NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 28: Roxanne Shante attends Night Of Legends Concert - Staten Island, NY on January 28, 2022 in New York City.
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Roxanne Shanté's Gig Before Hip-Hop May Surprise You

Roxanne Shanté's Gig Before Hip-Hop May Surprise You

Published Thu, October 6, 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT

In a recent interview with Rock the Bells, legendary Juice Crew MC and host of Have A Nice Day on Rock The Bells Radio, Roxanne Shanté spoke about her career before Hip-Hop.

"My job before Hip-Hop? Boosting?" the "Go On Girl" rapper said. "I didn't have a job before Hip-Hop. I never had a summer job as far as a can remember. Yeah, shit I take pride in that. I was a booster that was my job before Hip-Hop. I made more money from boosting than I did from Hip-Hop back then."

Shanté was only 14 when Philadelphia rap label Pop Art released her debut hit single "Roxanne's Revenge," the scathing answer to U.T.FO.'s "Roxanne, Roxanne." Dozens of copycats would create answers to both U.T.F.O. and Shanté.

Throughout the mid 1980's, Shanté released a string of classic singles on Pop Art including "Queen Of Rox," "Bite This," "Runaway," "Def Fresh Crew," and "Pay Back." With the formation of Cold Chillin' Records which was the primary distributor of Juice Crew recordings, she released " Have A Nice Day,' "Go On Girl" and "Loosey's Rap" with Rick James. She also released her 1989 debut album Bad Sister on Cold Chillin'.

In 2017, her life story was the subject of the Netflix biopic Roxanne, Roxanne.

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