Latto and Ice Spice have something to prove with their new single, and it’s not just that they were blessed in all the right places. “Gyatt” (2025) is a bass-heavy, hypnotic tune that proves unity is possible in the increasingly polarized world of female rap. With its playful yet confident lyrics, these hip-hop divas deliver an anthem that will have you shouting, “Lord, have mercy!”.
As any chronically online X user would know, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj have long battled over the “queen of rap” title. Nearly three years ago, Latto got involved by entering a fierce online feud with Minaj over her alleged bullying of younger female rappers. Ice Spice, a supporter of Minaj, came into conflict with Latto, who frequently worked with Cardi B. As social media users stirred the pot, Latto and Ice Spice came face-to-face in a proxy war.
In July 2023, after Ice Spice fans accused Latto of imitating the rapper’s iconic pose, Ice Spice took to X, asserting that she hates people with “no identity.” When Latto promoted her upcoming single “Sunday Service” (2024), she included the music video to Ice Spice’s song “Pretty Girl” in the background, heating the situation even further. Ice Spice retaliated in January 2024 with her viral song “Think U The Shit (Fart)” (2024), in which she declares “she’s all on the floor, tell her to get up,” in reference to Latto’s song “Put It On Da Floor Again” (2024). Despite these minor attacks, Ice Spice formally dismissed speculations of her feud with Latto in a July 2024 Rolling Stone interview, saying that if she ever spoke with the rapper in person, “it’d really be no issue whatsoever… especially from me.”
These feuds illustrate the large double standard among rap fans when discussing male and female talent. While various male rappers are revered for their abilities and their differences, society often believes there can only be one true “queen of rap” who dominates the rest. Male rappers can fight with their boxing gloves on, while female rappers are forced to catfight in the same arena. The rappers themselves have even acknowledged this double standard, with Latto posting in March 2023, “I don’t like how y’all take my tweets & make them fit ur weak ass narratives.”
So how does this translate to 2025? To say the least, the duo’s collaboration gagged many fans. “Gyatt” is Latto’s fourth song this year, continuing her streak of sex-positive anthems. For Ice Spice, “Gyatt” is the first song since her collaboration with American pop girl-group KATSEYE, “Gnarly” (2025). With “Gyatt,” the “Munch” (2023) rapper maintains the “Gnarly” theme with brash and bouncy references to her behind: “I got that tuh, he want that gyatt.”
It would not be an Ice Spice song, of course, without her classic potty mouth. On the track, Latto unapologetically asserts that “I shit on hoes for sure, but I ain’t into the scat.” Ice Spice has a well-known preference for mentioning excrement and flatulence in her music. Notable examples include “I’m the shit, I’m that bitch, I’m Miss Poopie” and “I’m Miss Poopie, but I never smell” from “Deli” (2023) and “BB Belt” (2024), respectively. While some of Ice Spice’s critics may look down on her stinky innuendos, one can see how it distinguishes her from her contemporaries in a way that mirrors the silly, carefree persona of early-2010s Nicki Minaj.
Latto’s opening verse is equally iconic. She swings into the song like Becky Lynch in her prime, reminding listeners that she still runs her hometown of Atlanta. If you look for her there, it won’t take long because “Big Mama ain’t hard to find, bitch, [Latto is] still in the A.” Towards the end of her verse, the rapper gets into her children’s rhyme bag, cleverly asserting, “My man buy me sticks and stones, words can’t hurt me.”
“Gyatt” is brazen and coy, a pleasant distraction from the seemingly ruthless domain of female rap beef. Latto and Ice Spice have teamed up to prove to the public that speculation of beef does not always reflect reality. People tend to pit artists against one another, damaging valuable relationships and opportunities for collaboration. In the notorious case of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, online pressure may even create long-lasting rivalries.
“Gyatt” proves the possibility of a united rap world, one where there doesn’t have to be a single queen or princess, but rather, a vibrant community of girls-girls who uplift each other. In the wise words of Ice Spice, “anyone can be a baddie.” For the new age of female rap, spearheaded by artists like Latto and Ice Spice, maybe being a baddie means supporting a culture of inclusion that topples hierarchical structures. A cheeky message, but the subject at hand is gyatts, after all.
