Roxanne Shanté is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip-hop pioneer. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects, Shanté first gained attention through the
Roxanne WarsThe Roxanne Wars is a well-known series of hip hop rivalries during the mid-1980s, yielding perhaps the most answer records in history. It arose from a dispute over a failed appearance at a radio promotional show...
and her association with the
Juice CrewThe Juice Crew was a hip hop collective of largely Queensbridge-based artists in the mid- to late-1980s. Founded by producer Marley Marl and radio DJ Mr. Magic and housed by Tyrone William's Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew would introduce New School artists Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie,...
.
Early life and career
Shanté's career began at the age of fourteen when she entered the influential world of
record producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Marley MarlMarlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:...
,
radio DJA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Mr. MagicJohn "Mr. Magic" Rivas, was an important figure in the world of hip hop radio.-Biography:Mr. Magic debuted in 1981 on WHBI-FM in New York City with the first exclusive rap radio show to be aired on a major station...
, and Tyrone Williams, who were talking about how
UTFOUTFO is an old school hip-hop group, popular in the 1980s, that was mentored by the contemporary R&B group Full Force. The group consists of the Kangol Kid , the Educated Rapper , Doctor Ice , and Mix Master Ice...
had canceled its appearance at a show that it was promoting. Shanté offered to record an answer to UTFO's recent hit "Roxanne, Roxanne," which was about a woman who rejects the members of the group. The men agreed and the result was "Roxanne's Revenge," a confrontational and profane song in which Shanté assumed the role of Roxanne,
dissingA diss track or diss song is a song primarily intended to disparage or insult another person or group. While musical parodies and attacks have always existed, the trend became increasingly common in the hip hop genre as part of the hip hop rivalry phenomenon...
UTFO over a Marley Marl-produced instrumental (The official UTFO response to its own song was “
The Real RoxanneThe Real Roxanne was an American female hip hop emcee who recorded for Select Records. In the 1980s she, Roxanne Shanté, and others were engaged in the Roxanne Wars, a series of answer records inspired by UTFO's hit song "Roxanne, Roxanne," being the officially sanctioned artist in response to all...
,” with artists Elease Jacks and later Adelaida Martinez assuming the role of Roxanne and eventually recording under the same stage name as the song title). Shanté's version and the Real Roxanne's version sparked the
Roxanne WarsThe Roxanne Wars is a well-known series of hip hop rivalries during the mid-1980s, yielding perhaps the most answer records in history. It arose from a dispute over a failed appearance at a radio promotional show...
and made Shanté a hip-hop star in the process. The single would go on to sell over 250,000 copies in the New York area alone. One of the founding members of the
Juice CrewThe Juice Crew was a hip hop collective of largely Queensbridge-based artists in the mid- to late-1980s. Founded by producer Marley Marl and radio DJ Mr. Magic and housed by Tyrone William's Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew would introduce New School artists Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie,...
, most of her tracks would be produced by Marley Marl, with the exception of several songs on Shanté's last album, 1992's
The Bitch Is Back.
As an MC, Shanté was renowned for her ability to
freestyleFreestyle rap commonly refers to rap lyrics which are improvised through a acapella or with instrumental beats, i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head"...
(improvise) entire songs. "Roxanne’s Revenge" was an example, reportedly written as it was recorded—in one take. However, the original version of the song was rerecorded after UTFO sued over the usage of its original backing track; the new version featured slightly different music with less profanity. People are most familiar with this version, which appears on the original
12-inch singleThe 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
released in 1984, with the original on the reverse side.
In 1988, Shanté and
Rick JamesJames Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
had a hit with "Loosey's Rap."
Hiatus
By the age of 25, Shanté was largely retired from the recording industry. She continued to make occasional guest appearances and live performances, as well as mentor young female hip-hop artists. She did the latter by making a cameo appearance on VH1's hip hop reality show
Ms. Rap Supreme and gave rap-battle strategies to the finalists of that show. She also took part in a series of
SpriteSprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929...
commercials during the late 1990s.
She returned to performing, and in 2008, her song "Roxanne's Revenge" was ranked number 42 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs; she re-recorded the song the following year.
Biographical claims
It was reported by
BlenderBlender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
in 2008 and more extensively in a New York
Daily News account in 2009, that Shanté earned her bachelor's degree from
Marymount Manhattan CollegeMarymount Manhattan College is an urban, coeducational, independent, private, liberal arts college located in Manhattan, New York City, New York with a focus in performing arts. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual...
and her Master's and Ph.D in psychology from
Cornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, and that a quirk in her recording contract obligated
Warner MusicWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
to fund her college education. This was not a new claim by Shanté; she spoke of it in length on the
Beef II documentary, which was released in 2004.
However, an investigation by lawyer and journalist Ben Sheffner for
SlateSlate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine found no evidence of Shanté's claims. She was never signed to a Warner Music label, but was under contract to the independent label
Cold Chillin' RecordsCold Chillin' Records was a record label that released some important music in the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. A producer-and-crew label founded by manager Tyrone Williams and run by Len Fichtelberg Cold Chillin' Records was a record label that released some...
, which was in turn distributed by
RepriseReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
/
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
from 1987 to 1992. Academic records indicate that she attended only three months at Marymount Manhattan College. Shanté never earned any degree and she is unlicensed by New York State officials to practice psychology or similar disciplines. Shanté told Sheffner that she held a diploma and attended Cornell under a
pseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
because of problems with domestic violence, but she was unable to substantiate these claims.
The
Daily News subsequently ran a five-paragraph correction stating Cornell "has now informed us that it has no record of Shanté ever attending the school," that "Warner Music Group now claims it never had a contract with Shanté—only a distribution agreement with her label," and that "after refusing to return numerous calls and e-mails during the preparation of this article, Marymount now states that Shanté attended the college for less than one semester."
"Do I apologize? Yes, I do. But I am not asking for your forgiveness," Shanté said. "I am sorry about a lot of things that I should've done differently. There were quite a few things that have been exposed with that article; the fact that I never received any royalties, the fact that I did go on to attend college (even if no Ph.D. was acquired), and the fact that at 14 years old and coming straight from the group home, I went on to create a career that even after 20 years of not making a hit record, was still pulling headlines. To be called Dr. Roxanne Shante was, and is, a privilege. But with that privilege comes pressure. I also had to live and talk like someone with a doctorate -- not an easy task at all. I had to make sure that people felt healed and inspired after speaking with me. So, yes, I apologize to all those who applied themselves and put in all the hard work that is required to acquire a Ph.D. I admire you all. But don't discredit all the hard work and sacrifices so many others have also done to also reach their goals."
Personal
She will be portrayed by actress
Keke PalmerLauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer is an American actress and singer who rose to fame for her performance in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. She also starred as the title character in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP...
in
The Vapors, a film about the formation and rise of the Juice Crew.
Albums
- Bad Sister
Bad Sister is the first album released by Roxanne Shanté. The album was released October 31, 1989, on Cold Chillin' Records and was produced by Marley Marl...
(1989)
- The Bitch Is Back (1992)
Singles
- "Roxanne’s Revenge" (1984)
- "Queen of Rox (Shanté Rox On)" (1985)
- "Runaway" (1985)
- "Bite This" (1985)
- "I'm Fly Shanté" (featuring Steady B
Warren McGlone , known by the stage name Steady B, was an American rapper and emcee who, along with Schoolly D, the Fresh Prince, and Three Times Dope, was one of the first wave of Philadelphia-area rappers to gain notoriety in the mid to late 1980s...
) (1986)
- "Def Fresh Crew" (1986)
- "Pay Back" (1987)
- "Have a Nice Day" (1987) (UK
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#58)
- "Go On, Girl" (1988) (UK #55)
- "Loosey's Rap" (with Rick James) (1988)
- "Sharp as a Knife" (with Brandon Cooke) (1988) (UK #45)
- "Live on Stage" (1989)
- "Independent Woman" (1990)
- "Go On Girl" (1990) (re-issue) (UK #74)
- "Big Mama" (1992)
- "Straight Razor" (1992)
- "What's Going On" (with Mekon
Mekon may refer to:*The Mekon, ruler of the Treens in the Dan Dare stories*The Mekons , a British punk rock band*Mekon, one of the recording names of John "Zos Kia" Gosling, English rock musician*The river Mekong...
) (2000) (UK #43)
- "Yes Yes, Y'all" (with Mekon) (2006)
External links