It was a crisp winter afternoon when Roxanne Shanté entered Won World Studios. She carried herself in a fashionable camouflage coat like a trailblazing pioneer with the world behind her. There is no guest list, no distractions, just the raw presence of a Hip-Hop Titan, ready to talk. When she sat down with Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur and DJ Thoro a few weeks ago, the room buzzed with anticipation. Here was a woman who had helped shape the battle rap scene, had survived the music industry's wildest years, and now, at last, had received her long-overdue Grammy.
Because from the first time she opened her mouth, you could tell Shanté had come to teach and have fun. She remembered her trailblazing career, from her infamous fight with UTFO to a pioneer of female MCs in a man's world. Hip-hop had finally gotten its proper due at the Grammys, and for the first time in her career, she was in the building to see it and win.
"First time at the Grammys and I come back with one. Perfect timing."
Shanté had never been shy, and this interview was no exception. She also spoke about the evolving relationship between Hip-Hop and the Grammys and took the industry to task for its long history of dismissing Hip-Hop. But times had changed. Hip-hop had now placed its fingerprints on every genre of music, so the Recording Academy was forced to take notice.
"Hip-hop is in everything these days. Gospel, rock, country, you name it. The Grammys had no option but to honor it. And Hip-Hop finally knows its power."
Things took a bit of a detour when Drake versus Kendrick Lamar became a topic of conversation. Shanté, a battle rap legend, had some wise words on the ongoing feud, even offering a play-by-play of the strategy Drake should have taken after Kendrick's Super Bowl stunt.
"Drake should have purchased an infomercial. Immediately after Kendrick's performance, he should have been at home, diamond plaques on the wall behind him, lawsuit papers on the table, watching the show. He then glances at the camera and says, 'Yeah, you're right. They not like us. But you're not like me.' Boom! That would have changed the discussion."
And when I asked her if she had ever lost a battle, she replied without pause.
"Never. Not even with cancer. I beat breast cancer twice. My oncologist told me it would be the fight of my life. I said, 'I haven't lost one yet. "
Shanté's legacy cuts well beyond music. She talked about her most significant accomplishment, her children, and her work with her own foundation, "Mind Over Matter," mentoring young girls.
"I want to be the person I needed when I was their age."
The clothes emerging from Roxanne Shanté's line are entirely different subjects, but as our conversation drew close, it was clear that Roxanne Shanté isn't just a battle rap legend. She's a survivor, a mentor, and now a Grammy Award-winning artist. And as she so beautifully articulated:
"If you're bitter, all you do is push the good people away. And I've been around bad people long enough. Now I'm only letting in the good ones."
0 Comments