Latto Talks Decision to Speak Out Over Male Artists’ Behavior
Written by SOURCE on March 23, 2022
Latto has elaborated further on recent comments regarding an unnamed artist who made the process of clearing a feature difficult, stating in a nearly 44-minute discussion with the Breakfast Club team on Wednesday that her aim was simply to offer “insight” on such behavior for other women.
The 777 MC was asked about the comments (delivered during a recent interview with Big Boy) around the 11:05 mark in the video above, prompting the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour headliner to reflect on how she wished she had been informed of what women often face in the industry.
“My intentions was not to, like, make this a whole thing,” she told the hosts. “I just was looking at it as, like, I’m a new female rapper in the game. I wish somebody could have gave me some insight about how this stuff really goes. You hear, like, ‘Oh, female rappers have it harder.’ But I really wanted to give a little insight as to what specifically makes it harder for a female rapper. I didn’t want it to distract from the music or anything so I kind of wish, in a way, I didn’t say that.”
As previously reported, Latto told Big Boy last week that it had been “difficult to deal with these men” when it came to securing feature clearances for her album. “It’s a feature on my album that it was difficult to clear, and they, like, trying to drop their nuts on me because I won’t respond to a DM,” she said at the time, adding that she ultimately felt “backed into a corner” over the track in question.
Wednesday, Latto agreed with Angela Yee’s suggestion that an apology should have come from the unnamed artist. She also suggested she hadn’t heard from the person in question since publicly speaking about the issue.
“I’m not here to raise nobody,” Latto said. “I’m just speaking on, like, it’s what I go through. And I think I’m allowed to do that to a certain extent. Social media is trying to turn it into this thing that’s like, oh, I’m ‘trying to clout chase’ or silence my experiences. I think it’s hard to know when you should and shouldn’t speak up.”
Later, DJ Envy said it “shouldn’t be a problem” for artists to work together in a professional manner without issues like this entering into the equation. Latto agreed but pointed out that this is often not the case with men. Asked directly by Charlamagne at the 13:47 mark if 777 guest Kodak Black (who’s since responded to such speculation) was who she referenced in the Big Boy interview, Latto declined to give a name.
“I don’t wanna say who it was,” she said. “I just feel like…it’s gonna distract from the music and my intentions is not to get anyone dragged or anything. I just wanted to speak from, like, what do I deal with? I don’t specifically want someone to, you know, get dragged.”
Elsewhere, Latto confirmed that other women in the industry reached out after her initial remarks (a fact she says will “hopefully” lead to more people speaking up) and teased a 777 collab with Childish Gambino and Lil Wayne that’s one of her personal favorites from the album.
Also on Wednesday, Hot 97’s Funk Flex shared a new freestyle video from Latto. See the full thing, which opens with a recollection from Flex about a since-scrapped Latto track that previously caught his ear, below.
777 is out Friday.
