Shawkat Rasheed Izzat was born in 1933 in Malkandi neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah.
He completed his primary and secondary education in Sulaymaniyah.
In the late 1940s, he attended a military music school in Kirkuk and mastered the clarinet.
In 1963, he founded the band Solav in Kirkuk with several friends.
He has worked with many Kurdish musical groups including (Maulavi, Sulaymaniyah, Solav, Bawaji, Kurdish Art and Literature, Kirkuk TV).
Shawkat Rasheed has many songs that still have their own listeners.
He was the second Kurdish artist after Qadir Dilan to use this instrument and innovate in it. He used it from Western to Eastern styles and mixed it with Kurdish art.
He has composed songs for himself and many other artists. He has many unique compositions.
He also wrote poetry and turned them into songs.
In 1984, he presented a program on Kirkuk television called “Arezumandan” which focused on meeting young artists. Through this program, several young artists appeared and became known.
Shawkat Rasheed had an artistic influence on his family and therefore his three sons followed his artistic path and served the field of Kurdish music.
This beloved artist has left behind many beautiful songs and poetic texts that will immortalize him forever.
He died on April 17, 1991 and was buried in the Sheikh Mohidin cemetery in Sulaymaniyah.[1]