00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Lotto, thank you so much for being here with me today.
00:06 - Of course.
00:07 - So I wanna start with you at the very beginning.
00:10 Tell me how you got your start in music.
00:13 - Okay, this is kind of funny, so follow me.
00:16 My dad is like street dude, into cars,
00:21 just knows a lot of people.
00:23 So I'm around this like fast lifestyle.
00:26 And then in school, language arts was always my favorite
00:30 subject.
00:31 - Mine too.
00:31 - Really?
00:32 - Yeah.
00:33 (laughing)
00:34 - Smart girl.
00:35 I just loved wordplay, like metaphors, similes,
00:38 writing essays and poems, like that was just so second
00:42 nature for me.
00:43 So I had this passion and then this lifestyle,
00:46 I'm already growing up around it.
00:47 They kind of just like combine my two worlds.
00:51 - So then how did you start breaking out into the scene?
00:53 Walk me through the steps you took.
00:55 - So in my household, if you say you wanna do something,
01:00 we doing it full fledged.
01:01 Like it's not a hobby, we prepping for real life,
01:04 like we taking it serious, like a career.
01:06 So when I told my dad that I wanted to rap,
01:09 from that point on, I'm doing talent shows,
01:12 open mics, cyphers, posting like my flyers around the city
01:17 on stop signs.
01:19 We printed up my mixtapes and we're passing them out
01:22 at festivals in Atlanta, selling them in like
01:25 the Walmart parking lot.
01:27 I'm getting picked up from school, doing my homework
01:30 in the studio lobby and then going to the booth,
01:32 like full fledged, this is your career now.
01:35 (upbeat music)
01:38 - What would you say are some of the difficulties
01:40 of managing yourself as a brand?
01:43 - Everything is difficult.
01:44 (laughing)
01:45 Waking up early, difficult.
01:47 (laughing)
01:48 Scheduling things, making sure you're allotting
01:52 self care, self time, 'cause you can easily crash out
01:55 with this industry and just the amount of time it takes.
01:59 Like a lot of people have work a nine to five,
02:02 this is like a 12 to 12.
02:05 So I think everything about it is difficult
02:07 and I really love what I do.
02:10 This is so strenuous that I would have been quick
02:14 if I did not genuinely enjoy it.
02:16 It's so strenuous and so demanding of your time
02:20 and energy, it's like I can't even choose the hardest thing.
02:23 - I'm sure.
02:24 How do you manage that, like you know,
02:28 just flipping into that business side of the brain
02:30 'cause you know you're a creative.
02:31 - Yeah, I really wear so many hats
02:33 that it's just another one of the hats.
02:36 It's like at this point it's just another one of the hats.
02:38 I try to stick to my expertise, which is creative.
02:43 But I'm gonna always have my nose in the business
02:47 'cause at the end of the day that is the goal,
02:49 you know, music don't last forever.
02:51 Not gonna be listening to Young and Fine forever.
02:54 - Going along with that, how do you handle the stress
02:59 of constantly marketing yourself,
03:01 your own product?
03:03 - My mind is constantly running,
03:05 like I have a notes app in my phone
03:06 and it'll say like PR ideas, next video ideas,
03:10 next photo shoot concept ideas.
03:12 I watch documentaries, I scroll on Pinterest.
03:16 Even small things like watching a movie
03:18 can like spark interest or spark inspiration.
03:21 It definitely doesn't stop.
03:22 - Who is your dream collaborator
03:26 both in the business world and in the music world?
03:29 - Business?
03:30 RiRi.
03:31 RiRi.
03:32 RiRi.
03:33 I just feel like she touched our generation
03:36 in a whole different way.
03:37 Like I feel like women like me
03:39 who might have like a little motion,
03:40 little motion going on, you know.
03:42 She showed us that it's possible for us
03:45 to take it to a whole different level.
03:48 So definitely RiRi.
03:49 Really music and business.
03:51 What's up RiRi, call me girl.
03:53 - Speaking of that, what's next for you?
03:56 Like what are you most excited for in 2024?
03:59 - I'm excited to see how me managing myself
04:04 and I also have a team too,
04:05 but like for the most part I'm managing myself.
04:08 Where that takes me,
04:09 like me having two hands on the steering wheel
04:12 because I started so young,
04:13 it's like I'm not used to having to say so
04:16 and just being such a decision maker in my career.
04:21 It's been fun to like see my visions come to life.
04:25 As a kid, you know,
04:27 I feel like there's always been a lot of cooks in the kitchen
04:30 I'm the cook in the kitchen.
04:31 So 2024 should be very inspiring
04:35 and motivating for me, for Alyssa.
04:37 (upbeat music)
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