Roxanne Wars

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The Roxanne, Roxanne War is a well-known series of hip hop rivalries during the mid 1980s, yielding perhaps the most answer records in history. It arose from a dispute over a failed appearance at a radio promotional show.

[edit] History

In 1984, the rap trio 'U.T.F.O.,' who were produced by the R&B group 'Full Force,' released a single entitled "Hanging Out", which did not do well. However; it was the single's B side, "Roxanne, Roxanne", which was about a woman who would not respond to their advances, that gained much attention and airplay.

Soon afterwards, 14 year old Lolita Gooden was walking outside a New York City housing project called Queensbridge when she heard Tyrone Williams, disc jockey Mr. Magic, and record producer Marley Marl talking about how U.T.F.O. had canceled their appearance at a show they were promoting. Gooden offered to make a rap record that would get back at U.T.F.O, with her taking on the name Roxanne Shanté. The three took her up on the idea, with Marley producing "Roxanne's Revenge." The single was released in late 1984, taking the original beats from an instrumental version of "Roxanne, Roxanne", and was very confrontational and vulgar, but was an instant hit which sold over 250,000 copies in the New York area alone. Legal action followed, and it was rereleased in early 1985 with new beats and the obscenities removed. Following this, U.T.F.O and Full Force decided to release their own answer record. While not directly aimed at Roxanne Shanté, this record featured another female rapper, Adelaida Martinez, who would play the role of the "Real Roxanne". (She was soon replaced by another female named Jo-Anne, who filled the role until the end). This also was a hit. But this may have also produced an undesired result. While there had been answer records before (such as the semi-disco song "Somebody Else's Guy", and "Games People Play"/"Games Females Play"), it would end with the second record. But in this saga, with a third record now, a whole trend began. The airwaves were so occupied with the three "Roxanne" records, that other rappers decided to get into the act. Over the next year, anywhere from 30 to over 100 answer records (according to different claims) were produced, bringing in Roxanne's family, or various claims about her. The ones that were more well known were:

  • Sparky's Turn (Roxanne, You're Through), by Sparky D, a feisty female who criticizes Roxanne (Shanté, in particular) for disrespecting UTFO, and being too young, both for them to pursue, and to be a rapper. Even though the record defended UTFO, they were reported to not be appreciative of this additional unauthorized response. It was after this that the saga really took off.
  • Roxanne's Doctor-The Real Man by Dr. Freshh, who also insults Roxanne as having "no class"
  • Do the Roxanne by Dr. Rocx & co. which creates a dance based on Roxanne. (Refers to Shanté's "cracky wacky voice", as Sparky D had described it in her record). A rare instance of a record in the series not aimed at dissing someone.
  • The Parents of Roxanne by Tony Gigolo & Lacy Lace; which answers both UTFO and Sparky D. It draws references from both "Roxanne's Revenge" and "the Real Roxanne", as if both represented the true "Roxanne".
  • Yo My Little Sister (Roxanne's Brothers) by Crush Groove (no relation to Krush Groove), which answers UTFO, Sparky D and Dr. Freshh
  • Rappin' Roxy: Roxanne's Sister by D.W. and the Party Crew featuring Roxy
  • Another record answering Roxanne Shanté, by a young female calling herself "Little Ice", who tells her to "make up her mind" if she wants a man or not.
  • Roxanne's a Man (The Untold Story - Final Chapter) by Ralph Rolle, which claims that Roxanne was actually a man who had been sodomized in prison, and then having "lost his manhood" turned himself into a woman after his release; and insults UTFO for not realizing this.

[edit] Aftermath and other similar battles

Soon, there was a huge outcry against all of these records. Soon a sort of moratorium was called on new Roxanne acts, and the response records finally died down. However, the battle continued among its core group of players:

  • UTFO would also add another response of their own; Roxanne, Roxanne, Pt. 2: Calling Her A Crab, also aimed loosely at Shanté; in which they take back all the compliments they gave to Roxanne in the first record, give out insults instead, and claim to have never really liked her in the first place.
  • Roxanne Shanté issued her follow up record Queen of Rox, which gives the story of "how she got so fresh", and faced "a little bit of hassle from UTFO about saying that I'm Roxanne", and then takes a jab at the Real Roxanne.
  • In "Bite This", she disses a bunch of other rappers, including "the Real Roxanne, Sparky D, and all the other Roxannes imitating me"
  • Then, there was the one-on-one battle between Shanté and Sparky D. "Round 1 - Roxanne Shanté Vs. Sparkey Dee". The cover had a picture of both females challenging each other wearing boxing gloves.

Then, the trend of answer records increased, to other similar rap hits. However, none produced nearly as many responses as the Roxanne war. The first three sagas (especially the second and third), bear a striking resemblance to the Roxanne war, as they involve females responding to males over supposed disrespect towards women:

  • Right towards the end of the Roxanne saga, Doug E. Fresh's "The Show" and its B-side "La Di Da Di" were big hits in the summer of 1985. They were answered by "The Showstoppers", which was the first record performed by Salt-N-Pepa, at the time using the name "Supernature". Just like with "The Real Roxanne", Doug. E. Fresh followed with a self-answering record performed by another group, called "No Show". Roxanne Shanté even got involved in this one, in what was probably an early live extended version of "Def Fresh Crew", where she and the debuting Biz Markie go into a spoof of "La Di Da Di" called "Wash Your Body". She ends this show telling Biz, "Let's dis Sparky D, now". The rhythm of "Def Fresh Crew" was itself made to resemble LaDiDaDi.
  • The Boogie Boys' "Fly Girl", in which they outline what they like and don't like in girls, was answered by Pebblee Poo's "Fly Guy"; in which she portrays them as bummy, and then outlines what she as a real fly girl is like, and what she likes in guys. The Boogie Boys' follow up "You Ain't Fresh" may possibly have been an indirect counterresponse.
  • LL Cool J's "Dear Yvette", criticizing a girl whose reputation was apparently so bad "the reverend in the church said you was barred" was answered by "E-Vette's Revenge", which was performed by E-Vette Money and produced by Kydd Fresh, who had come out of the group Dr. Rocx & Co. (see above). This was perhaps the first of a long string of records dissing LL Cool J.
  • Kydd Fresh would then go on to offer his own answer to LL; "It's a Walkman"; which pokes fun at LL's "I Can't Live Without My Radio". Rapper Steady B also responded to this hit with "Take Your Radio", in which he claims to rob LL of his prized possession because "you was a sucker".
  • LL Cool J himself would soon afterward enter a long standing battle with rapper Kool Moe Dee
  • Rap pioneer Kurtis Blow stepped in with a reference to both the Roxanne and Yvette battles in his 1986 track "I'm Chillin'", which addressed the increasing amount of disrepect towards women in rap songs.
  • The biggest successor to the Roxanne war was The Bridge Wars (in which Roxanne Shanté was loosely involved), which attacked the entire Queensbridge area. The tables were now turned, as this time, it was a hit record produced by Mr. Magic and Marley Marl which garnered a response, sparking off a whole new battle saga.

It was in the midst of this battle, in the rap "Go On Girl" , that Roxanne Shanté dropped the name "Roxanne", and was thereafter known only as "Shanté". (The opening line says "it's '88 y'all, so no more Roxannes...") Likewise, The Real Roxanne dropped "the Real", and went by the name "Roxanne", and was even addressed as such by Shanté in the track "Big Mama", in a reference back over their past battles! This lasted until her 1992 track "Roxanne S*** Is Over", where she relinquishes the name "Roxanne" for good, and dubs herself "Jo-Anne with the Plan". This album this was released on, "Go Down But Don't Bite It" however, was her final record. Shanté likewise retired from the business a few years afterward as well.

Some 15 years after the first Roxanne record, another similar battle between males and females erupted, with the singing group TLC's 1999 song "No Scrubs", which puts down good-for-nothing men, answered by the rap group Sporty Theivz' single "No Pigeons", which similarly attacks females as being fake and leeching off of men. But unlike the other male-female battles, it was the females who insulted men first, with the males responding.

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