Rap Song of the Week is a new music column breaking down the essential hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Latto previews her upcoming album with the 21 Savage collaboration “Wheelie.”
After winning Lifetime’s reality series The Rap Game back in 2016, the former Miss Mulatto bet on herself, turning down a recording contract on Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Records in favor of going independent. Six years later, our 2022 Rising Artist to Watch is on the verge of her mainstream breakout. After earning her first Top 40 hit last year with the pop-leaning “Big Energy,” it’s time for Latto to aim even bigger with her upcoming album 777, which drops on March 25th.
As Latto’s new single “Wheelie” proves, however, she’s hardly left hip-hop behind. A reunion with fellow Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage, Latto’s verse features her take on Three 6 Mafia’s omnipresent “Slob on My Knob” (“Slob on my cat, bet this n**** met his match/ Take his phone ‘fore I throw it back, n****, this ain’t that”) while demanding to be treated equally in a relationship.
“Cook for him like a housewife then fuck him good like a nympho,” Latto raps. “Pay the rent and the car note, he invest in me like crypto.” 21 continues the theme, while also giving his verse its own twist. “Opps wanna rap but they ass keep dyin’,” he laughs, before showing that he understands the meaning of consent. “She don’t wanna fuck, I ain’t finna keep tryin’.”
With multiple Platinum plaques and the respect of peers like 21, Gucci Mane, City Girls, and more, Latto is already a made woman. With a TikTok-ready chorus (“Pop it like a wheelie/ Hop on top and I go silly”), however, “Wheelie” is the type of song that can go viral, yet still stop haters who say she’s gone pop right in their tracks.
Latto is headed out on her “777 Tour” starting on March 19th; tickets are available now via Ticketmaster. In the meantime, give “Wheelie” a spin below.
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