Shawntae Harris, better known worldwide as Hip Hop pioneer Da Brat, dominated the female-fronted rap game in the nineties alongside Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, and the late Aaliyah, and has since found herself a home behind the mic as a radio personality in Atlanta.
What has always been known about Da Brat, is that she's fierce, she's smart, and she keeps her private life close to heart. But that all changed this past March when she shared a social media post of an extravagant gift given by her significant other.
Sharing her thoughts in Variety's new 'Pride' feature, the Chicago native explains why she has chosen this moment in time to officially come out to the world.
“I’ve always felt like being private is the better way to go, because then you don’t have so many people in your business,” she tells Variety. "I was fine staying quiet, but my partner is a social media mogul — that’s how she became who she is. And when you get with somebody, you have to meet in the middle. So to me, the middle was just letting everybody know: ‘Hey, she’s the one.'”
"The One" for Da Brat would be Kaleidoscope Hair Products CEO Jesseca Dupart, who surprised her with an early birthday gift of a white Bentley tied in a red bow.
"Never have I EVER," she commented on Instagram as she took in the feeling. "Needless to say... I’ve always been a kind of private person until I met my heart’s match who handles some things differently than I do. Thank you baby @darealbbjudy for far more than this incredible birthday gift. I have never experienced this feeling. It’s so overwhelming that often I find myself in a daze hoping to never get pinched to see if it’s real so I can live in this dream forever."
Without putting a label on her sexual orientation, Da Brat admits she has dated both women and men, “so I guess for a long time I was bisexual,” and says that decision was always one she made herself, even if pushed in certain directions from those around her.
“I was always told you want to be f***able to men and women to sell records — you don’t want anybody to discriminate," she says. "It was absolutely my decision, I mean, you saw what happened to people like Ellen: Remember when she lost her TV show, and all these horrible things were happening? People were totally against it.”
Da Brat's announcement a few months back wasn't a planned spectacle. “Jesseca was showing me some pictures and we were going back and forth, joking ‘I’ll post it,’ ‘No, I’ll post it.’ So when she did, I was like, ‘Oh s***! I just came out after 20-something years!’ But it feels good to share with the world when you’re happy.”
Back in the studio while under quarantine, Da Brat just released a new track, "Quarantine With U," featuring Kito Abashi and MISTER - available online for streaming and purchase now.
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