Rapper Roxanne Shante – born Lolita Shanté Gooden in Queens, New York on March 8, 1970 – is best known as the Roxanne that kickstarted the Roxanne Wars in the mid 1980s and one of the first popular female MCs. The origins of the Roxanne Wars began in 1984 when rap group UTFO had a surprise hit with “Roxanne, Roxanne,” the B-side of their debut single. When UTFO didn’t show up for a live appearance, it inspired a conversation between hip-hop DJs Marley Marl and Mr. Magic and 14 year old Lolita Gooden, who was a member of the Juice Crew. The trio wrote and recorded a rebuttal to the UTFO B-side and called it “Roxanne’s Revenge,” which became a big hit and set the Roxanne Wars – essentially a series of ‘answer’ / battle / beef songs - in motion. Lolita Shanté Gooden then changed her stage name to Roxanne Shanté and became one of the most popular female MCs of the era. The original recording of “Roxanne’s Revenge” included beats from the original instrumental version of UTFO’s “Roxanne, Roxanne” and was facing legal issues, but was re-recorded using a new set of beats and revised inoffensive lyrics. Other Roxanne-themed songs began to flood the market including Sparky D’s “Sparky’s Turn, Roxanne You’re Through,” and Roxanne Shanté’s own “Roxanne’s Profile” and “Queen of Rox (Shanté Rox On)”. The Roxanne Wars even introduced the world to a few copycat artists include The Real Roxanne. Roxanne Shanté continued recording a series of singles – including “Bite This” (1985), “Runaway” (1985), “I’m Fly Shanté” (1986) and “Payback” (1987) – and appeared on several compilations before releasing her debut album, Bad Sister (1989), which reached number 52 on Billboard’s R&B / Hip-Hop Albums chart. By the time she released her second album, The Bitch is Back (1992), the Roxanne Wars were all but forgotten and the album was not a success. In 1995, she released Roxanne Shanté’s Greatest Hits and stepped away from the music business. However, she has remained an iconic figure in rap and hip-hop and she was the subject of the 2017 biopic Roxanne, Roxanne.
