Congratulations to recent Cornell graduate Dr. Roxanne Shanté, best known for the hip hop "answer" classic, Roxanne’s Revenge.
All $217,000 of Shante's education was paid for by the Warner Music after Shante forced them to honor a clause in the rapper’s contract which required them to pay for her education for life. "They kept stumbling over their words, and they didn't have an exact reason why they were telling me no," Shante told the Daily News. WMG only started writing checks after she threatened to go public with her story of a then 14 old rapper who signed a contract with the giant label, sold 250,000 copies of a single that spawned the "answer" rap craze and never received a penny in royalties.
Shante' believes that Warner considered the clause a throwaway, never believing a teen mother in public housing would ever attend college. ""Dr. Shante's life is inspiring," said hip hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons "She was a go-getter who rose from the struggle and went from hustling to teaching. She is a prime example that you can do anything, and everything is possible."
