“In Clayton County, the future is being developed”

– Jacob Dorion (“Welcome to Jurassic Park, Georgia”) 

Friday, March 25, RCA rapper Latto released her major-label debut, 777. That same day, around 4:30 p.m., a friend texted me about Skate Zone, my family’s skating rink. She saw the name mentioned while reading Latto’s Rolling Stone profile from February. I asked her to send a screenshot since I never saw it. She did. 

It felt funny to see the rink mentioned in Rolling Stone of all places. Clayton County is right outside of Metro Atlanta, 30 minutes south of the airport. To live on the outskirts is a lot like being in the underground. You’re away from the celebrated areas associated with spotlights and success, but you’re surrounded by diamonds waiting to be seen. 

Since my parents have had the rink going on 18 years, we’ve seen everyone from a young B.O.B. to a veteran T.I. come through the doors. I remember stopping by once, just to say hello, and Hurricane Chris was on stage. So it came as no surprise that my parents knew of Latto before she was a platinum-selling artist. There is even a video of her on YouTube performing a freestyle over 21 Savage’s “Red Opp” at the rink.

The woman is a striking difference from the Big Latto people see today. Although smaller in stature, her voice commands a mesmerizing confidence. You can see the silent respect between her and the spectators. They watch, phones out, recording her in 2016 the same way they do now, six years later. There is a cosmic beauty to her rapping over “Red Opps,” and now, on her debut album, 21 Savage is featured on the third song. Or how she went from the skating rink to freestyling on Funk Flex. No matter how you look at it, to go from Clayton County to worldwide is no easy feat.

Although I missed her the night she returned to the rink, I got a chance to meet Latto right before Christmas when she launched her Win Some Give Some foundation and hosted a Latto 4 The Ladies holiday give back in partnership with non-profit Rainbow House. They were able to have dinner and give gifts to 30 teen girls and young mothers from the Clayton County area. I went to represent the rink since all the families were gifted a night of skating at Skate Zone.

I remember how, when Latto arrived at the dinner, some boys were leaving the rec center. I heard them say, in the loudest possible whisper, “Do you know who that is!?” They did and so did all the girls who glowed with excitement as she stepped in. They ate, took pictures, opened gifts, and absorbed the presence of someone they see on Instagram, watch on YouTube, and stream on Spotify. 

Something about the admiration went deeper than idolizing a star. They saw her as a sister. Someone closed to their age, from their backyard, sitting with them from a place of empowerment. Able to give back. There wasn’t a person in the room that didn’t look at her as a source of encouragement simply because she came back and sat with them.

As Latto's career progresses, I’ll remember how she was touching the people in Clayton County leading up to 777. Never forgetting even the local roller rink that helped her grow into this superwoman that is breaking away and building new bridges for all the rap women to come.