• GOV'T NAME: Rashad Spain
  • AGE: 28
  • REPPIN': Bridgeport, Conn. and Perry, Fla.
  • TWITTER: @SaucySantana_
  • INSTAGRAM: @the1saucysantana
  • TIKTOK: @saucysantana
  • NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Walk,” “Material Girl,” “Walk Em Like a Dog”; Projects: Keep It Playa, Outside, It’s a Vibe; Guest Appearances: R3hab’s “Put Your Hands on My ___,” Tay Money’s “Hello”
  • LABEL: Do What You Want/RCA
  • CURRENTLY WORKING ON: New music arriving this summer.
  • WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR'S CLASS: “Enchanting is really dope. She can rap, plus she has a Summer Walker side and I just love her melodies and her flow. She’s a really dope artist. So, I’m surprised she ain’t here with me. That’s my sister.”
  • INFLUENCED BY: “Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj. Lately, Moneybagg [Yo]. Jacki-O, Trina, Khia, you know, Florida girls. Just growing up in Florida, that’s always been our vibe. Listening to Trina and Jacki-O, those were our leaders, those were our mothers being from Florida. Gucci Mane has been my favorite rapper since I was 14 years old. I used to get in trouble for listening to Gucci Mane because my mama wasn’t having it. A lot of my influence, beat choices that I do, things that I say, I get from Guwop.”
  • AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was a funny student. I was smart, but I was rebellious. I was skipping school, smoking weed at the baseball field. I liked math and Spanish.”

TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “[Being an XXL Freshman is] such a big deal for me because I feel like being a Freshman, that gives us our sense of recognition and validation. Big artists always get their flowers and stuff. With us just being new and coming, it’s just nice to have something that’s dedicated to us.

[I bring] loud and proud. Black, feminine, flamboyant, gay boy. Never seen this shit before. None of them out there is like me, period. Just my aura, my attitude. Just me being myself. One-of-one. It could only be one Santana. I know other people out there may wear the wigs or makeup or whatever, but I think just being me simply makes me stand out from everybody else.

[XXL Freshman class is important because] you can just always create new audiences. You have new eyes. You have people that probably don’t pay attention to [Saucy] Santana, but pay attention to XXL and the Freshman list, and check out for them. I like to seize the moment of everything and every opportunity because you just never know who’s watching.

My fans are gonna be happy and they gon’ gag because we know this is something big. Especially for us, with being gay, we just always feel like we’re counted out. This is gonna be big for me and my community.

Once the cover comes out, it’s on the flo’. We going to the strip club. I’m throwing it in bitches’ faces. For real. Meet me at Allure [Gentleman’s Club].”

SAUCY SANTANA'S 2022 XXL FRESHMAN FREESTYLE

saucy santana 2022 xxl freshman freestyle
XXL
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Saucy Santana is unapologetically breaking the mold in hip-hop as he simultaneously remains true to himself. He's one-of-one, and has earned a legion of fans for his viral raps and witty phrases. The 28-year-old rapper, who reps Bridgeport, Conn. and Perry, Fla., has friendships with accomplished rappers like City Girls and Latto, which has brought more attention his way. He also recently hit the road and collaborated with Latto for his new song "Booty." While those moves may have bolstered his success, Santana has locked in his latest accomplishment on his own: being a member of the 2022 XXL Freshman Class.

Extra-long, bedazzled nails, a full-face of makeup and tight-fitting ensemble to accentuate his curvaceous shape are all part of Saucy's unique presence in his Freshman freestyle. He also utters some of the fiercest bars from the second verse of his 2020 track "Try Your Luck," which include countless quotables both relatable and matter-of-fact. "I went from rags to riches/Some friends done changed up, congrats to disses because I came up/I got my hater blockers on/It's tunnel vision/If you can't beat them, join them/Better make your decision/Let me clear this air, I can't see through the smoke/Fame in me is savage, let me show you cutthroat/A crowd full of whispers, a page full of comments/But it don't phase me, it ain't making no commas," he raps.

Saucy Santana employs hand gestures to drive his points home. There's nothing cookie cutter about him nor silver spoon offered, from his upbringing to his stint involved in street life. "I put the D in dividends, not the D in drama/But if we gotta take it there, trust, it's gon' be trauma/Traumatizing for you/You think you know my story, but you ain't got a clue/I changed the game, I'm on the rise/They try to go against me, but they know I'm the vibe/Daddy up the Rolls, see him when I'm 35/Momma taught me also, but had to fight to survive/Speaking of 35, that nigga bought me the plug/How the gay boy on the block selling a purse full of drugs?" he spits.

He caps off his freestyle demanding respect. Saucy shoots it straight, bypassing all of the background noise. "Yippie yi yo, yippie yi yi yay/Snatch the controller from you niggas/I am not here to play/Santana think he all that/New deal, new waist, tell a hating-ass ho she can fall back/Bitch, I started this shit, gotta play your position/Gotta respect the game, gotta respect the transition/I'm still snatching y'all wigs, call me hair physician/Million-dollar deal on a billion-dollar mission/Silly bitches want the beef, but I'm stacking that cheese/And niggas begging me for mercy, talking ’bout Santana, please," Saucy Santana rhymes.

"I see the comments, don't play on my top/I held my nuts on you hoes, but now it's time to drop/I click your page, that shit says follow back/Respond to beef over beats, let me call up Tre Trax," the rapper concludes.

Saucy Santana's appeal is glitz and glamour, but that wasn't always the case for him, as he shares in his Freshman freestyle. He's aware of his naysayers and continues to keep his foot firmly placed on the gas, zooming towards the success he envisions for himself.

This year has been a groundbreaking year for Saucy. Coming off viral fame thanks to his hit songs "Material Girl," which became a coined phrase—"material gworl"—"Walk" and "Walk Em Like a Dog," in conjunction with his social media presence, the rising artist is now on RCA's roster, supported Latto on her 777 Tour earlier this year alongside fellow 2022 XXL Freshman Kali and rising artist Asianae, and recently hit the stage with pop icon Madonna to perform her hit "Material Girl" during New York City Pride.

Just last month, Saucy dropped a new single, "Booty" featuring Latto, which has already garnered over 2.5 million streams on Spotify. The high-energy, party anthem also contains the distinct horns from 1970's R&B/funk group the Chi-Lites' "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)," which were sampled by Beyoncé on her smash hit "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z as well.

With some singles lined up for the summer, Saucy Santana fans can peep his 2022 XXL Freshman freestyle, powered by Puma, below in the meantime.

Aleia Woods

SAUCY SANTANA'S ABCs

SAUCY SANTANA, DOECHII, SOFAYGO AND KAYCYY'S 2022 XXL FRESHMAN CYPHER

Doechii SoFaygo KayCyy Saucy Santana 2022 xxl freshman cypher
XXL
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Tell the truth, this is what you’ve all been waiting for. Now, that the 2022 XXL Freshman Class is fully unsheathed, and the pleasantries of the Mean Comments, ABCs and individual freestyles are out of the way, it’s time to get the finals: the 2022 XXL Freshman Cyphers. The first group of rappers from the new class that are ready to show and prove in the rap circle is Tampa, Fla. native Doechii, Atlanta’s SoFaygo, KayCyy from Kenya and St. Paul, Minn., and Saucy Santana, who calls Bridgeport, Conn. and Perry, Fla. home.

It all starts with a fire track, and one of the hottest producers in the game has provided that this year. Platinum-selling producer Wheezy Outta Here, the man behind hits like Gunna and Future’s "Pushin P," Young Thug's "Hot" and YSL’s "Ski," supplied a bevy of fire tracks to choose from. The first group picked a banger with pulsing synths and deep bass as their palette.

Ladies first. Doechii, the self-proclaimed "Swamp Princess," proves she’s not to be played with. "Ooh shit, ooh nana/Tell ’em make room when a real bitch fly by," she spits. "If Doechii on the list than it's thicker than a Popeyes/Flick of the wrist will get you gone, bitch, bye bye/Made $1 million in a month like voila/Niggas switching gangs, bandanas looking tie-dye/In The Shade Room, but the shades ain’t Prada."

Next up, Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Records signee SoFaygo is operating in the flex zone for his cypher contribution. Taking his time, So slow-flows over the spacey soundscape. "Topic discussion, whoa/I do this shit just like it's nothing, whoa," he raps. "Come get that bitch that you cuffin', whoa/Ice on my wrist and it's bussin', whoa/Ice on my neck and it’s bussin'."

Minnesota’s KayCyy, by way of Kenya, is third up to the plate. Despite cosigns from Kanye West and Drake, the young rapper is still fighting for respect. He comes off the dome with a freestyle about his underdog status. "More money, more problems, that’s certainty/I came in the game and it’s urgent/I came in the game and it's promising (Yeah, let’s do it)," he delivers. "I don’t got time for the other shit/I don’t time for the nonsense/Yeah, I don’t got time for the drama shit."

Saucy Santana is dripping swag while batting cleanup. "I'm rockin' with Gucci, Emilio Pucci/Bitches my kids, baby mama coochie," he rhymes. "Go against me you must be stupid/When you rap, my ears is muted/Niggas is strapped, they zooted and booted/Looking for love and trying cupid."

Watch Doechii, SoFaygo, KayCyy and Saucy Santana's 2022 XXL Freshman cypher below.

C. Vernon Coleman II

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