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

, 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

#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

, 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

, with whom he originally began his career as a

. 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