Ohio born rapper “Mulatto,” full name Alyssa Michelle Stephens has faced frequent backlash this past year due to her derogatory stage moniker.
For those unaware of the term Mulatto, it originates all the way back to the 1500s and as defined by Merriam Webster is an old-fashioned + often offensive term to describe a person with one black and one white parent.
Of course, this is exactly what “Mulatto” is, her mother is white and her father is black. During her appearance on The Rap Game, a lifestyle reality tv show curated by Queen Latifah and Jermaine Dupri, she shared that
“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.” -Alyssa “Mulatto” Stephens, Age 16, The Rap Game
Mulatto justifies her stage name with her desire to represent both sides of her ethnicity that played into her being the person she is today. In an interview with VLAD TV, she discloses that she was bullied for being fair, and all of this plays into her being “Miss Mulatto”
However, in recent news, the female rapper has been in the spotlight for saying in a Clubhouse chat that colorism does not exist, however, she has recently debunked these claims.
Given that Clubhouse is an invite-only voice-based app there is no audio proving Mulatto made this statement. So hopefully the public can get more details on the situation to discern what the truth is.
However, given Mulatto’s upbringing and stage name many believe it isn’t beneath her to make these claims.
