Roxanne Shanté pioneering MC pen game changed Hip-Hop’s DNA

Roxanne Shanté, Queensbridge Legend Who Sacrificed Stardom to Elevate an Entire Genre

How does it feel to be featured in “Hip Hop Was Born Here,” and what do you hope viewers learn about the early days of hip-hop culture from your perspective in the docuseries?

Well, it’s truly an honor to be part of a docuseries that not only documents everything that takes place in hip hop, but also to be able to have the stories that are told by those who were there. And what I want people to be able to walk away with is being able to understand the honesty of the story, the funniness, the humor that is in the story, but also being able to see exactly what it is that we went through in the early stages of hip hop in order for hip hop to be what it is today.

In docuseries, you talked about being acknowledged by your peers and audiences as the best MC, but you were told you could not be positioned as the best in front of music executives. How did it feel to know you could outrap every male artist while watching the industry present them as the face of the genre?

It felt like being a woman. I think that was the first time when I really understood what it is to be not just a woman, but a black woman. And to experience that as a teenager, it has both its pros and its cons, because it allowed me to see the world a little differently. Here was something where I’m sure a lot of other women have experienced it, where you know that you’re better, or you know that you’re the best, or you know that you’re qualified or you know that you’re able to get the job done, but for some reason, they don’t want to allow you to be either in that room or they don’t want to give you that opportunity. And I was able to experience that very early in hip hop. Still, I also understood the self-sacrificing that we all do as women, you know, whether we’re mothers or sisters or wives, the self-sacrificing that we do to make things bigger than ourselves to make things greater. So for me, mine was the sacrifice for hip hop because they told me, listen, you know, if you win today, hip hop may lose. And when I look at how hip hop has won, I can sit back every day and say I had something to do with that. Whether I say it publicly, you know, sometimes your greatest accomplishments are the ones that you have within yourself.

You’ve been in the music industry for more than four decades, starting as a teenager in the 1980s. How has the landscape for female rappers changed since you first entered the scene?

Well, one thing about the young ladies of today and the women who are involved in hip hop and the entertainment industry right now is that it has changed significantly because now we’re able to see them make their own decisions. They are now in the forefront; they understand, and they have taken control. I came into the industry at a time when we didn’t have any control. You didn’t want to tell people that you’re gonna have babies, and now Cardi B has a full-blown campaign based around it. You know, we were told to keep our lives private and not have husbands and not have significant others, and trying to keep everything hidden, which can be, you know, very detrimental to the soul when you don’t get a chance to be who you wanna be. You don’t get a chance to love who you wanna love, you didn’t get an opportunity to do what you wanna do. And now to see the females, especially in hip hop, in the forefront, taking complete control and doing everything that they want to do, and doing it well. It is truly an honor for me. So, if I had to move a few rocks and walk on some gravel for them to have this smooth path that they have now, it’s a beautiful thing.

The Netflix biopic “Roxanne Roxanne” brought your story to a new generation. What was it like seeing your life portrayed on screen, and were there aspects of your experience that you felt were particularly important to capture?

When we decided to do “Roxanne Roxanne”, I’m very thankful to Forest Whitaker, Pharrell Williams, Mimi Valdes, and Nina Bongiovi for even allowing this project to be done. One of the main things I wanted people to do was make it a daddy-daughter movie. I grew up without a father. So, for it to be that daddy-daughter movie, when I talked to Snoop, when I spoke to E-40, when I talked to a lot of different male counterparts, my hip hop brothers, they told me that they watched the movie with their daughters, which let me know that I was definitely on the right path. I had done the right thing by making the choices that I did. The young lady who played me is Chanté Adams. She was born for the role because her name is Chanté. So, when you look at how she responds to the name Shanté when they call her name, it’s so natural because that’s really her name. So I always felt like she was born for the role, let alone the fact that we look so similar, like when we look at each other, you say, OK, you know what, I see why they cast it. But it was more than just the look and the name. It was also that she had just come into the industry, having graduated in June of that year, and we started filming in July.

I made sure that there was no nudity. I didn’t want any nude scenes in the movie, and everybody kept saying, Well, you know, it could be something that can grab the audience. I said, That’s not what it is, because this is a young lady who’s just starting her career, and if we don’t set the bar at a certain level, then she’s gonna think that might be what she needs to do to be successful in Hollywood. And that’s me constantly thinking about other people and thinking about, you know, what their future is gonna bring. And so I said there will be no nude scene. And her parents thanked me for it, and then to see the projects that she went on to get because of it. There were no nude scenes, not just because of that, but because she’s a great actor. But just the fact that I didn’t want to be one of those made it seem like you need to do this to be successful. I just never wanted to be a part of anybody’s life where it was the bad part. I just wanted to be part of the good part. So for me, the movie wasn’t just for me, but it was for everyone involved.

As one of the first prominent female rappers, you faced unique challenges in a male-dominated industry. What advice do you give to young women today who want to pursue careers in hip-hop?

Get an attorney. Everyone thinks that the most important person in your career is your stylist, or who does your hair, or the clothes you wear, or the producer for your music, or maybe even the record company that you choose, but it’s not; it’s your attorney. You know you need to have one, and that’s very important. I don’t care how your hair looks. If you walk in with a great contract, you’ll be able to afford whoever you want to do your hair later on, but right now it’s all about having a proper attorney, and if someone had told me that when I was 15 years old, I probably wouldn’t even be working now. But I’m glad I am, but I probably wouldn’t need to.

The “Roxanne Wars” of the mid-1980s were a defining moment in hip-hop history. Looking back, how do you view that period’s impact on battle rap culture and the competitive nature of the genre?

Hip hop was always a sport. It was always the natural competitiveness, especially when it came to housing projects and different parks and park jams. There was always a way of knowing when to go out and show that you were the best. So there’s always been that, that competitive angle in it. So for me, I just knew that, OK, you know what, no one’s better than me, and you need to feel that way about yourself all the time. But for me, I was able to back that up because, unlike a lot of other MCs, MCing for me is literally a second language. It wasn’t something that. I just said, OK, I can do it to the music. I can do it without the music. OK, I can do it in front of a crowd. I could do it without a crowd—the ability to be a wordsmith, which is something that I didn’t get from another rapper. I actually got it from Nipsey Russell, who happened to be a comedian, and he was able to rhyme words all the time. And I said, if I can do that, then I know I’m going to be great at this thing called hip hop, and then I was.

You’ve witnessed hip-hop evolve from a grassroots movement in New York to a global phenomenon. What changes in the industry have surprised you most over the past four decades?

I think it’s not the changes, it’s what didn’t change that really surprised me more than anything else. And for me, it’s the fact that we still have so many artists that are being taken advantage of, selling their publishing, selling their catalog. With all of this information that is now placed in their hands, I can’t understand why anyone would sign a bad contract. I mean, I’m guilty of it, but I’m guilty of it out of ignorance. But to see that now and to see that still hasn’t changed, where record companies are still trying to get over, managers are still stealing, artists are still getting addicted to drugs. It just really surprised me how many things haven’t changed.

You’ve just made history as the first solo female rapper to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award — a recognition that comes more than 40 years after you burst onto the scene.” What does this milestone mean to you personally, and how do you hope it will impact the next generation of female artists in hip-hop?

Well, for me, I tell everyone that I received my Grammy, not for the things that I said yes to, but for the things that I said no to. I think I am a representation of resilience and being able to say, OK, well, I’m not gonna take that path, and I’m not gonna stop being me, and I’m gonna always say what I want to say, and I’m gonna always be truthful. And that’s what I felt my Grammy represented. And when I think about the class that I was inducted with, especially when you think about Prince, Frankie Valli, Frankie Beverly, The Clash, and Taj Mahal. How else could Roxanne Shanté fit into that class of graduates, that class of inductees? Unless there was something very, very special about her, and that’s what I felt, I felt very special that day. And that’s not something that I’ve always felt in the industry. I’ve never really felt special, but that day, walking across that stage, being able to pick up that Grammy, let me know that I was that girl. So, that day was special, looking out in the audience, seeing my family. But the industry still does what the industry does. I’m not gonna say that I don’t still go through circumstances and situations. That surprised me because I wouldn’t expect people to be that way still, but they are. For that day, I felt like that girl, absolutely.

Both the docuseries and your biopic highlight your role as a hip-hop pioneer. How do you want your legacy to be remembered, and what message do you hope resonates with fans discovering your story for the first time?

She did not make a certain change to make a certain dollar. That’s what I want people to understand: that Roxanne Shanté stayed the same. And that staying the same is different from staying in the same place. Of course, you want to evolve, learn, and create great things, but you shouldn’t always make changes to make money.