Latto Fans Barely Recognize Her In Teenage Rap Video

BYGabriel Bras Nevares2.9K Views
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Sips & Sounds Summer Festival
AUSTIN, TEXAS - JULY 29: Latto performs onstage during Sips & Sounds Summer Festival at Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park on July 29, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)
Don't ever think Latto hasn't put the work in for a long time.

Latto has been rapping for a long time, as she has plenty of old performance clips from when she was just a teenager. However, a new example of this that hit the Internet this week might be the most unrecognizable and shocking yet. Moreover, it's a music video of her with two friends rapping over a trap beat that sounds right out of the early 2010s, and this is when she was still going by "Miss Mulatto." In it, the Atlanta femcee has some fun in front of a green screen and delivers a charismatic verse with a much higher pitch than what you'll find on Sugar Honey Iced Tea.

It's always heartening and at least pretty cool to see where rappers came from, especially when they are such huge stars now. It also goes to show that Latto's been about female rap from the jump, even if some shade she sent Ice Spice's way might put that in question for some today. Nevertheless, everybody has to start somewhere. Setting up the timeline for her artistic evolution reveals a pretty step-by-step progression thanks to videos like these.

Latto's Been Rapping For A Long

What's more is that 2024 is the perfect time to look back on Latto's humble beginnings since this has arguably been her biggest 12 months yet. In fact, she was named "Trapper Of The Year" at T.I.'s Trap Music Museum in Atlanta, which is the highest honor because it's a source of hometown pride. Of course, we can't discount 2023 either, which held "Put It On Da Floor" and all the groundwork that provided this massive 2024 in the first place. Much like this old rap video, it's always important to connect the dots and understand that there's levels to the amount of work hip-hop's icons have to put in.

Even though Sugar Honey Iced Tea didn't perform the best commercially, that doesn't reflect the dominant conversation that Latto was at the center of this year. There's a lot of ink over the state of female rap and their interpersonal career dynamics, and she's been a big part of that discussion for better or worse. Ultimately, we're just excited to see what 2025 looks like and what the next evolution will be. Maybe we'll look back on this moment years down the line in the same way that we admire this music video.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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