My dad, his dad, my uncles, cousins, they all drag race - that was like the thing in my family. I would be writing raps in my room, and I didn't say nothing about it at first.

So when did you transition from a rap fan, whose dad was schooling you on all these people, to someone who kind of curated your own tastes? I didn't think about what they were saying as explicit we would be appreciating the bars and the wordplay and just the overall creativity of the artists. We would watch videos on Music Choice, YouTube, whatever, and he would talk highly of these women. It was probably through my dad, on some sitdown. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Louder host Sidney Madden spoke with Latto about what Trina's influence means to her, the highs and lows she's faced as a woman expressing sexual agency in her art - and how far she believes this music can go, if people would just get over their fear of it. Latto's highest chart-topper, 'Big Energy,' along with tracks like 'It's Givin,' the abortion-rights anthem 'P***y' and 'Bitch from da Souf' (which got a boost from Trina hopping on the remix in 2020) are as emancipatory as they are titillating. And despite some progress in the years since, her successors have dealt with the same double standards - listeners, critics and other artists reducing those baddie bars to the pejorative of 'p***y rap,' without hearing the real message.Ītlanta's Latto is one star in Trina's universe who teeters on the tip of this double-edged sword. As Trina was wiping her Gucci pumps on dusty old stereotypes about Black women's sexuality, many detractors tried to drag her through more dirt. But birthing a whole universe doesn't necessarily change the world one already lives in. For the fans who love it, this form of rap claps back at that imbalance it uplifts, empowers and highlights loving yourself in the ways you've historically been told to suppress.

Sexual agency - the freedom to determine your own sexual wants and needs - has long been a social luxury afforded to men, and systematically gatekept from everyone else. Louder Than A Riot Episode 4: Trina, Trick Daddy and Latto

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