Staying fresh is what Latto‘s all about, so she found herself in familiar territory on a recent trip to La Romana, Dominican Republic to visit the Backwoods cigar factory. The Atlanta rapper, style icon and “Queen of the Souf” witnessed firsthand how much care goes into maintaining the quality and freshness in every pack of Backwoods.

Hip-hop’s affinity for “Woods”—the name given by many rappers to refer to Backwoods—is obvious throughout the industry, both in and out of the public eye. The brand goes way back to 1973, but has been synonymous with hip-hop since the Golden Era of the mid-1990s. From The Notorious B.I.G., Migos, to GloRilla, Drake and more, plenty of hip-hop artists have mentioned the brand in their lyrics.

“Why do the rap industry love Backwoods?” Latto shares. “We gon’ rap about it, we gon’ have it in our videos, you gon’ see it in the studio. Backwoods everywhere.”

During the factory tour, the 25-year-old MC got an inside look at the steps in the company’s curation and packaging operation.  Third-generation tobacconist and Backwoods aficionado Anu Amen-Ra, who also goes by “The Sartorial Tobacconist,” is a cigar expert who took Latto through the different steps in crafting a Backwoods cigar by showing off the leaf selection and quality control process, which Latto likens to making and picking hit records.

“The correlation to the music is beauty in the process of creating greatness,” she says.

Backwoods is synonymous with hip-hop. After visiting the place where the magic happens, Big Latto sees why.

“It was super dope to see the process,” she says of going inside the Backwoods cigar factory. “It’s so pure and fresh, like filtering through the bad pieces and just making the product fresh as possible is similar to my process of making music. Only putting out the best product, you feel me.”

Watch Latto experience the quality and freshness that goes into every Backwoods cigar below.

Watch Latto Hit Up the Dominican Republic for an Exclusive Backwoods Factory Tour

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