. Blessed and highly favoured. Work hard and pray hard.”

Her prayers were answered earlier this week when the rapper landed her first number-one hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 list with her latest single Seven, a collaboration with K-Pop star and BTS member Jungkook. That said, when we meet, the repercussions of her “work hard” ethos are showing. She’s tired, hungry and over two hours late.

The Sony Music boardroom where we’re due to meet has been transformed into a buffet-style Dishoom canteen and aromas of Chicken Ruby curry fill the space. Latto, quite rightly, prioritises dinner over our interview – it’s 7pm and it’s the first thing she’s eaten today.

“I’ve probably had twelve hours of sleep in two weeks,” she says, wearily. “Some nights I just don’t go to sleep, but I’m still here.”

We meet on the Monday following Finsbury Park’s annual Wireless Festival, where she performed over the weekend. “Wireless was so fun. I was shocked that they knew my words, I was like ‘y’all know me out here!?’” she says. “I had a show the next day in Germany so it was all a blur.” She remains blurred as we chat. Wiped out after a day of back-to-back radio interviews, the woman in front of me is a subdued, timid version of the outspoken rapper we’re used to on social media.

This cycle has been Latto’s life for the past eight years. Born Alyssa Michelle Stephens in Columbus, Ohio, she was launched into the public eye when she became the winner of hit US reality TV competitionThe Rap Game aged just 16.

“It was a launchpad for my career, it was my first platform,” she says. But does she wish she’d waited until she was older to apply? “Yes and no for different reasons, but overall probably yes,” she admits. “When you’re a kid, you’re still finding yourself and I didn’t really know reality TV. If I was older I would’ve been more aware of the manipulation of the producers. I love what it did for me and my career overall but they were sneaky.”

She was offered a record deal by producers, but declined as she didn’t believe she was being offered enough money. Three years later, she signed with RCA Records and released her first single, B*tch from da Souf, which achieved double-platinum status.

Nowadays, Latto’s only money trouble comes from staying inspired, now that she has it. “You reach a certain level of success and it’s like, I’ve got the money, you can buy anything you want, what do you do now? You’ve got to find new ways to inspire yourself. When you’re broke it’s like ‘I want to buy this and I want to buy this’, and that’s the motivation, but I can do that now, so I have to find other things that inspire me.”

Of everything she’s achieved – two albums, a number one single, working with Mariah Carey, Cardi B and Lizzo – her proudest achievement to date is paying for her sister’s college tuition. “Nobody in my family went to college, so I’m happy I got to do that for her.”

For Latto, an early introduction to fame meant that the industry was her education system. I ask if she feels she missed out on her teenage years: “Oh yes!” she answers, without hesitation. “I didn’t get to go to prom, I didn’t get to go to graduation, I just got my diploma in the mail. I missed out on all the big celebrations and senior activities that I didn’t get to do. I should have a prom-themed birthday party.”

Though Latto was born in Ohio, she went to high school in Clayton County, Georgia, the place she credits most with shaping who she is today. She was bullied throughout school for being mixed race and “light skinned”, which led her to adopt her original stage name (which she used on The Rap Game) ‘Miss Mulatto’, referring to the pejorative racial classification for a person of both white and black ancestry. The moniker is something from which Latto is now keen to distance herself.

When trying to think of who she idolised growing up, the only person she can name is her mother. “My mamma had me at 15. I watched her build her whole life from nothing,” she says. She’s still getting to grips with the idea of being a role model for young women herself. “It’s a lot of pressure being a role model, at first I was mad about it. I was like: ‘I’m not a role model, I’m still in my early twenties!’ But you have to take on that responsibility, so you do it the best you can,” she says. “I think I’m an authentic role model though, my life isn’t perfect and I don’t try to make it seem like it is; I have good days and I have bad days.”

This approach on social media has gained her a reputation for responding to internet trolls, as well as DM-ing other artists and calling people out. It got to a point where Latto was firing back at trolls so often that Cardi B stepped in to tell her to stop.

“I’m still learning how to deal with trolls,” she says, “but lately I’ve been thinking, if you had the opportunity to switch lives with me or to keep your own life, you would definitely switch lives with me. So that’s how I’ve been able to ignore them lately. I used to be like, ‘they don’t know who they’re talking to! I gotta say this back!’, but now I’m like, ‘girl, you wish.’”

Not only has she got Cardi B in her corner, but Lizzo too, who, she says, has taught her more than anyone else. Our conversation took place prior to Lizzo being accused of fat-shaming and sexual harassment by three of her former backing dancers in a new lawsuit.

“I’ve learnt the most from Lizzo,” Latto says. “Her work ethic is crazy, how she treats her team, she focuses on the details and wants to make the environment as comfortable as possible for everybody, from the CEO to the janitor. Humility is big for her, and she’s always happy!”

Latto spent two months on the road with Lizzo earlier this year, opening the North American leg of her world tour. “We popped bottles of champagne together. She wrote a handwritten note to me saying ‘if you ever need anything come holler at me.’ One time I was sad and she came in and was like ‘I feel like it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re good and check on you’, cameras off, just me and her.”

Prior to that, the rapper’s first major pinch-me moment was getting Mariah Carey to feature on her track. Big Energy was the single that catapulted Latto into the mainstream last year. It won Song of the Year at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards and helped her land her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist 2023. The song samples the 1981 track Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club, which was later used on Carey’s 1995 era-defining hit Fantasy.

Almost three decades later, Latto used the same sample on Big Energy. “They asked me who I wanted to be on the remix, so I thought why not shoot for the stars and reach out to Mariah. It was a longshot idea in my head that ended up coming true,” she says, sounding like a proper fan. “She is such a queen, she has so much grace. Not even just as an artist but as a woman. We were on set together, I was trying to keep up with her. She’s nocturnal, we went to set at 4am, we left at 11am. I’m falling asleep, ordering Starbucks and she’s like ‘girl, I’m a night owl’. We were drinking her liquor, she was so sweet and very humble.”

With so much under her belt at only 24, does Latto feel like she’s made it yet? “I don’t think I’ll [have] that ‘I’ve made it’ moment. I don’t know if that’s in my blood. I’m a Capricorn so I always want more, I’m never content,” she says. “But for the most part yeah, being Grammy-nominated is crazy; having a song with Mariah Carey; Cardi B – it’s crazy where I’m from, but I always want more.”

So there isn’t one moment, collaboration or accolade that she’s holding out for? She pauses to think. “That one thing will be when I have a farm and a dog kennel and I’m married with a bunch of kids out in the country.”

Jungkook and Latto’s single Seven is out now