Latto

Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), known professionally as Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper and singer from Atlanta. She first appeared on Jermaine Dupri's reality television series The Rap Game in 2016, where she was known as Miss Mulatto and won the show's first season, but rejected its award of a recording contract with Dupri's So So Def Recordings.

Latto rose to prominence after releasing her 2019 single "Bitch from da Souf," which received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Upon signing with RCA Records, it was issued as the lead single for her debut studio album Queen of da Souf (2020), which performed moderately on the Billboard 200 and spawned the platinum-certified single "Muwop" (featuring Gucci Mane).

After a name change to Latto, she reached wider mainstream recognition after the release of her 2021 single, "Big Energy." The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, received triple platinum certification by the RIAA, and landed at number seven on the Year-End Hot 100 chart; its live performance was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance, while Latto herself was nominated for Best New Artist at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. "Big Energy" served as lead single for her second studio album 777 (2022), which trailed the song commercially at number 15 on the Billboard 200. Her guest appearance on Jung Kook's 2023 single "Seven" became her first song to peak atop both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200, while her single "Put It on da Floor Again" (remixed featuring Cardi B) peaked at number 13 on the former chart that same year. The latter served as lead single for her third studio album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea (2024), which matched her previous on the Billboard 200.

Latto has won two BET Awards, a BET Hip Hop Award, a Billboard Music Award, a MTV Video Music Award, and two Grammy nominations. She was included on the 2020 XXL Freshman Class, and was named MTV's "Global Push Artist of the Month" in 2021. Latto was recognized as Variety's "Breakthrough Artist" of 2022, and at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards, Latto won Song of the Year for "Big Energy" and was nominated for Album of the Year for 777. She also won the BET Awards for Best New Artist in 2021 and Best Female Hip Hop Artist in 2023.

Alyssa Michelle Stephens was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 22, 1998 to Misti Pitts and Shayne Stephens. She attended Lovejoy High School in Hampton, Georgia, south of Atlanta and outside of the metro area. She credits Clayton County as the place which gave her street credibility. Her biological mother is white and her biological father is black. Alyssa was bullied in school for being "light-skinned" which inspired her to later adopt the stage name Miss Mulatto when she began her rapping career, after the "mulatto" racial classification. At the age of ten, she decided to become a rapper and began writing her own rap songs. Prior to being in music, she was in drag racing.

In 2016, Alyssa Stephens was a contestant on the Lifetime reality series The Rap Game, produced by Jermaine Dupri and Queen Latifah. The boot camp-style series followed young aspiring rappers in a competition against one another over a span of eight weeks. Latto, under the stage name "Miss Mulatto" at the time, was the overall winner of the competition. She was offered a recording contract from Dupri with So So Def Records but ultimately turned down the deal claiming it was not enough money, opting to be an independent artist.

Stephens' second mixtape, Latto Let 'Em Know, was released in April 2017. The tape featured artists like Molly Brazy, Lil Key, Crucial, and Silentó. The single "Response Diss" is a diss song directed toward Young Lyric, a fellow competitor from The Rap Game. The ongoing feud between the two resulted in diss tracks from both parties with insults about drug use, homosexuality, and past experiences from the show.

In January 2019, Latto released the song "Bitch from da Souf". In May 2019, she was invited to perform at the Rolling Loud, an annual hip hop festival, located in Miami. In June 2019, she released a second extended play, titled Big Latto, which was preceded by "Bitch from da Souf". The single became a breakout hit, peaking at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. The song later received a remix, featuring rappers Saweetie and Trina, which was later included on Mulatto's third EP, Hit the Latto, which was released on December 12.