Image Credits: @latto on Instagram
Known for her standalone rapping ability, Latto, whose real name is Alyssa Michelle Stephens, announced on March 20 that she was pregnant with her first child via Instagram and on her new song “Business & Personal (Intro).” Ironically, Latto was going viral not long ago for one of rap verses on Summer Walker’s “Go Girl,” rapping, “Big Mama, no kids.”
With this announcement, Latto starred on the cover of a paper magazine issue. She reveals a lot while speaking to writer Brook Aster. On the pregnancy she says, “I always thought when I got pregnant one day, I was going to fall back and be out of the way,” she says. But when she found herself staring down at a positive pregnancy test, she was already in the middle of creating what she calls her “masterpiece.”
Her new album “Big Mama,” which drops May 29, comes two years after her previous successful album “Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea,” which featured some of the biggest singles of her career: “Big Mama,” “Georgia Peach,” “Brokey,” “Put it on the floor” and more. She revealed to Paper Magazine that she never stopped recording music after releasing “Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea.” She speaks on the new album in the article, saying, “I feel like I’m making the best music of my life, with this clear mind and these clear thoughts… I’ve made the majority of this album sober, obviously, so I feel like I’ve been able to take a deep dive within my own thoughts and creativity and come into a more connected relationship with myself. It’s translating through the music in the coolest way ever — you can hear where my headspace is. I’m super vulnerable and super experimental.” She also says, “I prayed when I was in the early stages of this album, still trying to find that creative pocket. I prayed for inspiration. I remember I kept praying like, ‘God, I need something. I need some new motivation. I’ve been doing this for so long; I need to be re-inspired.’ I need something to make me go hard. Little did I know that there was going to be a baby on the way. God is always listening. It’s not going to always be what you expect, but he’s listening.”
In her newest release, introducing the new album “Business & Personal,” it’s a fiery and classic Latto that shows the growth she speaks of and excitement she has to start this new era. She raps, “Y’all b****** gotta chill on the hate ’cause it’s only putting gas in the tank. Big Mama, b****, your ass is getting spanked. That b**** At the end of the day, Maybach, that’s the Benz of the day car seat, got a kid on the way (kid on the way).’’
Latto has not revealed how long she is in her pregnancy and has said to her fans that another song will drop before the project comes out in May. She also still hasn’t revealed who she’s been dating for the last couple of years now, but fans still continue to make their speculations online.
Isaiah Ireland is a fourth year Media & Culture Major. II978280@wcupa.edu.