Roxanne Shante

Roxanne Shante

Roxanne Shanté (born Lolita Shanté Gooden on November 9, 1969) is an American hip-hop pioneer. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects, Shanté first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and her association with the legendary Juice Crew.

Biography

Shanté's career began at the age of 14 when she encountered influential record producer Marley Marl, radio DJ Mr. Magic, and Tyrone Williams talking about how UTFO had canceled their appearance at a show they were promoting. Shanté offered to record an answer to UTFO's recent hit "Roxanne, Roxanne," which was about a woman named Roxanne 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, dissing UTFO over its own instrumental, which sparked the Roxanne Wars and made her a hip-hop star in the process. The single would go on to sell over 250,000 copies in the New York area alone. Aligning with the Juice Crew, 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 has an extraordinary ability to freestyle (improvise) entire songs. "Roxanne’s Revenge" was an example, reportedly written and recorded at the same time 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 single released in 1984, with the original on the reverse side.

In 1990, Shanté and Rick James had a hit with "Loosey's Rap."

At the age of 25, Shanté retired from the recording industry to become a psychologist. She continues to make occasional guest appearances and live performances, as well as mentor young female hip-hop artists. She also took part in a series of Sprite commercials during the late 1990s. She is married and has one son and one daughter. She earned a PhD in psychology from Cornell University—paid for by her record label via an unusual contract clause—and has a practice in Queens. She is a vegan and owns Hip-Hop Ices ice cream parlor in Queens.

She will be portrayed by actress Keke Palmer in The Vapors, a film about the formation and rise of the Juice Crew.

Discography

Singles

• "Roxanne’s Revenge" (1984)
• "Queen of Rox (Shanté Rox On)" (1985)
• "Runaway" (1985)
• "Bite This" (1985) (UK #97)
• "I'm Fly Shanté" (featuring Steady B) (1986)
• "Have a Nice Day" (1987) (UK #58)
• "Pay Back" (1987)
• "Go On, Girl" (1988) (UK #55)
• "Loosey's Rap" (with Rick James) (1988) (UK #80)
• "Sharp as a Knife" (with Brandon Cooke) (1988) (UK #45)
• "Live on Stage" (1989) (UK #82)
• "Independent Woman" (1990) (UK #77)
• "Go on, Girl" (1990) (re-issue) (UK #74)
• "Big Mama" (1992)
• "Straight Razor" (1992)
• "What's Going On" (with Mekon) (2000) (UK #43)
• "Yes Yes, Y'all" (with Mekon) (2006)

Albums

• Bad Sister (1989)
• The Bitch is Back (1992)

Writing Credits

• Live at Carnegie Hall (Stevie Ray Vaughan album) Track 11 - C.O.D. (L. Gooden) (1984)

Links

• Roxanne Shanté's MySpace page