As she emerged into the mainstream, Mulatto was hit with criticism over her stage name. The moniker holds racist undertones as its original use was for livestock, specifically the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey. The term transformed into an offensive way to classify someone with “mixed” ancestry. After answering a number of questions about the name, Mulatto promised to change the name something she officially did this month. Now going by Latto, the XXL Freshman makes it official and addresses the matter on her new track, “The Biggest.”
The hard-hitting effort sees Latto telling her side of the story in the “mulatto” controversy. “I’ll be damned if the name the reason I don’t make it,” she raps. “It contradicted for what I stand for / The backlash ain’t what I planned for / Now I know better, so I’m movin’ better.” Later in the song, she adds, “First I wasn’t tryna hear the facts / If they don’t wanna understand me, kiss my ass / But looking back, that was immature.”
Back in January, Latto explained why she opted to change her name. “You know you might know your intentions, but these are strangers who don’t know you, never even met you in person,” she said. “So you gotta hear each other out, and if you know those aren’t your intentions and that’s how it’s being perceived, it’s like why not make a change or alter it?”
Press play on the video for “The Biggest” above.
