Mulatto Talks New Single, Her 10-Year Journey, Stage Name Controversy & More

Mulatto is frontlining ATL’s new school of hot, no-nonsense rap chicks and we are digging her around the globe! The 21-year-old recently broke through with the release of the viral “Thot Box” collaborative track, alongside Chinese Kitty, DreamDoll, Dreezy and Young MA.  

Upon turning heads in the UK, Mulatto – real name: Alyssa Stephens – and I caught up over a fuzzy phone call. I wanted to get to know the emcee, probably as much as you do, and unpacked her long awaited star status, reclaiming a racial slur for her stage name and her latest “He Say She Say” single! 

Tap in below. 

“Let’s get straight into ‘He Say She Say’, and how that song was created?“

I recorded it during quarantine. It’s a super confident vibe and I just wanted to talk my talk. I incorporated what was going on in my life at the time to just have them bars that people can vouch for.

“Talk about how your sound has developed?”

Starting at 10 years old, I hit all the big age marks. I’m talking about different stuff at every stage and as I evolve, new experiences reflect in my music.

“Let’s get into your explicit songs then! How have your team, family and supporters transitioned with you?“

My family were super easy, they’ve seen me grow up as normal. My supporter’s may have seen me on the Rap Game show as ‘Miss Mulatto’ and then re-discovered me. People may be confused but then understand that I’ve just grown up and become more comfortable. They’ll have their opinions regardless but I’m still gonna be me!

“You have a very ‘out-the-mud’ type of story, take us through some of your challenges?“

Starting young, Nicki Minaj was my biggest influence but it was hard because I had to keep my music child-friendly. My team would have to sit me down and tell me that I can’t rap about buying bags and stuff just yet – it was confusing. I got a lot of “she’s hard but wait until she’s 18” and I just couldn’t understand why I had to wait. It all makes sense now, but that was just a weird time.

“The biggest thing that put the U.K. onto Mulatto was Thot Box. How did the remix come about?“

It went viral right?! People were surprised that so many female rappers all came together and shot a hot, friendly video – people aren’t used to seeing that. Shout-out to Hitmaka, he put everybody on the track together and had a vision for a new version of Ladies Night!

“Another hot female collab was you on “B*tch From Da Souf” remix with Trina and Saweetie!“

The song was doing well with just me on it and I represent the up and coming female. For the remix, I wanted a current female and then I wanted an OG stamp on it. I reached out and they both jumped on it – it was super smooth and they were so supportive.

“Are you always quite hands-on with your process?”

Yeah, definitely! Everybody will tell you that I want to add my two-cents to everything. From business to creative things to social media, I’m super hands-on.

“Talk about your name ‘Mulatto’ and reclaiming it?”

I get a lot of flack for it. You’re either going to understand it or you’re not. It was a racial slur used back in the day so I took a negative and flipped it into a positive. I have so many stories about being mixed – something I can’t control – but, it’s just me owning who I am.

Stay locked in with Mulatto and circle back to Mixtape Madness for more exclusive conversations with your favourites!