Shawntae Harris (born April 14, 1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat, is an American rapper and actress from Joliet, Illinois. Beginning her career in 1992, Harris debut album Funkdafied (1994) sold one million copies, making her the first female solo rap act to receive a platinum certification, and the second overall female rap act (solo or group) after Salt-N-Pepa. She has received two Grammy Award nominations.
Harris was born on April 14, 1974 in Joliet, Illinois and raised on Chicago's West Side. Her parents never married, and Harris was subsequently raised in two different households (Lansing, IL 60438). Harris lived part of the time with her mother and grandmother and attended a strict Apostolic church four times a week, where she sang in the choir. Harris attended Kenwood Academy during her sophomore and junior year, where she ran track and played basketball. She graduated from Academy of Scholastic Achievement, a continuation charter school that caters to at-risk students, in 1992., Actress and Model LisaRaye McCoy is her half-sister