2024 BET Awards

Ever since her 2020 Billboard 200-charting debut studio album Queen of da Souf, Latto has always made one thing abundantly clear: she loves her hometown of Atlanta, GA. As one of ATL’s hottest current stars, it’s no surprise that she was a part of BET’s Lifetime Achievement tribute performance to A-Town’s very own Usher.
At the 2024 BET Awards, the “Big Mama” rapper performed a career-spanning medley of Usher’s defining hits alongside a star-studded line-up of artists, including Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, Summer Walker, Tinashe, Chlöe, Marsha Ambrosius, Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét. Latto closed out the performance by taking on Ludacris‘ iconic “Yeah!” verse — all while wearing Usher’s actual “U” chain.

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“His wife [Jennifer Goicoechea, got me the chain] because [the tribute] was a surprise!” said Billboard’s latest cover star. “We had reached out and she was like, ‘Let me see what he brought with him to L.A.’ She showed me a picture of two different chains, I was like, ‘I wanna wear that one!’”

The diamond-encrusted “U” chain has become synonymous with the “Burn” singer over the course of his three-decade career, even earning a key moment during his bombastic Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show performance when he ripped off his shirt midway through “U Got It Bad.” At the 2024 BET Awards, Latto paired the chain with a white tank top, loose honey-brown curls and dark wash denim jeans, perfectly capturing the ’00s feel of Usher’s Ludacris and Lil Jon-assisted smash.

“They had me sitting right next to Usher and [production] was like Don’t say nothing! They was making me nervous!” she told Billboard. “When we got there, I was running late, I missed the carpet and didn’t even end up sitting directly next to him. Thank God, ’cause ain’t no telling what I was gonna say. When my anxiety is going in a room like that, I don’t know what I’m going to say. Then it’s still Usher! I might say, I ate scrambled eggs for breakfast! [Laughs.]”

According to the “Sunday Service” rapper — whose new Sugar Honey Iced Tea album is due in August — each tribute performer only knew about their own contribution. “When we did dress rehearsal, every time somebody was coming onstage, I was like ‘Woah! Victoria and Teyana?’” she quipped. “When they first asked me, I was like, ‘Why do they want me to do this?’ Then I realized it was all females, I’m the only rapper at the end, I got it.”

The Lifetime Achievement tribute marked the third crossover between the two ATL titans this year. At the top of the year (Feb. 9), Latto appeared on “A-Town Girl,” a Billy Joel-nodding track from Usher’s Coming Home LP, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Mere weeks before the BET Awards, Latto brought out Usher as a special guest during her set at WHTA (Hot 107.9) Birthday Bash, where she made history as their first female headliner. For Latto, however, the real challenge was the BET tribute.

“I was nervous as hell up there,” she said. “Mind you, I did every practice, every dress rehearsal, killed it. I go up there and stumble on the words a little bit for the actual performance… I was so pissed at myself. I came backstage [pouting] and my team didn’t even know where I messed up! they wanted me to change parts [of Ludacris’ “Yeah” verse] to make it fit me, and I was like, ‘I don’t know, y’all. Is that disrespectful? I don’t want him to think I don’t think his verse is good enough or that I think mine is better.’”

Ultimately, Latto rocked the stage, going two for two that night. Earlier in the ceremony, she performed a medley of tracks from her forthcoming third studio album, including “Shoutout to Me,” “Big Mama” and the Billboard Hot 100-charting “Sunday Service” (No. 100).