Da Brat
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Da Brat |
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Shawntae Harris (born April 14,1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat is an American female rapper
Biography
Early life
Da Brat was born April 14, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. [1]
She attended Kenwood Academy High School from 88-89 and graduated from Marshall Public School in 1992 per personal interview at LaGuardia Airport in 2008. She did not graduate from Kenwood Academy in 1992.
Personal life
Brat is the half-sister of actress LisaRaye McCoy.[2]
Sentenced to Prison
Harris was involved in the altercation that ended in assault at a Halloween party at Studio 72 nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, on 31 October 2007. Harris and a hostess exchanged verbal spars, and later, when the hostess proceeded to talk to Harris' manager, Harris attacked the hostess from behind, striking her in the face with a rum bottle. Harris entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault charges. She was sentenced to three years in prison, seven years of probation, and 200 hours of community service. According to reports, the rapper pleaded to her weeping family as she was led out of the courtroom, saying: "I love y'all." Harris, who had been convicted in 2000 for misdemeanor reckless conduct, reportedly attempted an unsuccessful escape on September 17th, 2008.
Career
1994 - 1997: Early success
The Jermaine Dupri protégé had chart success in 1994 with her single and video entitled "Funkdafied,"(so so def) taken from her debut album of the same name (Funkdafied), that reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. This album went platinum, in which made her the first female rappers to go platinum.[3] She had a follow-up hit from the same album, "Give It 2 You", which reached #26 on the Hot 100. During the rest of the decade, she remained somewhat low-key and came to be known more for her "featured" appearances on other rappers' and R&B singers' albums than for her own solo work.
In the summer of 1996 she contributed a rhyme to the hip hop remix of Mariah Carey's hit, "Always Be My Baby". She also made her feature film debut that year in Kazaam with Shaquille O'Neal. During the summer of 1997, Da Brat appeared along with Dupri on a remix of Carey's "Honey (So So Def mix)" and recorded the hit song Not Tonight with Lil' Kim, Left-Eye, Angie Martinez and Missy Elliott. She also did a track called "Ghetto Love" featuring T-Boz of TLC, this song & video was well received and was in heavy rotation for a short period of time. This artist also featured with Kris Kross on their track "Da Bomb" on the album "Da Bomb", as well as on their third album Young, Rich and Dangerous.
1998 - 1999: Guest appearances
1997 she was featured on "Sock It 2 Me", a track on Missy Elliott's debut album, which became a popular single in early 1998. In 1999, Da Brat appeared, alongside Krayzie Bone, on the remix to Mariah Carey's cover of Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe". She also appeared as a guest artist with Missy Elliott on Carey's remix of "Heartbreaker", and on the remix of Brandy's "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" with Shaunta. In 1999 she was also featured on the Destiny's Child album The Writing's on the Wall's single Jumpin', Jumpin', which was an international hit.
2000 - 2003: Return to solo work
In early 2000, Da Brat released her third full-length album Unrestricted, which produced the moderately successful singles "That's What I'm Looking For" (U.S. #56) and "What Chu Like" (U.S. #26), featuring soul singer, Tyrese. The album was not well received compared to Brat's earlier work. However, the new album and new millennium did inspire an image makeover for Da Brat. Abandoning her "gangsta" persona, she decided to follow the trend in popular music and attempted to sex her image up; the video for "What Chu Like" featured Da Brat and Tyrese rolling around half naked on a beach. In keeping with her new image, Da Brat accidentally exposed her nipples live on MTV's Total Request Live while she was hosting the show.
In 2001, Brat continued her trend of being featured on other artist's remixes, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart along with rapper Ludacris on the main remix of Mariah Carey's " Loverboy" and being featured artist on Destiny's Child's "Survivor" remix. Da Brat also appeared as Louise in Carey's 2001 movie Glitter.
In 2003, Brat released her fourth album, titled Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz, and appeared on the 4th season of VH1's The Surreal Life.
2005 - present: Current activities
In 2005, she made a comeback of sorts when she was featured on the remix to the song "I Think They Like Me," by Dem Franchize Boyz, which also featured Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Now
In 2006, she was an onstage guest on Mariah Carey's The Adventures of Mimi Tour in Atlanta, New York City, Long Island, Washington DC, Chicago,and Los Angeles performing her rap verses on the "Heartbreaker" and "Honey" remixes.
Gotsta Go and 4real4real
She featured in 2007 on Kelly Rowland's "Gotsta Go"- a bonus track from her 2007 album "Ms. Kelly" and is now to be featured on a bonus track from Mariah Carey's "E=MC²" on a track entitled "4real4real" which is an iTunes pre-order exclusive (USA) and is also going to feature on the Japanese edition of the album. She also co-wrote a song with Mariah Carey called "O.O.C" which appears on "E=MC²" but does not have vocals on the track.
Discography
TV appearances
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2008) |
- Da Brat appeared on a special episode of the game show The Weakest Link, and was also the fourth one to be voted off as the weakest link. While she was about to take the Walk of Shame, she started hiding from the host Anne Robinson. She claimed that she hid from her because she wanted to stay in the game and win money for her charity.
- Da Brat appeared as a cast member on Surreal Life Season 4. She famously feuded with the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin.
- In 2007, she appeared on the fifth season of Celebrity Fit Club. She arrived on the show weighing 172 pounds and has achieved her goal of 146 pounds. She feuded with Dustin Diamond.
- She appeared in an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
- She also appeared on Celebrity Rap Superstar. She's one of the judges along with DMC and Big Boi.
- She was also in the audience of the 2007 Christmas Episode of Deal or No Deal
- She was a musical guest on Season 1 of All That.
Filmography
- 2001: Glitter (as Louise)
- 2002: Civil Brand
- 2006: 30 Days (post-production)
- 2007: Katt Williams: American Hustle
References
- ^ MSN (2008). "Da Brat: Biography". MSN. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ "LisaRaye McCoy". New York Times. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ Da Brat - Biography