There have been many female rappers in the past few decades but most of them were not quite like Roxanne Shante in terms of message and style. Like most women rappers coming up she was underappreciated and often her message was not valued but it being so strong, it attracted the attention of hip hop listeners across the country shortly after her debut. Roxanne Shante’ uses very powerful her musical and lyrical artistry in her song “Brothers aint shit” that correlates well with her rough upbringing that had much to do with the men that surrounded her. Her powerful use of musical artistry to express her emotions and feelings on issues just added greater meaning to her message that men are corrupted. From the begining to the end of the song a sample of the song “Blues in the night” by Johnnie Taylor, a song that talks about the sweet love a women gives. it then follows with an aggressive yet up tempo beat that she raps in tune with. Lyrically, Roxanne Shante rhymes negative objects or things with men and their ego almost every bar basically comparing them to negative things.
The delivery that Roxanne Shante gives listeners in her hit song is what catches most peoples’ attention. The song has a very up tempo rhythm as Roxanne is speaking very fast using a variety of metaphors and similes to describe men as dogs (Weiner, 2018). There are portions of the song where the beat slows down just a tad bit and Roxanne will rap about why she has no interest in men. In the Song Roxanne tells a story of how her and her friend were walking down the streets of New York City, and a young black man approached them claiming they had some attractive bodies, and as her friend stopped walking to entertain the man, Roxanne walked away because she knew what his game was ( Puig,2017). That situation is the basis of the entire song as Roxanne claims “drugs is not the only thing a woman can say no to”. The song has a unique harmony since it was a late 80s song (Boston,2004). Rap songs in this area consisted of fast paced verses over a drum enhanced beat and very rarely were rhymes used. She is basically telling a story for the entire song and enforcing all of her claims with strong language. There are portions of the song where her voice gets deeper although most of the song she has a tough sounding voice especially when she is talking about herself and her lack of interest. It is mostly when she claims “Brothers ain’t Shit” when her pitch increases. As for the Timbre, the song has a fairly dark timbre due to the combination of the bass drums, brass, and occasional low clarinet sounds. It corresponds with the song perfectly because it gives out the feeling of seriousness and at the same time, hostility that Roxanne Shante displays towards men throughout the entire song (Boston, 2004). It can also be noticed that Roxanne Shante is not always rapping on beat. While most rap is done by rapping on beat it seems that she will purposely rap off beat at some points throughout the song,which also affects the rhythm. at the start of the song, Roxanne states, “take your ass downtown on 10th Avenue, because a sister like me is not havin you”. she is demanding that all the men that try to approach her turn and walk away to another street because she has no interest in them whatsoever. She takes another shot at the male ego by stating “I know all you wanna do is hit, and I really dont give a shit”. Roxanne sees through these boys’ intentions and knows all they want is sex, but regardless will not offer it to them.
Roxanne Shante is one of the most influential and inspiring female rappers. She has opened the door for many others like her in the hip hop industry today. Even though her songs were targeted against men, her powerful use of musical artistry garnered even their support
Works Cited
T. Rose: Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Middletown, CT, 1994) G.D. Pough: Check it while I Wreck it: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere(Boston, 2004)
Claudia Puig. “‘Roxanne Roxanne’ Sundance Review: Roxanne Shanté Biopic Celebrates Rapper as Artist, Survivor”. The Wrap. January 26, 2017 Thursday. https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5MR3-56B1-F03R-N346-00000-00&context=1516831.
Weiner, Natalie. “Roxanne the Ruller: Decades Before Cardi or Nicki, There Was Roxanne Shanté a 14-Year-Old Who Made History with a Blazingly Male-Shaming Diss Track \ That Helped Take Hip-Hop into the Big Time. On the Eve Oe a New Netflix Biopic, She Looks Back on a Year That Changed Rap Forever.” Billboard 130, no. 6 (March 3, 2018): 36–39. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=128509776&site=ehost-live.
