The Year of Latto

AT JUST 24, THE INIMITABLE RAP QUEEN HAS TAKEN OVER THE MUSIC WORLD WITH A CONTAGIOUS CONFIDENCE THAT'S MORE THAN SKIN-DEEP. IT'S HARD-WON AND UNWAVERING, AND SHE WANTS YOU TO FEEL IT TO0.

-  JULEE WILSON

I’ve got to make sure the following is added to my eulogy: Julee’s soaring journalism career included interviewing hip-hop icon Latto for a cover story while both women lay naked, side by side, getting a couples massage at the famed Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s in New York City.

No cap. But let me back up: Less than 24 hours prior to this historic event, one of us (not me) was already nearly naked on the set of this very photo shoot, slipping in and out of skintight gowns, body stockings, and a stunning bespoke Chrishabana chrome breastplate with a level of “it’s givin’ bad bitch” that the world has come to crave from her. As I watched the curve-clinging clothes give way to nothing at all, I’ve got to admit, I was a little surprised.

How could this be Latto's first time posing nude?

I think we can all strongly agree that inhibitions aren't part of her brand. This is, after all, the same woman who raps in her 2020 hit "Muwop," "Film him eatin' this coochie / I swear my life is a movie," and in 2022's "Wheelie," "Pretty, tight, and sticky / Fuck him once, he won't forget me." It's that unapologetic bravado coupled with her slick Southern twang that keeps her at the tippity-top of the music charts. Last fall, her single "Big Energy" became the longest-charting rap song by a solo female artist in Billboard's Hot 100 history. And lest we forget, *the* Mariah Carey hopped on the remix, giving Latto-or as the government knows her, Alyssa Michelle Stephens-the type of cosign many folks would do fucked-up things for.