Roxanne Shante

One of the most skilled and popular early female emcees, Roxanne Shante dropped a bomb on the hip-hop world with her classic 1984 debut single "Roxanne's Revenge." Produced by Marley Marl and recorded when she was just fourteen years old, the track was a response to U.T.F.O.'s "Roxanne Roxanne." It sparked more than a hundred "answer records" from various rappers. She became a member of the original Juice Crew alongside Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, and MC Shan. Other hit singles including "Have A Nice Day" led to several solo albums, though none of them blew up as much as her debut. In the early '90s Roxanne retired from rapping to pursue a successful career in criminal psychology. She re-emerged in 2000 to collaborate with U.K. Wall Of Sound producer Mekon, and also spit a rugged verse on "We Live This" from the QB Finest compilation.