“If you’re true to yourself, even if you walk away with nothing … you have everything.”
Roxanne Shanté once made history as the first solo female MC in hip-hop, and she’s now made history again. On Feb. 1, 2025, the Recording Academy honored Shanté with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, making her the first solo female rapper to receive this recognition. She received the award at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, just one day before the official Grammy Awards.
Shanté’s legacy in hip-hop is undeniable. Born Lolita Shanté Gooden in Queens, N.Y., she rose to prominence at just 14 years old with the song Roxanne’s Revenge, a response to the hip-hop group UTFO’s Roxanne, Roxanne. The track sparked the famous “Roxanne Wars,” cementing her place in hip-hop history. But her journey wasn’t just about music—it was about survival, resilience, and using her platform to uplift others.
As she reflected on receiving one of the most prestigious honors in music, Shanté opened up about her career, her impact and her ongoing mission to support at-risk youth in this exclusive interview.
J.D. Myall: You just received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. What does this recognition mean to you?
Roxanne Shanté: I don’t want to say it’s an honor to be honored, but it is. Especially since sometimes you’re not acknowledged for the things that you do. People think it’s all about hip-hop. There is so much more to it … like lyrics, writing songs and the things I do with my nonprofit program, Mind Over Matter.
Myall: Can you tell me about your program, Mind Over Matter?
Shanté: Sure. Mind Over Matter is a non-profit program started by myself and my husband over 10 years ago. We actually go into high schools and talk to at-risk kids. We follow girls from the ninth grade all the way up until graduation. To date, we are responsible for 544 graduates. Not only are we involved with them educationally … but we are involved with them personally.
I have become a court-appointed special advocate for my girls who are in foster care. I go and speak for them in court. I become their voice for them. We are trying to prepare them for life. With my girls in foster care, we are their first interaction with someone who genuinely cares. Someone who isn’t financially benefiting from them.
Myall: What made this a passion project for you?
Shanté: Me and my sisters were in foster care when we were younger and we didn’t have a voice. No one spoke up for us. So I automatically knew I had to be that voice for someone else. It’s therapeutic for me. Me and my husband pay for everything ourselves. So, it’s healing but it hurts at the same time, because I wish I could do more.
It can be sad and very challenging. When these girls come to me, sometimes a lot of damage is done. It takes a lot to try to fix years and years of abuse and neglect. There are so many Roxannes out there. So many girls who are in the system and feeling like they have no voice.
Myall: How long were you in foster care? That wasn’t covered in your biopic, Roxanne Roxanne.
Shanté: A few years. We didn’t put everything in the movie. We skipped some of my life. You see me return, but there was a whole lot more to the story than that. It was up to my sisters to share that part of their lives.
I am just thankful for what I was able to put in the movie. Some dramas and documentaries add stuff that isn’t real, but with my movie we left it organic. Everything you see happened. I think everything that needed to be told in Roxanne Roxanne was told… but there will be a continuation.
Myall: You started out in hip-hop at a very young age, often traveling and performing alone. Were you ever afraid?
Shanté: I think everything has a fear factor, but when something is your calling … you do what you do.
Myall: You’re an icon and a role model for many young women in hip-hop. Does that responsibility weigh on you?
Shanté: Yes. I have to be mindful and be cautious as to what I say and do. I also have to be very real and speak on things that might be hard.
Myall: You have spoken about the #MeToo movement and your experiences with sexual harassment. Did that happen in your career or personal life? How did you cope with it?
Shanté: It was in all areas. I worked in an environment with drugs and alcohol everywhere. Grown men would approach me saying, ‘Roxanne Roxanne, I wanna be your man.’ If they thought it was a possibility … they would keep at it. I was told to smile and ignore it at 15 years old.
When you’re young and coming out of foster care situations, people know you don’t have parents involved. People treat you as a commodity. That is all they see you as. I was blessed. I wasn’t one of those girls that feel like they have to give their body to people to get opportunities. I’ve been a mom as long as I can remember, from taking care of my sisters to having my son. I think the fact that I had to take care of them made me stronger in those situations. It also gave me love for those that don’t have much.
People will try to take advantage and take whatever they can. You have to stay true to yourself.
Roxanne Shanté
I go into the trenches. I feed the hungry and I go where people won’t travel. These are our people and our children, our future. If you don’t contribute, we are left with nothing.
I live in a red zone and people ask me why I don’t move out. Everyone gets money and moves out. Who do the kids have left to look up to then? I stay so the kids can see something positive is possible. They see me and they know the drug dealer is not the only one with a car, but he’s the only one with a car note. I put money back in the hood.
I teach young girls if you date a hustler and they die in the street … your child gets nothing but pictures of him with chains on. They don’t even get the gold chain. I talk to them about getting good credit so when a man says, ‘Hey baby, what’s your number?’ They can say ‘800.’ You have no reason to talk if he doesn’t know how valuable that number is. I make it my mission to make a change. I live in Brick City and I’m making a change one brick at a time.
Myall: What do you think people can learn from your life?
Shanté: I would like them to learn that it’s not easy. People will try to take advantage and take whatever they can. You have to stay true to yourself. If you’re true to yourself, even if you walk away with nothing … you have everything.
Roxanne Shanté’s legacy wasn’t just about the music—it was about resilience, empowerment and giving back. As she took the stage at the Grammy Awards for her Lifetime Achievement honor, her impact was undeniable. She remained not just a pioneer in hip-hop, but a voice for those who had been overlooked, proving that real success was measured not just by accolades, but by the lives she changed.
Thank you, Shanté. Your talent, heart and authenticity make you a true icon.
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