Saucy Santana finally walks upright by signing to music label RCA

Material girl Saucy Santana leads the LGBTQIA community by signing a major deal with RCA Records. The label has already amassed talent from the likes of Doja Cat, Chris Brown, Nardo Wick, and Tems. It is clear diversity is the driving force within this record label. 

Florida-bred, Santana, embarked as a make-up artist for the popular duo City Girls, JT and Yung Miami. He then rose to fame by appearing on one half of the duo City Girls’ Instagram live. The general public instantly felt drawn to him, by his ballsy personality, confidence, creative flair, and his staple Chanel bag aesthetic paired with an immaculate face beat. In no time, people followed his aesthetic and the buzz around his name grew immensely. He took advantage of the spotlight by releasing his very first hit single in 2019 “Walk Em Like A Dog” which launched Saucy Santana the artist. Later on, he released more hits such as Walk, Material Girl, and Shisha. Santana also debuted as a reality tv star on VH1’s Love And Hip Hop Miami alongside fellow peers in the game such as Sukihana and Trina.

Bridging the Gap

The Hip-Hop industry on its own is a tough business and has a tough audience. Where MCs have to push their pen, be hard, and dominate the musical charts. It is undeniable that the majority in this industry are males. Whereas female MCs work harder just to be recognized or to be taken seriously. But now that times are evolving, the rules change as well when it comes to respecting female MCs. So these questions then come up– can the Hip-Hop culture accept and respect a new wave of queer hip-hop artists? Is Saucy “Material Gworl” Santana the key change hip-hop needs for queer artists? Not to discredit the foundation Queen Latifah and DaBrat have laid. They have shown that a queer can be ranked up there with the boys. As their styles of rapping mirror the traditional Hip-Hop style.

But with the incoming new generation, consistently demonstrate that Hip-Hop music doesn’t have to be “hard” all the time. Santana is a solid example, he delivers a fresh style to the music he makes. He literally ran with the “city girl” aesthetic kind of rap. This rap oozes confidence, independence, and creativity, raw and uncut. That in its all is Saucy Santana defined. In his recent interview with Forbes, he said, “I love that about me–that it’s so authentic and it’s so pure. I’m not in the studio thinking, ‘I need to make a TikTok hit; I’m not necessarily thinking, ‘I need to make this go viral. I’m just making good music.” In the interview, he touches on what his self-image is and how it blends with his music. He says, “I always was fun. I always was popular. People just always gravitated to me. I always was just kind of carefree and bold and just a free spirit. So I think that’s why my image and my attitude and my aura works for me because it’s so authentic and it’s just genuinely me.” 

Santana is being his authentic self through and through. I think it’s a powerful tool in this tough industry as it is quite easy to lose yourself. Santana may be a viral star, but he does so unintentionally. He isn’t hopping on trends to be popular. He sets them by being himself. Just as Nicki Minaj uttered on the Joe Budden podcast about losing your identity by jumping on trends. She said, “I don’t think people realize that if you jump on every trend, you become faceless.” Santana is proof  that you don’t have to have to prance on every trend to make it in the industry. Talent should speak for itself.

What does the deal unlock?

Santana’s name carries a ton of weight in the game already. But, what I manifest is that his deal unlocks a door for queer artists to access endless opportunities as artists and creatives in the hip-hop scene. After all, music is about art, not sexuality. Rap is about bars, so who cares whose mouth the spitting comes from. Isn’t it time we hear everyone’s story? Isn’t that what Hip-Hop is about? Storytelling, reminiscing about one’s past life, living in your truth, and sharing all of it to the world.

Hopefully, this record deal will unleash the unseen shackles of gatekeeping within the music industry that these incoming artists experience. I know I speak for everyone about seeing what the future has for the shining star, Saucy Santana. 

Works Cited

Méndez, Chris Malone. “2022 Belongs to Saucy Santana.” Forbes, 19 Jan. 2022. 

Perkins, Tai. “Who Is Saucy Santana? Learn Everything You Need to Know about the Summer Jam Performer.” Hot97, 4 May 2022.

Ruff, Rivea. “WATCH: Kyla Pratt Talks “Call Me Kat” and Her Hilarious Reaction to Learning about the “Proud Family” Reboot.” Essence, 28 Apr. 2022. 

“Saucy Santana.” Love & Hip Hop Wiki.