Mulatto Will Change Her Name After People Continue to Call It Problematic
Rapper Mulatto is an Atlanta native gaining serious traction in the industry. With her catchy lyrics, dramatic beats and popular collaboration with rapper Gucci Mane, her career has gone to new heights as she continues to push herself for her fans.
Mulatto first gained a large following from her presence on the rap competition show The Rap Game during the show’s first season in 2016 on Lifetime. While Mulatto won the competition, viewers were startled when she decided to turn down the record deal she was offered as the prize.
During her time on the show she went by the name Miss Mulatto. Around 2018, the “Muwop” rapper changed her name to just Mulatto, and released a project by the same name. Recently, she opened up about possibly making the change once more.
Mulatto hopes to address criticism by changing her name
The Atlanta rapper sat down for an Instagram Live conversation with The Shade Room to discuss the history behind her name and address rumors about the origination of the name and the purpose behind it.
Previously, Mulatto received criticism because of the historical meaning of the word mulatto. Critics asserted the rapper should change her name due to the optics of being a biracial, light-skinned Black woman. Mulatto, whose real name is Alyssa Michelle Stephens, disagreed with claims that was blatantly perpetuating colorism with her name. She said, “I’m not a colorist, but the internet gon’ do what they do, I can’t convince people that already don’t like me otherwise so I’m not gonna have a stroke about it.”
Mulatto has previously addressed her critics in songs like “He Say She Say,” where she acknowledges her presence as a trending topic on social media and blogs alike.
Mulatto understands the reasoning behind the criticism
The rapper understands that her stage name may contribute to some of the criticism she has received in the past, saying, “That’s why I’m doing my little part on the back end like learning about today, and talk about the name change and stuff like that, to also dead it on my end because I feel like that kinda contributes to that.”
When discussing the timing of when the name change would occur, Mulatto was hesitant to set clear expectations, explaining, “It’s still in the works, like, people gotta understand too that, at this level in an artist’s career that’s not just something that happens overnight.”
Mulatto was clear about how much effort it takes to change a name, adding “It’s not something that even happens period because it’s so much money and investments on the line when you do that…but it’s definitely in the works, like, I’m considering it for sure.”
No matter her decision, Mulatto appears to be thinking things through to make the best decision for her career.
