At the young age of 14, Roxanne Shante had already sealed her spot in Hip Hop history with the smash battle track "Roxanne's Revenge," which was a response to Rap group UTFO's own hit record, "Roxanne, Roxanne." Her involvement in what was labeled the "Roxanne Wars" would eventually see her as one of Hip Hop's first iconic female emcees.
After two albums, however, Shante lost interest in the music industry, particularly the business aspect of it.
"Everybody was cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies," she told NYdailynews.com. "And to find out that I was just a commodity was heartbreaking."
By the age of 19, Shante said she remembered a clause in her contract, which stated that Warner Music would fund her education for life. After a short period of negotiation, the record label finally agreed to honor the contract clause, and would eventually pay over $217,000 for Shante's schooling.
Dr. Roxanne Shante has finally earned her Ph.D in psychology from Cornell University.
"This is a story that needs to be told," she 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."
To find out how Shante is using her skills in psychology to help out the African American community, read the entire article [click here].
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/08/23/2009-08-23_rapper_schools_record_label_qns_ma_makes_warner_music_foot_bill_for_phd.html
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