Carlos Emanuel Fortunato, or professionally known as Lattz (also known as “MostHumbleRapper”) is an independent music artist from a small guetto in Portgual called “Vale Da Moreira” but is currently based in Peterborough, England. Lattz also is of Angolan heritage. His mother brought him and his siblings to the UK when he was eight in an attempt to keep Lattz and his siblings away from the violence that plagues Vale Da Moreira. His mother worked multiple jobs to provide her kids with the best opportunites she could. Speaking on his childhood, Lattz said:

My childhood was like a lot of other people’s really. We had challenges and sometimes it was obvious that we didn’t have much money but for the most part my mum did a lot to provide, so I can say I had a very blessed upbringing, all praise to God.

As a foreign child in the UK, Lattz found it hard to fit in, constantly causing trouble and getting into fights. Lattz said:

“I used to just mess about, and cause trouble and I used to love a fight back in the day”

This love for fighting from a young age played a part in his musical name, his friends gave him the nickname “Latino Savage”, which he then shortened to “Lattz”.

Lattz eventually decided to stop following the path that he was going down, he said:

I just used to think back to my mother working late hours and multiple jobs to bring me to this country and here I am on this crazy path where the only two outcomes were either Jail or wind up dead somewhere.

Lattz ended up being kicked out of school before returning back to successfully complete his qualifications in college.

Lattz musical career properly kicked off in 2017, when asked about the start of his career, he said:

The songs were not good, but I found that I enjoyed the process of learning how to make beats and use vocalisers and on top of that people were responding positively to the songs I put out, and that love and appreciation really drove me cause i felt like I was making a difference and helping people.

Lattz would spend sleepless nights, putting his social life on pause in order to master his own sound, learning how to engineer and produce his own tracks.

In a few short years, Lattz had shot to stardom garnering millions and millions of views across all variety of platforms and doing it on his own, turning down deals with major labels such as Sony Music and Universal Records. When asked about his decision to turn down these labels, Lattz said:

The only thing a label can give me is instant success, overnight if you will but I don’t want that, I want to grow organically as a musician. I just want to do my own thing and own my own music. There’s nothing a label can do for me that I can’t do myself, I engineer, produce, distribute and market myself. I spend thousands of pounds of my own money on internet ads to push myself

Lattz bet on himself, eventually starting his own record label called “Young Diamond Broskis” (also known as “YDB RECORDS”) where he eventually hopes to sign and help up-and-coming rappers and singers within Peterborough. Lattz said:

In an industry like this, you need to be very strong-minded, and glory to God because I am very strong minded. The impact and change I can have on my hometown of Peterborough is what drives me, not big label money.

The love for his hometown has not always been reciprocated though, with Lattz venting frustration at the media’s lack of acknowledgement of his vast achievements.

Everywhere I go, I represent Peterborough, I was doing sold out tours with Dappy and I was shouting out our hometown but before you, nobody in the media from our city has tried to showcase what I’m doing. But the moment I do something wrong or mess up, It will be the front page news

Lattz is a widely recognised musician, with more than a million views on Youtube, but it’s very clear what the young star’s priorities are. Lattz said:

I’ve made music, done sold out shows, charted at 15 in the UK charts above rappers likes Central Cee and Skepta, I have Spotify listeners in 143 countries. But, the support from my home town would trump all of that because it will allow me to connect with schools and young kids, perform at the Embankment and allow me to give back to my city properly. A lot of people feel like they have to leave the city to succeed and go to London, but I’m trying to bring my city with me. I love this city.

The future looks bright for the young rapper with acclaimed rappers such as Aggro Santos reaching out over Instagram to collaborate with him.

(Adapted from Peterborough Matters)