Comments on: Roxanne Shanté: Who Needs a Royalty Check

Roxanne Shanté: Who Needs a Royalty Check

jessamyn — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:04:02 -0800

Roxanne Shanté may be the only person whose Wikipedia entry lists her occupation, truthfully, as "rapper, psychologist." In the credits for the Beef 3 DVD she explains how her record contract's throwaway education clause paid for her to get her PhD. She also shares the backstory of Roxanne's Revenge. Some more classic Shanté: with a skinny Biz Markie in 1986, BDP vs. Juice Crew, an old Wack It video. [via]

By: oats

oats — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:13:33 -0800

Good on her!

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:24:14 -0800

"I socked it to them for over 175,000 dollars worth of education." I can't stop smiling. That is such a great story!

By: notjustfoxybrown

notjustfoxybrown — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:27:53 -0800

I grew up in Brooklyn and Roxanne Shante and The Real Roxanne's battles were legend! I'm forwarding this link to EVERYONE!

By: killdevil

killdevil — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:28:44 -0800

Holy shit. That is awesome.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:34:50 -0800

Wait, so this is not the REAL Roxanne? (no disrespect, just want to keep the pot stirred)

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:35:23 -0800

wow, i never knew that story. that makes my day.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:40:03 -0800

Wow. I haven't listened to nor thought about UTFO in like 25+ years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I can still remember breakdancing to Roxanne at summer camp in the early '80s.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:41:24 -0800

A heart-warming tale of someone screwing over their record company. Makes a nice change from the way that usually goes.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:44:39 -0800

Fantastic!

By: Bovine Love

Bovine Love — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:49:33 -0800

Not only a fabulous story of stickin' it to the man, it is a great story of someone who rose above all the expectations to make something of themselves. More then a few currently famous young 'uns should take notice.

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:56:47 -0800

Boy, this story made my day. Damn. He said, "You call yourself an MC?" I said, "This is true." He said, "Explain to me really what MCs must do." I said, "Listen very close 'cause I don't say this every day: My name is Roxanne, and they call me Shanté."

By: delmoi

delmoi — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:59:22 -0800

It's kind of amazing how much less fluid rappers were back then.

By: YoungAmerican

YoungAmerican — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:02:58 -0800

I knew she was was a therapist, but I didn't know she had a PhD, and I sure didn't know she got it on the back of her record contract! Way to go, Roxanne!

By: Benjamin Nushmutt

Benjamin Nushmutt — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:11:21 -0800

What a great story. I remember seeing Whack It on MTV raps, and deciding that Whack It would not be included in the borrowed hip-hop slang I would use at school the next day.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:35:48 -0800

Amazing! Good for her!

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:57:18 -0800

Wonderful story, thanks!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:13:22 -0800

Fantastic! Wonderful!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:19:24 -0800

It's kind of amazing how much less fluid rappers were back then. Well, yeah, you know, you're right, at least in the case of that linked clip with Biz Markie. I love the old school beatboxing he was doing, the nice slow tempo, but Roxanne wasn't all that great that night, at least on evidence of that clip. Her delivery was kinda stiff, wasn't it? Still, rap was young, and the partiers in the place to be were having a damn good time, and that's what so much of it was about anyway!

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:31:00 -0800

Those Beef DVD's are great -- though I'm pretty sure that the story of the Roxanne beefs came from Beef 2 rather than Beef 3 because I haven't seen Beef 3 and I have seen this. OK. Beef 3 is all very recent Beef. This is from Beef 2. Joe Bob says, 'Check it out'.

By: Mastercheddaar

Mastercheddaar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:35:33 -0800

I wonder how many other rappers have something like this in their contracts? They COULD set a good example for once and say I'm going to college. Probably a good percentage of kids would be turned on to education instead of a "Thug life".

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:42:09 -0800

Good for her, but sad in a way. I'll bet that was the last education clause ever signed in the entertainment business.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:36:56 -0800

I'm glad people liked it. I first learned about Roxanne Shanté in college when my ethnomusicologist hiphop loving friend (in the via link) gave me a mixtape with MC Lyte's classic diss "Steady Fucking" on it that takes that KRS One "Roxanne Shanté is only good for steady fucking" line and turns it into the chorus repeated over and over as MC Lyte just goes OFF. Needless to say, I couldn't find that song online, but here are the lyrics. At the time I was like "wtf, who?"

By: iamck

iamck — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:09:57 -0800

Anyone know where the ice cream parlor is?

By: cashman

cashman — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:11:47 -0800

My heart is aflutter. I love rapfilter, and this is awesome. Wow, I had no clue. And Cornell too. And she has a practice! I want to get treated by Roxanne Shante.

By: tantrumthecat

tantrumthecat — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:20:37 -0800

Funny, I just revisited "Whack It". I'd never paid much attention to the lyrics back in junior school - but she's totally taking the mickey out of the crossover stuff that other female rappers like JJ Fadd and Salt'n'Pepa were dealing in at the time! Somehow this flew over the head of my 14-year-old self.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:02:42 -0800

ROXANNE ROXANNE! That is so cool, thanks Jess.

By: vito90

vito90 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:48:00 -0800

Me, the Rox, give up the box? So you can brag about it for the next six blocks? Shee, ya must be crazy. You goin' too fast. Doctor I don't know where your hands been last! I remember introducing UTFO and Roxanne to some of the whitest people on the whole planet in grade school, thanks for the great links!

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:52:18 -0800

This post is amazing, but I just want to be clear. Hip Hop did not start in Queens, and Shan was making shit up. I still love the Juice Crew, but he was completely wrong.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:04:52 -0800

Great post, jessamyn. In junior high I had the UTFO album and, for some reason (because she later turned out to be my antithesis), my sister had the Roxanne album. I'm pretty sure I later stole it from her.

By: decoherence

decoherence — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:20:13 -0800

Aren't most PhD's fully funded anyway?

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:30:29 -0800

Aren't most PhD's fully funded anyway? Some are, some aren't. The label paid for her undergrad education as well, which is rarely fully funded.

By: Student of Man

Student of Man — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:51:25 -0800

MTV's Rapper of the Year Lil' Wyane a.k.a. Weezy (much ballyhooed in Mefi's last recent rapfilter enrolled in Texas University and majoring in the same thing as it were.

By: box

box — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:20:37 -0800

Texas University? I think you're thinking of California University, where the kids from Beverly Hills 90210 matriculated. Lil' Wayne is at the University of Houston.