Rashad Spain (born October 8, 1993), known professionally as Saucy Santana, is an American rapper. After beginning his career as a
makeup artist
A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...
for the hip hop duo
City Girls
City Girls is an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 1992). The duo originate from Miami, Florida, and garnered attention after making an un ...
, he started rapping in February 2019, and released his debut single "Walk Em Like A Dog" that same year. After becoming a recurring guest on the reality television franchise ''
Love & Hip Hop: Miami'', Santana gained further prominence in 2021 when his singles "Walk", and "Here We Go" spawned
viral challenges on
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
. That same year, he released the song "Material Girl", and later released the song's remix "Material Gworrllllllll!" alongside
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
.
Early life
Santana was born to Teresa Harris on October 8, 1993.
He grew up in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...
, before moving to Florida when he was 10 years old.
Santana is of
Afro-Dominican descent through his grandmother. He started his career in the music industry by working as a makeup artist for
City Girls
City Girls is an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 1992). The duo originate from Miami, Florida, and garnered attention after making an un ...
,
and started rapping in February 2019 when he created a theme song for the podcast that he hosted with his friends at the time.
Career
Santana uploaded his debut single "Walk 'Em Like a Dog" to the audio distribution platform
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
in August 2019.
This release was followed by his debut
EP, ''Dog Walkers'', in September 2019, and then the mixtape ''Imma Celebrity'' in January 2020.
Santana featured as a recurring guest on
the third season of the reality television franchise ''
Love & Hip Hop: Miami'', which aired on VH1 from January 6, 2020, to April 6, 2020. In July 2020, Santana released his second mixtape ''Pretty Little Gangsta'',
bolstered by the singles "Up & Down" featuring American rapper
Latto
Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), professionally known as Latto or Big Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She first appeared on American rapper Jermaine Dupri's reality television s ...
,
and "Back It Up" featuring American rapper LightSkinKeisha.
Santana featured on American rapper
Sukihana
Destiny Lanette Henderson (born 15 November 1991), also known as Sukihana, is an American reality television personality, rapper, and actress. She rose to prominence as a main cast member on the VH1 reality series '' Love & Hip Hop: Miami''. She ...
's single "Food Stamp Hoe" in August 2021.
His 2020 single "Walk" went viral in 2021 after being used for the popular
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
#WalkChallenge, and earned him a cosign from American rapper
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...
. His singles "Here We Go" and "Material Girl" also gained prominence on the platform throughout the year; the latter of which received a cosign from
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
, who performed a medley of both her song "Material Girl" and Santana's "Material Girl" with him at NYC Pride in 2022. They would later release the version they performed as a single, entitled "Material Gworrllllllll!" His debut studio album ''Keep It Playa'' was released on December 16, 2021, and featured the single "Shisha", his first collaboration with
City Girls
City Girls is an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 1992). The duo originate from Miami, Florida, and garnered attention after making an un ...
, with whom he originally began his career as a
makeup artist
A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...
.
In June 2022, Santana received widespread backlash for tweets from 2014 about singer
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
's daughter,
Blue Ivy Carter
Blue Ivy Carter (born January 7, 2012) is an American singer. She is the first-born daughter of musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Two days after her birth, ''Time'' dubbed Carter "the most famous baby in the world." That same day, her vocals were fe ...
, after Santana claimed to have compared her to
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's daughter North West, and calling Carter's hair, "
nappy
A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy (Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or contai ...
".
In August 2022, Santana made his debut on ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'', performing "Booty".
Santana also performed "Booty" at the
2022 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey on August 28, 2022. The show was emceed by LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow. Minaj was honored with the Video Vanguard Award, pr ...
"Pre-Show".
Artistry
Santana has cited
Gucci Mane
Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...
,
Trina
Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in 1998 with her appearance on the Trick Daddy single "Nann Nigga".
Trina has been described by '' XXL'' as "the most ...
, and Tampa Tony as influences.
Personal life
Santana came out as gay at age 17.
On December 11, 2019, Santana and two others were shot in a
drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...
in Miami.
Santana, who was hospitalized for his injuries, stated that he believes the shooting was motivated by
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
.
He said of the shooting, "I got shot in the top of my shoulder, you was aiming at my face or at my head, that's an instant kill." This incident inspired him to write the song "You Can't Kill Me".
Selected discography
Studio albums
Mixtapes
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Awards and nominations
Results
References
{{Reflist
Living people
African-American rappers
LGBT rappers
Participants in American reality television series
21st-century American rappers
LGBT people from Florida
1993 births
American gay musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
American shooting survivors
LGBT African Americans
People from Perry, Florida
Rappers from Florida
Rappers from Connecticut
Musicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut
Southern hip hop musicians