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Rashawnna Guy¹ (born October 1, 1979), better known by her stage name Shawnna is an American rapper. She was the first female artist signed to Def Jam through Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace Records. She is a former member of the female Chicago rap duo Infamous Syndicate and she is also the daughter of the legendary blues musician Buddy Guy.

She is known for her rapid fire delivery and her sexual themes. She is one of only four female rappers (others being Lauryn Hill, Lil Kim and Remy Ma) to ever have a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with 2003's "Stand Up" with Ludacris.

Music career

Shawnna was in a female rap duo called Infamous Syndicate who released an album, Changing the Game, in 1999², but were then dropped by their record company, Relativity Records. After this, Shawnna and Teefa went their separate ways, Teefa to a radio career while Shawnna went solo in music. In 2000, she appeared on Ludacris's "What's Your Fantasy" although she had no verse on the song. After this, Ludacris' re-released his 1st album "Incognegro" (renamed "Back For The First Time") with three new tracks. One was a remix of "What's Your Fantasy" where the production was slightly remixed and three female rappers had a verse each, Foxy Brown, Trina, and Shawnna³. In 2000, she also appeared on two tracks of the Infinity Eighteen Vol.2 album by Japanese singer Ami Suzuki. After the "What's Your Fantasy" appearances, Ludacris showed interest in signing Shawnna and did in 2001 (when Ludacris's second album "Word Of Mouf" was released- on which she was featured on the song "Get The F**k Back"⁴ and was featured in the album artwork). She also appeared on Mariah Carey's "Loverboy" from her album Glitter. The remix (track 1 on the album) also features Ludacris, Da Brat and Twenty II.⁵

In 2002 she was on DTP's first album Golden Grain⁶ on the songs "Break Sumthin", "Growing Pains Remix (Do It Again)", "Posted", "Pimp Council", "R.P.M" & "N.S.E.W". Shawnna's debut album Worth tha Weight, originally scheduled to be released in October 2002, was delayed until September 28, 2004 when it was finally released⁷. It received little promotion due to disputes at Def Jam, however the album was well-received by critics, and spawned the singles "Shake Dat Shit" (featuring Ludacris) and "Weight a Minute".

In December 2005, she appeared on DTP's second album Ludacris Presents Disturbing Tha Peace⁸ however only on her solo song "Gettin' Some", which was also included on her second album in 2006, on track 14 as a hidden track (not in album credits or on backcover) - and there was also a remix of this track (#4) on Shawnna's second album featuring rappers Pharrell, Ludacris, Too Short and Lil Wayne and a new verse by Shawnna.

Shawnna's second album Block Music was released on June 27, 2006. Its sales have been initially lower than expected. The album sold over 150,000 copies. In preparation of the album, Shawnna teamed up with Clinton Sparks, one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 mixtape producers, to release the official prelude to the album titled "Block Music: The Mixtape". This mixtape features exclusive tracks and freestyles as well as the official "Getting Some Head (All-Star remix)" featuring Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Jim Jones (rapper), Pimp C, Ludacris, Twista, Pharrell, Too Short, Lil' Wayne, Dre (of Cool & Dre), Pitbull and Sean J (of Field Mob). She was also announced as Artist of the week on Hollyscoop.com.

As of April 26, 2007, in an interview, Shawnna confirmed that she was no longer with DTP, but remains friends with everyone on the label.^{citation needed} Although she has left DTP she is still considered to be on their label according to paperwork-said by Remy Ma. She said that she was happy to be an independent artist, and it was something she always wanted to do. She is managed through Hustle Period and has started her own label M.O.E., which stands for Money Over Everything. She was featured on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack on the tracks "Block Reincarnated" (Shawnna feat. Kardinal Offishall) and "Slum" (I-20 featuring Shawnna).

In the October 2008 Issue for XXL Magazine, in the article featuring Ludacris, it is confirmed that Shawnna never left Disturbing Tha Peace.

She featured on a male R&B singer's debut single and the video for it (Ben One featuring Shawnna): "Never Leave My Girl"

In October 2009, T-Pain announced that he had signed Shawnna to his Nappy Boy Label. Latter she was dropped from the album Battle of the Sexes with Ludacris. ⁹.According to Shawnna's official twitter page, she is currently working on her third studio album.

Family

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Shawnna's father is prominent blues and rock and roll guitarist George "Buddy" Guy. She has a son named Raishawn and a daughter named Cameron. She also has a brother that produces under the name IceDrake (producer of "Posted" by Shawnna and "Splash Waterfalls" by Ludacris).

Discography

Albums

• 2004: Worth tha Weight
• 2006: Block Music

Mixtapes

• 2006: Clinton Sparks & Shawnna-Block Music (The Mixtape)
• 2006: Block Music Mixtape Hosted by DJ Geno & DJ Mustafa Rock

Singles

Featured singles

Videography

• "Shake Dat Shit" (featuring Ludacris)
• "Gettin' Some"
• "Damn"
• "Caught Him Lookin'"
• "Loverboy (Remix)" (Mariah Carey featuring Da Brat, Ludacris, Shawnna & Twenty II)

Guest appearances

References

External links

• Def Jam Site
• Shawnna at MySpace