Alyssa “Mulatto” Stephens broke out in 2020. She became an XXL Freshman, made a cameo in Cardi B’s recording-breaking “WAP” music video, earned a Gold plaque for her “B#### from da Souf” single, and dropped her Queen of Da Souf project.
This year also saw Mulatto dealing with some controversial moments. For example, the 21-year-old rapper was recently accused of denying the existence of colorism during a conversation on the private Clubhouse social media platform.
“I WOULD NEVER SAY NO S### LIKE COLORISM DOESN’T EXIST!” tweeted Mulatto on Tuesday afternoon in response to the rumors circulating on Twitter. She later added, “Please stop with the false narrative!”
I WOULD NEVER SAY NO S### LIKE COLORISM DOESN’T EXIST!
— BIG LATTO (@Latto) December 1, 2020
Please stop with the false narrative!
— BIG LATTO (@Latto) December 1, 2020
Mulatto has also faced backlash for her stage name which is an outdated racial term for a light-skinned person of mixed-race ancestry. The Atlanta native has publicly talked about being the child of an African-American father and Caucasian mother.
According to The Rap Game winner, the decision to use Mulatto as her professional moniker was a way to reclaim the slur in order to shift its meaning from something negative to something positive. However, she is said to be considering officially changing her name to Big Latto.
“I would be lying to say it hasn’t crossed my mind before. 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 right now, because it’s going to be a part of something bigger,” said Mulatto.