Atlanta’s own Mulatto’s route into hip hop is probably not something you’d expect to see from a modern rapper. Usually, in the modern era we expect to see rappers steal the spotlight through social media and most of us have pushed TV talent shows down the pecking order as a viable way to make it as a pop star, let alone a rapper.
Mulatto was the first winner of ongoing the Lifetime series The Rap Game and steadily built her following up over the span of three years, success in music didn’t come instantly for her but she kept at it and, in 2019 she charted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Her debut album is titled Queen of Da Souf and the 2020 XXL Freshman has a stacked feature list to compliment her slick flows including, Saweetie, Gucci Mane, and City Girls to name a few. Throughout the record Mulatto shows off her comfort at making grimy trap bangers while showing she has the lyricism to keep things enjoyable throughout the project.
Mulatto – Youngest N Richest (Offical Video)
The opener “Youngest N Richest” encapsulates everything Mulatto is about and sets the tone perfectly for the album with a violin infused trap and her energetic delivery really pulls you into what is a very impressive debut album. Mulatto manages to hold her own with 21 Savage on “Pull Up” and somehow manages the almost impossible task of sounding as coldblooded and heartless as her fellow Atlanta native.
Perhaps the biggest standout on the project is her effort “Off Top” with another artist who’s really on fire at the moment, 42 Dugg. and While Dugg’s performance is respectable, Mulatto really steals the show with her aggressive bars and triplet flows not giving the listener a moment’s rest from the onslaught. She even shows her versatility throwing in a couple more r&b inspired tracks like ‘Blame Me’ where her silky vocals find some really great pockets and while this sound isn’t fully refined for her yet there’s definitely enough potential for her vocally to experiment with it even further in the future.
Mulatto- Blame Me (Official Audio)
Mulatto has made a very solid start to her career in music, we’d argue she’s one of the most exciting talents to come out of Atlanta this year and that’s no small feat considering the amount of talent that seems to be coming out of there almost daily. While she is in that oversaturated trap rapper lane right now she definitely has the potential to push that sound in a way we haven’t seen before and her energetic and aggressive approach is something that’s really encapsulating and forces you to pay attention. As long as she continues on this trajectory whilst also continuing to experiment with her sound, it’d be no surprise to see her at the same level as the likes of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion sooner rather than later.
While we are at it, swipe across to get the looks of @mulatto that are just game-changing for our style inspiration. September, bring us some good nights, please.
Words by Chris Saunders
