Mulatto has finally unfurled the alteration to her stage name after months of anticipation, and Twitter has opined on her new monicker.
Mulatto, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, as Alyssa Michelle Stephens, will now go by the new name “Latto.”
This marks the second time the 22-year-old raptress has adjusted her noms de guerre. She shot to moderate national fame as Miss Mulatto at 16 when she won the first season of Jermaine Dupri’s hit reality show “The Rap Game” on Lifetime.
The name change has already debuted on Apple and Spotify streaming services.
Some fans were disappointed with the decision, thinking that Mulatto would have settled on “Big Latto,” which she had been using frequently in recent years. Others support her name change due to the fact that the name “Mulatto” carries negative racial implications for too many fans. “Mulatto” is a Spanish term assigned during the slavery era to denote mixed-race people.
— Female Rap Room (@FemaleRapRoom) May 18, 2021
Latto shared with Uproxx why she chose the name “Mulatto” as a young teen performer and why she is now casting it aside.
“It’s not about me comparing my struggles of being mixed to any other skin tone, any other race, anything like that. It’s just simply me explaining my story,” she said. “I did experience a different type of upbringing having two completely different cultures. One side of my family cooked this way, talked this way, celebrate this way, traditions is this way, and then one of the sides is different, and as a kid, I was just confused and kind of had to find my way in my identity. It’s just about an experience, and flipping that negative into something positive.”
Of course, Black Twitter had much to say on the subject.
https://twitter.com/Paradis62503936/status/1394577323152838663
mulatto should’ve changed it to Lotto like lottery if she really wanted to appease the people
— 717🪷 (@nakaylamonet) May 18, 2021
I never did call Latto, Mulatto. It was always Big Latto 😭🗣
— kc. 🤍 (@redgoddessss) May 18, 2021
bring the heat 🥵🔥 @mulatto https://t.co/JTeInXTWwv
— De’Marcus Petty 👅 (@6LetterWrd) May 18, 2021
Facts they definitely bullied Mulatto into changing her name but I like Big Latto 💪 better than Latto
— …… (@Lexyoncee) May 18, 2021
it would be different if she used her ethnicity or looks to get further but she hasn't. never heard her say anything ignorant or colorist. and she definitely didn't make it bc she's mixed. she's actually talented.
— #PF2 🫶🏼 (@OnikasKeeper) May 18, 2021
If #Mulatto wants to be called, or named that, so be it. Is it AFFECTING YOUR quality of life? Why is something SHE NAMED HERSELF bothering OTHER PEOPLE? My gawd, folks need a hobby. #Mulatto #Latto #BigLatto GIRL DO YOU! pic.twitter.com/3cfIuEs1LN
— Mrs.Creole Roux Princess♊ (@dankie1982) May 18, 2021
