Abracadabra Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Rapper behind 'Roxanne's Revenge' gets Warner Music to pay for Ph.D BY WALTER DAWKINS SPECIAL TO THE NEWS Roxanne's revenge was sweet indeed. Twenty-five years after the first queen of hip-hop was stiffed on her royalty checks, Dr. Roxanne Shante boasts an Ivy League Ph.D. - financed by a forgotten clause in her first record deal. "This is a story that needs to be told," Shante said. "I'm an example that you can be a teenage mom, come from the projects, and be raised by a single parent, and you can still come out of it a doctor." Her prognosis wasn't as bright in the years after the '80s icon scored a smash hit at age 14: "Roxanne's Revenge," a razor-tongued response to rap group UTFO's mega-hit "Roxanne, Roxanne." The 1984 single sold 250,000 copies in New York City alone, making Shante (born Lolita Gooden) hip hop's first female celebrity. She blazed a trail followed by Lil' Kim, Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah - although Shante didn't share their success. After two albums, Shante said, she was disillusioned by the sleazy music industry and swindled by her record company. The teen mother, living in the Queensbridge Houses, recalled how her life was shattered. "Everybody was cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies," she said. "And to find out that I was just a commodity was heartbreaking." But Shante, then 19, remembered a clause in her Warner Music recording contract: The company would fund her education for life. She eventually cashed in, earning a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell to the tune of $217,000 - all covered by the label. But getting Warner Music to cough up the dough was a battle. "They kept stumbling over their words, and they didn't have an exact reason why they were telling me no," Shante said. She figured Warner considered the clause a throwaway, never believing a teen mom in public housing would attend college. The company declined to comment for this story. Shante found an arm-twisting ally in Marguerita Grecco, the dean at Marymount Manhattan College. Shante showed her the contract, and the dean let her attend classes for free while pursuing the money. "I told Dean Grecco that either I'm going to go here or go to the streets, so I need your help," Shante recalls. "She said, 'We're going to make them pay for this.'" Grecco submitted and resubmitted the bills to the label, which finally agreed to honor the contract when Shante threatened to go public with the story. Shante earned her doctorate in 2001, and launched an unconventional therapy practice focusing on urban African-Americans - a group traditionally reluctant to seek mental health help. "People put such a taboo on therapy, they feel it means they're going crazy," she explained. "No, it doesn't. It just means you need someone else to talk to." Shante often incorporates hip-hop music into her sessions, encouraging her clients to unleash their inner MC and shout out exactly what's on their mind. "They can't really let loose and enjoy life," she said. "So I just let them unlock those doors." Shante, 38, is also active in the community. She offers $5,000 college scholarships each semester to female rappers through the nonprofit Hip Hop Association. She also dispenses advice to young women in the music business via a MySpace page. "I call it a warning service, so their dreams don't turn into nightmares," she said. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons said Shante is a shining role model for the rap community. "Dr. Shante's life is inspiring," Simmons said. "She was a go-getter who rose from the struggle and went from hustling to teaching. She is a prime example that you can do anything, and everything is possible." source these retards managed to screw her out of her royalites, but put a clause in there that they'd pay for her education for life? morons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishsticks Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 owned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatso Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 thats kinda fucking cool I was gonna post the song but youtubes fucking with me right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoCakes Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Live on stage. thats fuckin dope she got a phd. fucka record company exec and the shit they disrespek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Doodles Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Hip-hop does work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KARD like WOE Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 that is awsome.. good story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxRoach Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 props to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 50million Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsaepyi8MR0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drue_Down Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 The Real Roxanne --> SMASH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 That's pretty cool that she gamed it like that. In a way, they did her a favor by screwing her over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALIgula Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 roxanne shante is live on stage, live on stage.. terrible song...but im glad she got over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yinz n'at Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 thats fucking awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercer Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I heard her talking about this on one of the morning talk radio shows here, props to her. I would have settled for a remote control lambo necklace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_gacy Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Eh, never heard of her. But still, most people like to hear about the little guy winning out over corporate America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLICKCLACKONER Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 i'd pull a van wilder and stay in college for mad long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jugzer Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 OLD ASS NEWS NIGGAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire15 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 ITS POSSIBLE YOU CAN RAISE KIDS AS A SINGLE MOTHER IN THE PROJECTS AND BECOME A DOCTOR. As long as you become a rapper and sue a major record label and get fucking loaded with cash. Its easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drue_Down Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Did she get a box of Newports & PUMA Sweats too?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_gacy Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Did she get a box of Newports & PUMA Sweats too?! She made it big time- she got the menthols. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexDiamonds Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsaepyi8MR0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drue_Down Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsaepyi8MR0 so nice you had to post it twice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexDiamonds Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 yep!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 EducatedBlack People 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schnitzel Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 didn't you mean edumacated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belmonts Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 HATERS: "oh no she DI-ENT!" SUPPORTERS: "oh yes she DID!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christo-f Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Awesome story. Fuck everyone else!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the graff giraffe Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 thats good that she actually did become a doctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morton Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Too bad she did not become a real doctor. This is quite the feel good story none the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRON CHEF Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 ROXANNNE SHANTE JUICE CREW!!! COLD CHILLIN' RECORDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the graff giraffe Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Too bad she did not become a real doctor. This is quite the feel good story none the less. there are more than one type of doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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