For months, Atlanta rapper Mulatto has been dancing around the idea of a possible name change. The topic has haunted the gold-certified budding superstar for the entirety of her breakout year, with criticism flying on social media about her name being inappropriate and outdated, given the current social climate in America. Some would say that it's about time that she considers a name change.
For the fourth day of HNHH's 12 Days of Christmas interview series, Latto explained the factors that initially went into her deciding that a name change was the best route to go. While she still has not decided on a new name, she had this to say about the process:
"The older I get, you know, just the state of the world right now with Donald Trump being the President-- well not for long, but him being the President-- police brutality, just reaching a point where the world is fed up. I was out on the frontline marching for victims of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole. To me, you get to a point where [the name] is not worth it anymore," said Mulatto. "I don't know. Your intention is kind of being misinterpreted. So it's like you've got to self reflect and go back to the drawing board. I don't know my final decision yet, but I'm definitely at the drawing board right now for sure."
She elaborated, explaining that this is a big step for an artist of her stature to even consider.
"I understand the frustration and I'm listening as an artist, as a creative, but not even just that. As a woman, as someone who lives in these communities that are affected by matters like that or problems that my daddy and my uncles experienced firsthand. I got real stories that some people probably don't even know about or can't even relate to type sh*t," said the rapper. "As an artist that’s this established so far-- and I've been doing this for so long-- they don't know how big of a step it is to even be considering it. That's me really being like, “F*** all this money that's invested on my end, my label’s end, I’m about to switch this whole sh*t up." That's like, that's a big step. I don’t need no cookies. But it is a big step for sure."
As far as how her legacy will go down, she still thinks that people will always know her as Mulatto, even despite the possible name change.
"It will always resort back to Mulatto because that's just where it all started," she told HNHH. "I'll never want to erase my come up, but you got to also move forward. So I think, yeah, people will always know me as Mulatto, but like, the more aware and mature me will probably have a different name."
What do you think Mulatto should use as her new name? Read our full interview with the rapper, which was published as part of our 12 Days of Christmas interview series.