How Latto’s Success Skyrocketed After ‘Big Energy’ Went Viral

TikTok has become one of the most powerful tools on the planet for music artists. It has the power to turn a five-second snippet into a global earworm, launch a small-time musician onto the Billboard Hot 100, and reshape the career trajectory of an artist on the rise. One person who's reaped this effect is Latto, the rapper behind “Big Energy.”

A Latto lyric has likely landed on your For You Page at some point. The Atlanta rapper has a knack for creating moments that take over the platform, and her 2021 single “Big Energy” didn't just go viral; it became a cultural reference point. The track catapulted her from a respected Southern rap talent to a mainstream music-chart force. She's earned collaborations with icons, GRAMMY nominations, and a foothold in pop culture far beyond hip-hop.

Latto's success story is a playbook for how TikTok virality, fueled by authenticity and smart strategy, can deliver lasting commercial results in an industry once dominated by radio spins and label budgets. Here's how the TikTok system worked for her and how it can also potentially work for you as an artist or music professional.

Before rising to stardom with “Big Energy,” Latto had been working toward that moment for more than a decade. Born Alyssa Michelle Stephens in Columbus, Ohio, she grew up in Clayton County, Georgia, and started rapping at age 8. At 16, she won the first season of Jermaine Dupri's The Rap Game in 2016. But instead of accepting the show's award of a recording contract with So So Def Records, she took the riskier independent route to maintain control over her sound and career.

Her 2019 single “B***h From Da Souf” has received notable recognition, including a Recording Industry Association of America Double Platinum certification and a spot at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her debut album Queen of Da Souf followed in 2020, featuring collaborations with artists such as Gucci Mane and City Girls. In 2021, she rebranded herself from “Mulatto” to “Latto,” stepping into a cleaner, more marketable identity without losing her Southern rap edge.

By then, she had carved a space for herself in Atlanta's fiercely creative female rap scene, known for breaking rules rather than following them. But while her reputation was solid in hip-hop, she hadn't yet achieved a mainstream crossover hit. That's when “Big Energy” and TikTok arrived.

From the first beat, Latto's “Big Energy” had all the ingredients of a TikTok smash. Built around Tom Tom Club's 1981 track “Genius of Love” — famously flipped in Mariah Carey's 1995 hit “Fantasy” — it paired instant nostalgia with modern swagger. The verses were full of confidence, and the beat provided producers with unlimited ways to use it, from fashion transitions and funny edits to dance footage. 

The success of the song was no surprise. In 2024, 84% of hit songs entering the Billboard Global 200 chart first went viral on TikTok, while 13 of the year's 16 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits originated from major TikTok trends, and TikTok's top 10 songs generated more than 200 million video creations and more than 8 billion streams on music platforms.

U.S. TikTok users are 74% more likely to discover and share new music than the average short-form video user, and 92% of people trust peer recommendations over ads. This is a core reason why user-generated content delivers such strong results.

Most of the momentum for “Big Energy” was organic. By the time radio and traditional media caught on, TikTok had already secured the track's place on streaming playlists and the charts.

Once “Big Energy” took off on TikTok, the effect was immediate. In the first month of going viral, the song had over 300 million streams on a major music platform. It came out in stores in September 2021 and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 list in April 2022.

These successes led to Latto's first big remix, which featured Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled. It would become a top-10 hit and her highest-charting track, surpassing 120 million streams.

TikTok now has over 170 million U.S. users and over 1 billion globally. In 2024 alone, TikTok's Add to Music App feature was used to save over 1 billion songs. Industry leaders Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group have noticed its influence and have all signed licensing deals with the platform.

Marketing strategies are also evolving. Major music labels are moving away from costly influencer collaborations and are now using fan-driven trends, content creator contests, and dedicated artist pages to spark organic engagement.

Artists from Ice Spice to Steve Lacy have ridden the TikTok wave to stardom. They are proof that TikTok isn't a passing fad, so if you want to follow in their footsteps, here are three tips to follow:

Latto's “Big Energy” is a case study of how TikTok has rewritten the rules of music promotion. By pairing algorithm-driven discovery with smart cross-platform moves and a nostalgia-fueled remix, the campaign turned a regional rap star into a household name.

We are now in a time where radio is no longer the sole gatekeeper and playlisting isn't guaranteed. TikTok offers artists a direct, measurable path to top the music charts. But as “Big Energy” shows, virality is only the beginning; sustained success comes from treating TikTok as the starting point of a larger, multiplatform storytelling strategy.