Latto is traversing North America as an opener on Lizzo’s Special Tour, performing at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, but the Atlanta-bred star has stayed put on Billboard‘s Hot 100 for 49 weeks with “Big Energy.” Her September 2021 breakthrough smash has become the longest-charting rap single by a solo female artist — topping Doja Cat’s “Need To Know” (48 weeks) this week.
.@Latto's "Big Energy" is now the longest charting solo female rap song in Hot 100 history, surpassing @DojaCat’s "Need To Know".
— chart data (@chartdata) October 4, 2022
“Big Energy” is housed on 777, Latto’s 2022 sophomore album, and received the remix treatment from Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled in March.
“I wanted to push myself,” Latto said of “Big Energy” as an Uproxx cover star last December. “I wanted to challenge myself. Honestly, when you’ve been rapping since eight years old, you got to find new inspiration and new sparks. I just wanted to try something different and I didn’t really give a f*ck whether people liked it or they didn’t because this was for me. I know what I’m doing. So I was like, the go-hard Latto, heavy punchlines on a heavy 808 trapped out beat, that’s my pocket. I got that down pat. I can do that forever. I do that in my sleep. But, I don’t want to do that forever. I want to push myself and I want to be the biggest me I can be.”
“Big Energy” is up for song of the year, while 777 is nominated for hip-hop album of the year at the 2022 BET Hip-Hop Awards, scheduled for tonight (October 4).
