Latto says that she feels obligated to help out other female artists in hip-hop as she becomes more successful. Latto explained that she's happy to do so during an interview with PEOPLE in honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
"Hip-hop is more than music. It's a way of life, it's a culture," Latto began. "Hip-hop has influenced even other genres of music. We teach people how to dress through our music. We tell them what liquor they should be drinking, and what clubs they should be at, where they should go for vacation. It's literally so much deeper than music, and I'm very, very honored to be a part of the genre."
Latto Accepts Best New Artist At The BET Awards
From there, she reflected on her responsibility to assist others in the genre: "It's been a long time coming for women in rap. I think it is just my duty to do that. We've been going 10 times as hard for equal recognition as the men, and I just think it's my responsibility to bring others up as I go. I see how hard they work and how hard we have to go to literally just get equal recognition. So it's like, ‘Let me do my part.’ I hope that I'm leaving behind a legacy of just confidence and empowerment for women, and maybe just like an escape from your everyday life and just turn on some Latto and feel empowered, feel like anything is possible, and I'm not taking no for an answer."
Speaking of Latto's success, her music hit 1 billion streams on Spotify, earlier this year. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February. In 2022, she dropped her second studio album, 777.
[Via]