Roxanne Shante
| Roxanne Shanté | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lolita Shanté Gooden |
| Born |
November 9, 1969 Queens, New York, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip Hop |
| Occupation(s) | Emcee |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | Pop Art Records 10/Virgin Records (Ireland, UK) Breakout/A&M Records Cold Chillin’/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Livin’ Large/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records/Cash Money |
| Associated acts |
Biz Markie Big Daddy Kane Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo 2 Deep Steady B UTFO Marley Marl Mr. Magic Lil Wayne |
| Website |
http://roxanneshante.com Roxanne Shanté Twitter |
Roxanne Shanté (born Lolita Shanté Gooden; November 9, 1969) is an American hip hop musician. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects of Queens, New York City, Shanté first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and was part of the Juice Crew.
Roxanne Shanté was brought up in Queens, New York. She started rapping at the age of thirteen. In 1984 the young rapper ran into Tyrone Williams, DJ Mr. Magic, and record producer Marley Marl outside the Queensbridge housing project. The three of them were discussing U.T.F.O. since the rap trio had failed to make an appearance at a concert. U.T.F.O. had recently released a single called "Hanging out". The single did not get a lot of critical acclaim, however the B-Side featured the song "Roxanne, Roxanne", a song about a woman who would not respond to their advances, became a hit. Shanté, who was a member of the Juice Crew, walked right up to them and offered to write a track to get back at U.T.F.O., posing as the Roxanne in the U.T.F.O. song. They liked her idea and Marley produced the song "Roxanne's Revenge" using the original beats from an instrumental version of "Roxanne, Roxanne". At that time her Queens-based crew was in a battle with KRS-One's Bronx-based crew, because both of the crews claimed that their district was the true home of hip hop. The track became an instant hit and Shanté, only 14 years old at the time, one of the first female MCs to become very popular. Following this, the "Roxanne Wars" started, and Shanté continued to rap and started touring.
In 1985 Shanté released a record together with Sparky D, who had dissed her before in her track "Sparky's Turn, Roxanne You're Through" for disrespecting U.T.F.O. and being too young to be in rap battles. The record called "Round One, Roxanne Shanté vs Sparky Dee" was released by Spin Records and included six tracks: the two original battle tracks ("Roxanne's Revenge" and "Sparky's Turn") as well as "Roxanne's Profile" by Shanté, "Sparky's Profile" by Sparky D and a battle track, in which the two rappers freestyle and dis each other, in a censored and an uncensored version. Other hits were "Have a Nice Day” and also “Go on Girl".
The ongoing battle with KRS-One hit its height when KRS-One claimed in his track "The Bridge Is Over" from 1986 that Shanté was only good for one thing: providing sexual pleasure for men - reducing all her worth as a rapper, an opponent and artist to "nothing more than a sexual appendage to male rappers" She released "Bad Sister" in 1989, "The Bitch Is Back" in 1992 and a "Greatest Hits" Album in 1995.
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