Kreayshawn
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Natassia Gail Zolot (born September 24, 1989), better known by her stage name Kreayshawn, is an American
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
,
singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
, and
music video director A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaboration ...
from
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
. In 2011, while serving as a member of a rap group with her friends, she released the music video to her debut single, "
Gucci Gucci "Gucci Gucci" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kreayshawn. The song serves as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' Somethin' 'Bout Kreay'' (2012). It was released on June 14, 2011, by Columbia Records. By 2012, the sin ...
", to viral success.


Early life and education

Natassia Zolot was born on September 24, 1989, in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. She has Russian ancestry on her mother's side. Her mother, Elka Zolot, was a member of the San Francisco garage
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band
The Trashwomen The Trashwomen were an all-female American garage punk and surf punk trio from the San Francisco Bay Area signed to Estrus Records. History Formed in 1991 by Tina Lucchesi and Dannielle Pimm, and former Bitch Fight & later, Eight Ball Scratch g ...
. Kreayshawn moved to
East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
and acquired her first video camera at age ten, whereupon she started documenting her raps and films about herself and everyday life. At the age of 13, Natassia enrolled at
MetWest High School MetWest High School is a public high school in Oakland, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the mo ...
, which she described as a "new alternative type of high school". Instead of having the usual classes, such as English and mathematics, she had to take an internship at a local radio station three days a week. She was dissatisfied with the lack of work and wanted to go to a normal high school, so she switched to Oakland High School. However, according to Kreayshawn, she "went to none of erclasses, ever" at her new school, which led to her finishing the term with a 0.0 grade point average and getting expelled for
truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...
. After taking a short break, she went to
Alameda High School Alameda High School is a co-educational state high school serving grades 9–12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District. History The suggestion to open a "Preparatory Department o ...
but after a few months she was expelled. After the incident, she then enrolled in the
continuation high school A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school. In some countries it is primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same, but the sch ...
, Island High, where she then completed her second year. While attending, she again began skipping school for weeks on end. After two weeks, she returned to find out the school moved to a different location. Since she had no address or any contact with the school she was unable to find the new location and never went back. At the age of 16, she moved to live with her aunt in
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
and was taking care of her little cousin. She later moved again to live with her friend
V-Nasty Vanessa Renee Reece (born November 11, 1990), better known by her stage name V-Nasty, is an American rapper from Oakland, California. She is best known for being part of the group White Girl Mob with Kreayshawn and Lil Debbie, and for collabor ...
and enrolled in a work program, where she passed her
GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...
test. After graduating, she received financial support from her work program and used the money to get her own apartment. When she was 17, she got a laptop and began recording songs and exploring her interest in cinematography, by shooting music videos for local artists such as
Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, ...
. Her videos caught the attention of
Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...
Patrick Kriwanek, and she attended Berkeley Digital Film Institute with a full scholarship for two semesters. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music video career. Her manager Chioke McCoy, whom she met while directing a video for DB tha General, encouraged her take on a music career of her own.


Career

Kreayshawn performed in the hip hop group the White Girl Mob (WGM). The group included her friends
V-Nasty Vanessa Renee Reece (born November 11, 1990), better known by her stage name V-Nasty, is an American rapper from Oakland, California. She is best known for being part of the group White Girl Mob with Kreayshawn and Lil Debbie, and for collabor ...
and
Lil Debbie Jordan Mary Capozzi (born February 2, 1990), better known by her stage name Lil Debbie, is an American rapper, model and fashion designer. Debbie started her career in 2011 as part of the now-defunct group The White Girl Mob, with rappers Kreaysh ...
. The White Girl Mob, after many disputes, disbanded in 2012. However, the entire White Girl Mob crew appears in Kreayshawn's video "Go Hard (La.La.La)". In 2010, Kreayshawn released her first
mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
, ''Kittys x Choppas'', as well as her first music video for the song "Bumpin Bumpin." On May 16, 2011, she released a music video for her single "
Gucci Gucci "Gucci Gucci" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kreayshawn. The song serves as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' Somethin' 'Bout Kreay'' (2012). It was released on June 14, 2011, by Columbia Records. By 2012, the sin ...
", which generated nearly three million views on YouTube in the first three weeks. "Gucci Gucci," according to Kreayshawn, is a song coaxing people to wear their own styles and not succumb to being "
basic bitch "Basic" is a slang term in American popular culture used pejoratively to describe people who are perceived to prefer mainstream products, trends, and music. "Basic bitch" originated in hip hop culture and rose in popularity through rap music, son ...
es," The popularity of her "Gucci Gucci" video caught the attention of several record labels, and Kreayshawn quickly signed a contract with
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. Kreayshawn's management was contacted by the label representing the
Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
about directing a music video for the band's single, "
The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released as the first single from their tenth album ''I'm with You (album), I'm with You'' (2011). It was their first single since "Hump de Bump" in 2007, and their fi ...
" (from the album, '' I'm with You''). In August 2011, ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' ranked Kreayshawn number 34 on their
Social 50 The ''Billboard'' Social 50 is a popularity chart which ranks the most active musical artists on the world's leading social networking services. Its data, published by '' Billboard'' magazine and compiled by Next Big Sound, is based collectivel ...
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
for her presence on social media. Kreayshawn sparked controversy during a
Tinychat Tinychat is an online chat website that allows users to communicate via instant messaging, voice chat, and video chat. It offers instant opportunities for people to meet and the ability for users to create their own virtual chat room on any topic ...
freestyle, wherein she insulted rapper
Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...
by calling him "fake." She later retracted her statements and described it as a misunderstanding; however, a few days following her statement, Kreayshawn continued making negative remarks about Ross's body weight, once again calling him "fake" and stating that "he can't rap." These remarks eventually led to Rick Ross verbally threatening Kreayshawn and her manager Chioke "Stretch" McCoy
entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...
during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. She was nominated for the
MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category un ...
, but lost the category to
Tyler, The Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape Bast ...
. She also hosted the
Red Carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events. History The earliest known reference to ...
event. The same night, nude pictures of herself were leaked via her Twitter being hacked. She claimed the photos were taken when she was
underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
. In July 2011, Kreayshawn's first physical release, ''Nattymari presents Kreayshawn and Sortahuman Murder in Memphis Vol 1'', came out on cassette tape via Clan Destine Records. Produced by Nattymari with features by V-Nasty and Yung Hawaii Slim among others, the release was limited to 100 copies and celebrated Memphis' culture of murky, underground rap distributed via tape. Side A of the tape is available for free online via clothing company Mishka NYC, while the instrumental side B is tape exclusive. In 2012, Kreayshawn was nominated for the
O Music Awards The O Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the OMAs) is an awards show presented by MTV to honor music, technology and intersection between the two. The 1st O Music Award ceremony was held on April 28, 2011 on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Veg ...
. Kreayshawn's debut studio album, '' Somethin' 'Bout Kreay'', was released for digital download on September 14, 2012, by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in the United States. It was released on CD elsewhere on September 25, 2012. The singles, "
Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...
", featuring
2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, al ...
, and "Go Hard (La.La.La)", preceded the album. A music video was released for "Blasé Blasé" exclusively through HungerTV. In 2013 "Left Ey3" was included on the soundtrack of ''The Heat,'' starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, directed by Paul Feig. On one of her YouTube videos, Kreayshawn stated that she is working on an EP. On February 15, 2014, Kreayshawn vlogged herself at the shoot for her new line of jewelry, along with appearing in a new music video with Bukkweatbill for their song "Pipe Down". Kreayshawn announced in a vlog released on February 22, 2014, that she has recorded several songs that might be on her upcoming EP. She also announced that she had an interest in getting a production crew together and to start directing again along with making a reel. In the same vlog, she also said that she had been unsigned from her label after she had had her first child. On July 24, 2014, Kreayshawn released a collection of chokers called "Hella Cute". Kreayshawn has been the creative director of OK 1984 since releasing her first collection. She also released a new song, "Pizza Song". When responding to a fan on Twitter, Kreayshawn stated that she was working on music and hoped to have something out by the end of 2014. On October 22, 2014, Kreayshawn announced on her Facebook page that she had created a podcast, ''Lost in Thot''. It features Kreayshawn and Chippy Nonstop. ''Lost in Thot'' was released on SoundCloud and Stitcher until Chippy was deported to Canada.


Artistry


Influences

Kreayshawn has stated that the biggest influences on her rapping style are the
Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
and
Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...
. Kreayshawn states that Missy Elliot is her strongest influence because "she's always been stylish, and she's always kept her own thing going." In an interview for M.I.S.S., Kreayshawn stated that there were several musicians she was a major fan of, some include
Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. Signing to 1017 Brick Squad and Warner Bros. Records in 2009, he became a mainstream artist with the release of his singles "O Let's ...
,
Kool Keith Keith Matthew Thornton (born October 7, 1963), better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Kool ...
, and
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
.


Accolades

''
Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' listed Kreayshawn as one of the 19 Most Important White Rappers in 2011, a list which also included
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
and
Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...
.


Personal life

On May 5, 2013, Kreayshawn announced via her Twitter that she was expecting her first child. She gave birth to her son on September 18, 2013. On December 21, 2015, Kreayshawn's bank account was seized by the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
over unpaid taxes, which she claimed was caused by her accountant robbing her. Sometime in 2021, Kreayshawn got a divorce from Dj Two Stacks.


Discography


Studio albums


Mixtapes


Extended plays


Singles


Guest appearances


Filmography


Television


Awards


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1989 births Living people American women rappers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Columbia Records artists Jewish American musicians Jewish rappers Hip hop musicians from San Francisco Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area West Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women musicians American people of Hungarian descent 21st-century American Jews 21st-century women rappers