At the end of August I published a story titled “Emcee Gets ‘Roxanne’s Revenge.’ Cashes in on Contract Clause for Label To Pay for Ph.D.“ The story first stemmed from a published report in The New York Daily News report asserted that 1980s female hip-hop pioneer, famous for the 1984 underground hit “Roxanne’s Revenge,”Roxanne Shanté had convinced Warner Music Group to honor hidden clause in her contract she signed at 17 to “fund her education for life.” According to the article, Shanté claimed she was able to receive an undergraduate degree from Marymount Manhattan College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University.  It is upon this education foundation that “Dr. Roxanne Shanté” opened an “unconventional therapy practice” where she uses hip-hop to help her clients “unleash their inner MC.”

It was one of the very few feel-good, David vs. Goliath stories we’ve ever published about the Hip Hop industry.  A few days later I was forced to issue a retraction after Slate.com published an article exposing the former artist as a fraud.  Well it appears the female rap pioneer is finally coming clean and issued a formal statement to EURWeb.com about the ordeal.

I would like to thank my long time fans and supporters for your continued support. I am humbled and grateful to all of you for that.

Without going into all of the details as of right now, I would like to apologize that this story regarding my post recording career has caused such a ruckus. The entire story will be revealed at a later time.

Throughout my career and life, I have been faced with many challenges, both professionally and personally. Like all of you, I am human, and may have not made the correct decision all the time. And, like anyone else, I would like to think that my entire life or career is not judged by one error or mistake.

It is very easy to criticize someone and I have left myself open to criticism. That is fair.

There are plenty of people that will attest that I have done a lot for them. It seems though, that negativity gets more attention than positivity.

All I can say to that, is before you level any further criticism and cynicism, walk in my shoes. I am making this statement to apologize to the people that truly care about me for any angst that this situation has caused, and to thank them for their continued support. I am proud of what I have been able to do for so many others, and would like to let those persons know that I will continue to be there for them no matter what.

I am proud that during my twenty plus years as a pioneer in the Hip-Hop industry, to have opened doors for those who came after me, such as MC Lyte, Salt N Peppa, and Queen Latifah to name a few.

I will have no further statement in regards to this matter at this time.

Regards,

Roxanne Shante

Hey everyone makes mistakes.  She’s not entirely a public figure anymore so I doubt she thought any fuss would be made about her little white lie.  She probably didn’t think the article would even be published.  That’s no excuse however, you can’t play the victim card.  Walter Dawkins from the Daily News trusted her and wanted to bring her back to prominence with this feel-good story and she screwed him and duped us.  

Secondly, I know she’s been out of the limelight for a minute so she doesn’t have a publicist but this should have been issued a month ago.  I don’t know open a Twitter account an issue an official statement.  

I can most certainly promise you this will be the last Roxanne Shante story that will ever appear on Highbrid Nation because I’m done and so is she.