Rashawnna Guy, better known as Shawnna, grew up in Country Club Hills, Illinois, and was introduced to music at an early age by her father, blues legend Buddy Guy. Shawnna told All Hip Hop that her dad was displeased with her desire to pursue a career in the rap industry but, as a teenager, she went against his wishes and teamed up with fellow rapper Lateefa Harland to form the group Infamous Syndicate. At the age of 19 — and six months pregnant — Shawnna and Lateefa got signed to Relativity Records and started working on their debut album.
They visited Hot 97 radio station, and that’s where Shawnna met one of the station’s DJs, who was going by the name of Chris Lova Lova. We now know him as Ludacris, of course. After the interview, they exchanged contact information and kept in touch.
Infamous Syndicate released their only album in 1999, called Changing the Game. She and Lateefa split up, and after getting released from their contract, Ludacris contacted Shawnna and asked if she could record the hook for his new song, entitled “What’s Your Fantasy.” The track was featured on his 2000 album, Back for the First Time, and became a mainstream hit.
Shawnna later signed with Luda’s Disturbing the Peace record label, a subsidiary of Def Jam South Recordings, and became the first lady of the label.
She had hopes of becoming a global superstar but, sadly, things didn’t go as planned. After two studio albums, and right before a collaborative album with Luda was set to be released, Shawnna abruptly disappeared from the industry.
Here’s what happened to Shawnna.