Alyssa Stephens, AKA Mulatto confirmed her rap name change during a tease of an unreleased song on social media. In a recent Twitter and Instagram post, the ATL rapper can be seen rapping along to the unreleased song. In the video, you can hear her say
“The blogs wanna know who I’m fu*****. Rap b****** ain’t talking ’bout nothing. F*** it. I’ll change my name, but I’ll bet the still gonna find something. Y’all ain’t bully me out my s***. Drop hits I still ain’t miss. New money, new crib, new whip, new name, I’m still that b****.”
Over the past couple of months, fans of the Muwop rapper have noticed her refer to herself as ‘Big Latto’. The same thing for social media users, some have taken note of her Twitter name title “Big Latto”. Though not confirmed, many are speculating that this is the name change she’s referring to in the unreleased song.
Back in November, B**** From Da Souf rapper hinted at possibly changing her controversial name in an interview with HipHopDX. When asked if she had ever considered going by “Big Latto”, the rapper said
“I can’t say too much because we’re working on something right now, but I would be lying to say it hasn’t crossed my mind before,” Mulatto told DX. “It is a controversy that I hear and see every day as far as my name goes, so I would be lying to say no I never thought of that. But I can’t say too much because right now, because it’s going to be a part of something bigger.”
Nearly 6 months later, and she’s embracing that change.
Road To Name Change
Many of us were first introduced to the In n Out rapper as ‘Miss Mulatto’ on the Lifetime series The Rap Game. Throughout the season the young MC competed against four other young emerging rap stars for an opportunity to sign to Jermaine Dupri’s label, and eventually won the season. Though, she chose not to sign with the So So Def founder.
As you could imagine, a teenager referring to herself as what most would consider a racial slur, shocked the world. This theme would follow the rising start throughout her career. Only 16 at the time, the rising star gave a clear explanation of why she chose her rap name.
“I’m passionate about my race. I’m Miss Mulatto. The term mulatto technically is a racist slur. It means someone that’s half black and half white. So it’s, like, controversial. I took that negativity from the word mulatto and now…everybody calls me Miss Mulatto. Why do I have to choose one or the other? I’m both. That’s what I want to go by.
My mom was pregnant with me when she was 15 years old. She went to a majority white school so of course her being 15 years old, pregnant by a Black man, that was just too much for them to handle. So many people doubt you… “ oh, she’s not going to be able to do this, she’s a mutt, oh, she can’t do this.” I have to show this is what I’ve been working for. I’m ready for this. Let’s go.”
Over the years, Big Latto has received major criticism for the offensive history of the name. Historically, the term “Mulatto” is used to describe the first-generation offspring of a Black person and a white person, and has a dark history that dates back to slavery.
