Author Topic: Roxannes' Revenge Part II  (Read 1209 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Gratiot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1288
  • Reputation: +45/-18
Roxannes' Revenge Part II
« on: September 03, 2009, 08:29:19 PM »
Roxanne's Nonexistent Revenge

Heard about the rapper who forced her label to pay for her Cornell Ph.D.? It never happened.


Quote from: Ben Sheffner, Slate Magazine
It was the feel-good story of the summer. According to the New York Daily News, Roxanne Shanté, a 1980s female hip-hop pioneer famous for the 1984 underground hit "Roxanne's Revenge," had finally gotten her own revenge on Warner Music, the record label she accused of "cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies," to avoid paying her what she was owed. How? After valiantly fighting, reported Daily News freelancer Walter Dawkins, Shanté had convinced Warner to honor a contractual agreement to "fund her education for life." Warner ended up paying more than $200,000, Dawkins reported, to finance Shanté's education, which Shanté said included an undergraduate degree from Marymount Manhattan College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell. And now, said the Daily News, "Dr. Roxanne Shanté" has "launched an unconventional therapy practice focusing on urban African-Americans," in which she "incorporates hip-hop music into her sessions, encouraging her clients to unleash their inner MC and shout out exactly what's on their mind."

The story was endlessly blogged and tweeted, heralded as an example of a heroic triumph by a girl from the projects over her evil record label. Credulous music-industry critics lapped it up; Techdirt, after stating flatly that Warner had "tried to cheat Shanté out of her contract," reflected the online sentiment: "It's nice to see how Warner Music actually did some good in the world, even if it had to be dragged there kicking and screaming."

One problem: Virtually everything about the Daily News' heartwarming "projects-to-Ph.D." story appears to be false.

Cont'd @ Slate.com
« Last Edit: September 03, 2009, 08:32:31 PM by Gratiot »

Offline Gratiot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1288
  • Reputation: +45/-18
Re: Roxannes' Revenge Part II
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2009, 08:31:07 PM »
Unbelievable.  I don't know what's more unreal, the journalistic and editorial standards of the New York Daily News... or an old washed up hag. 

Offline Chris

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1476
  • Reputation: +522/-16
Re: Roxannes' Revenge Part II
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2009, 08:34:12 PM »
Cornell?  She can rub elbows with Keef Olbermann... I hear he went there too. :lmao:
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

Offline WMD Owl

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 152
  • Reputation: +0/-0
Re: Roxannes' Revenge Part II
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2009, 09:42:29 PM »
Cornell?  She can rub elbows with Keef Olbermann... I hear he went there too. :lmao:

Keef went to the Cornell Agricultural College-- downstate.   Ann Coulter and that Ass Hat Bill Maher went to the real Cornell.