Derrick Antonio Coleman (July 4, 1990 – January 19, 2018), known professionally as Fredo Santana, was an American rapper. The older cousin of rapper Chief Keef, Santana began his career in 2011. His debut studio album, '' Trappin Ain't Dead'' (2013), peaked at number 45 on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. Santana died of a seizure on January 19, 2018.

Career

Fredo's first mixtape, ''It's a Scary Site'', was released on September 20, 2012. It featured production by TM88, Young Chop, 12Hunna, Leek E Leek, J-Hill, C-Sick, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Bueller as well as guest appearances from Chief Keef, Lil Reese, King L, Gino Marley, Frenchie, Lil Herb, Lil Bibby, and

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

. Santana's second mixtape, ''Fredo Kruger'', was released on February 28, 2013, and featured production by 808 Mafia, Young Chop and Mike Will Made It, as well as guest appearances from

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James Sr. (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of now-defunct hip-hop group, the Diplomats (also known as Dipset). He is best known for his appearances on group coho ...

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ...

Young Scooter Kenneth Edward Rashad Bailey (March 28, 1986 – March 28, 2025), better known by his stage name Young Scooter, was an American rapper. He was one of the first acts to sign with fellow Atlanta rapper Future (rapper), Future's record label, Free ...

, Fat Trel, Alley Boy, Lil Durk and Lil Reese among others. It would later be released for retail sale via iTunes on May 7, 2013. On September 24, 2013, Fredo Santana made a cameo appearance in

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's music video for "

Hold On, We're Going Home "Hold On, We're Going Home" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, featuring R&B duo Majid Jordan, released by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records and OVO Sound on August 7, 2013 as the third single from Drake's thi ...

", in which he portrayed a bad guy kidnapping Drake's "girlfriend". His debut album, ''Trappin Ain't Dead'', was released on November 20, 2013. The album featured guest appearances by

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, Chief Keef, Peewee Longway and other members of Glory Boyz Entertainment. ''It's a Scary Site 2'' was released on December 20, 2013. On February 27, 2014, Santana announced that he and Keef were going to release a collaboration album ''Blood Thicker Than Water'', which never came to fruition. On July 9, 2014, he revealed the track list for his upcoming album ''Walking Legend''.

Personal life

Santana was the older cousin of Chicago rapper Chief Keef.

Health problems

Santana was a heavy user of drugs, at one point being addicted to

Xanax Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of moderate duration within the triazolobenzodiazepine group of chemicals called benzodiazepines. Alprazolam is most commonly prescribed in the ...

and Lean. Santana attributed his heavy drug use to trauma experienced during his childhood, admitting he had

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

and turned to drugs as a coping mechanism. Santana was hospitalized in March 2017 after having a

seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

, which he blamed on a heavy workload and his poor sleep schedule. After the seizures persisted, Santana was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy in May 2017 and was prescribed Keppra to treat it. Despite the medicine, Santana continued to have seizures, usually multiple in a row. Santana was hospitalized once again in October 2017 after friend and fellow rapper Gino Marley found Santana mid-seizure on the floor of his house with blood coming from his mouth. He was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with both liver and kidney failure, with the main factors being his addiction to Xanax and Lean. Santana expressed interest in going to rehab while in the hospital.

Death

On the evening of January 19, 2018, at around 11:30 p.m. local time, Santana's girlfriend discovered him unresponsive at their home in

Reseda, Los Angeles Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquake ...

. Shortly after, Santana was pronounced dead, aged 27. He had a fatal seizure, and an autopsy revealed he had developed

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

in addition to the previous conditions he had.

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

* ''It's a Scary Site'' (2012) * ''Fredo Kruger'' (2013) * ''Street Shit'' (with Gino Marley) (2013) * ''It's a Scary Site 2'' (2013) * ''Walking Legend'' (2014) * ''Ain't No Money Like Trap Money'' (2015) * ''Fredo Mafia'' (with 808 Mafia) (2016) * ''Plugged In'' (2017)

Singles

Guest appearances

* "Familiar"
(2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Fredo 1990 births 2018 deaths 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American musicians African-American business executives African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American chief executives American music industry executives Businesspeople from Chicago American drill musicians American trap musicians Midwest hip-hop musicians Rappers from Chicago 21st-century American male musicians Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from epilepsy People with epilepsy RBC Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American businesspeople American musicians with disabilities