Roxanne Shanté, born Lolita Shanté Gooden, stands as one of Hip Hop’s most influential originators, a fearless voice who carved her name into music history before she was old enough to drive. Rising out of Queens in the early '80s, she shook the culture with “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a sharp and unapologetic freestyle that turned her into a neighborhood legend and later, a global name.

What made Roxanne remarkable when she popped on the scene wasn’t just her skill, but her presence. She spoke like she had nothing to prove, yet everything to protect from the integrity of the craft, the authenticity of women in rap, and the power of individuality. Over the years, she evolved from a battle MC into a cultural matriarch, using her story to inspire the next generation of artists to honor their truth, their education, and their roots.

Decades later, the veteran continues to shape the sound of Hip Hop through the radio waves, bringing her wit, wisdom, and experience to fresh audiences that revere her as both legend and teacher.

In Oct. 2025, she served as host of the Hip Hop Grandmaster Awards Gala, a celebration presented by the Paid in Full Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Ben and Felicia Horowitz in 2022 and based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The foundation’s mission is to recognize transformational artists who have made a lasting cultural impact and to empower them as they continue their creative work. As the gala’s host and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient a few months prior, Roxanne led the star-studded evening with grace and authority, welcoming Nas, Ludacris, Babyface, Fab 5 Freddy, Rakim, Scarface, and more, proving once again that her influence is timeless and her voice still commands the room.

In an interview with REVOLT, the rapper discusses being recognized by the Grammy Awards, her Juice Crew era, D’Angelo’s passing, and so much more.

Reflecting on your Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, how did it feel to be recognized in that sense in this era of your career?

I feel like it was right on time. It happened at a time when I could truly appreciate it. I don't think I would have appreciated or understood the magnitude or the importance of it if I was younger or even if it would have happened to me at any other time in my life when there was so much going on. It fell into place after I had already gotten married and I had already gotten stable with where I was working. I'm already on a radio show, I’m loving life, and life is loving me.

Can you recall the first time you recognized that your raw battle instincts weren’t just about competition, but could actually shape culture, spark conversations and influence the direction of Hip Hop itself?

I think the very first time was when they did an all-female rap show, and I didn't take the mic and go crazy. I think that was the first time I realized the true power that I held because I could have taken the mic that day and I could have ended a lot of careers because there were a lot of young ladies that were there that maybe would not have been able to handle me emotionally. Not just lyrically, but emotionally. It might’ve made them turn away from Hip Hop. I am so glad that when it came to performing that night with all the young ladies, I stuck to the script and didn't do what Shanté would normally do. I felt like, if I did it to one of the ladies that night and took the mic, she may not continue. I could see greatness in people, and I just didn't want to mess with that.

If you could replay one decision from the Juice Crew era with the wisdom you’ve earned as a host, what would you do differently, and what would you never touch because it made you bulletproof?

The thing that I would do differently is I would have had an attorney. I would have had someone go over my contracts. I would have had someone tell me what were good deals and what were bad deals. I would have had someone else do management so that this way, I would understand that record companies and management and attorneys all need to be separate. They can’t be best friends. I would have definitely done that differently. As far as changing anything performance-wise or being Roxanne Shanté, I wouldn't have changed a thing because I enjoy being me. I think that's what people see when I go on stage. When they see me in the crowd, they see that I enjoy being there.

The Paid In Full Foundation honored you with the 2024 Hip Hop Grandmaster Award. As an honoree, what impact, financially and psychologically, did that recognition have, and what metrics should we use to judge if these awards are truly changing lives?

If you were going to use the metrics or if you were going to use an example, then I would say I would be a prime example of what Paid In Full can do to someone's life. After Paid In Full, not only did I receive a Grammy and an NAACP award, but I've also become one of the most sought-after keynote speakers. There's been so many accolades, and it has opened up so many doors. Personally, the financial benefit of it is it allows me the financial freedom to be able to do things in my career that I wouldn't normally do because I need to work. It allowed me to say no to some things that I would have said yes to just because they were going to pay me and because I knew that I needed to be there. Now it's a fact of me being able to pick and choose where I perform, who I perform for, what I want to do, and when I want to do it.

So, it has given me a certain amount of freedom to be able to say no, or I think I want to do this, even though they can't afford what my price would be. I don't need to say, okay, well, look, I can only do this because they're going to pay me more. Now, when you see Roxanne Shanté places, she's there because she wants to be there. She's there because she feels she needs to be there. I've done things like Sunday dinners where literally I fed anywhere between 50 to 100 families. It means a lot to me to give back. I just go and we buy the food, we set it up in the middle of the projects, and I do it on Sundays because I used to be able to do that. I, too, Ty, have lost my mom, so I missed being able to do that. We call it Good Neighbor Day. I come out and literally be the neighbor that I want people to have. I was only able to do that through Paid in Full and them being able to support me with it.

D’Angelo’s passing hit the soul community hard. What did his artistry teach you about restraint, silence and groove, and how should the culture protect artists whose gifts come with heavy costs?

When it comes to an artist, especially when we're thinking about the loss of D’Angelo, everyone gets up here and talks about how much they miss him and all of these great accolades that they want to give him. When I think about all of those things, if they would have been given to him when he was still alive, it might've made a difference. When we talk about someone's physique who we really, really loved, and then you see a brother maybe struggling with a certain circumstance in his life — if you know that you're capable of helping him, then you should do those things. I think everyone gets a chance to be that person or rescue someone, especially if you're in a great position, because some of the people that we see now that are doing all these dedications were in great positions to help him when he was here. That's just the way I feel about it.

Timbaland debuted an AI artist, TaTa Taktumi. Where’s the line for you between technology as an instrument and technology as impersonation, and what protections should be non-negotiable for human creators?

I think, honestly, if you don't have the permission from the artist, you shouldn't do it. I think similar voices should not be used because they can be misleading to fans and the public. A line should be drawn, especially those from our history. What happens is it makes a mockery of our history, and it kind of rewrites it. The next generation doesn't know what the original was. If you're going to do AI, they definitely need to label it, let people know it's AI, and it needs to be a larger label, not something small in the corner that has you trying to figure out whether or not it is AI or not. One of the original creators of AI told me how he can’t duplicate me. At first, it made me nervous hearing that because that means a motherf**ker tried (laughs). How would you know that you can't if you didn't try? They said my imperfections make me perfect to not be duplicated. My voice fluctuates. I've never had a strong voice, so AI can’t remake my voice. I won't sound like the same person every day. I can tell you how it is when I've dreamt about it and then give you my analysis on it from my heart. AI doesn't possess that, so I never have to worry about being duplicated. It's a certain uniqueness in us that AI just can't catch.