Latto

Alyssa Michelle Stephens, known professionally as Latto, first came to national attention as Miss Mulatto on Jermaine Dupri’s reality series The Rap Game in 2016, winning its first season and declining the recording contract with So So Def Recordings that came with it. The gamble held. Her 2019 single “Bitch from da Souf” went double platinum and gave her a first Billboard Hot 100 entry; it became the lead single of her debut album, Queen of da Souf (2020), which also yielded the platinum “Muwop” featuring Gucci Mane.

After shortening her name to Latto, she broke through wider with 2021’s “Big Energy,” a triple-platinum hit that peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 7 on the year-end chart. It anchored her second album, 777 (2022), and earned a Best New Artist Grammy nomination plus a Best Melodic Rap Performance nod for its live version. Guesting on Jung Kook’s “Seven” took her to No. 1 on both the Hot 100 and the Global 200 in 2023, while “Put It on da Floor Again” with Cardi B reached No. 13. Sugar Honey Iced Tea (2024) matched 777 on the Billboard 200.

The American rapper and singer has since collected two BET Awards, a BET Hip Hop Award, a Billboard Music Award and an MTV VMA, and was named a 2020 XXL Freshman and Variety’s 2022 Breakthrough Artist.