Roxanne Roxanne shows how Shante Roxanne is a Hip Hop Queen. It also portrays how life was and most likely still is for up and coming womxn hip hop artists from the projects. From the very beginning of the movie the theme of sexism was very present and it was portrayed throughout the whole film. 

Shante was interested in rap from when she was young, I almost laughed at how ignorant a young teen boy reacted, “I’m not versing a lil girl”, when told he was going to be rap battling at the time, a young Shante.From there the sexism took a whole new leap, men wanted to rap battle her and you could tell it was to prove dominance, she was even told something along the lines of “it is the ugliest girls who had the most to say”. 

 I think the hip hop culture shined the most during the film when Shante became more well known in the industry. Right before she was supposed to go on tour and make her big break, she was conned out of her money while the men that worked with her got their shares. This Is when the gender battle comes into play because throughout most of Shante’s hip hop career I felt as if she was expected to fight against all other womxn artists, yet when she got conned of her money the only person to support her was a fellow womxn artist, “we gotta look out for each other”. It was painful to see how the men within hip hop are friends and look out for each other, but the womxn are pushed to hate one another and it is not until they are left with nothing at the hands of a man that they help the other out. 

Roxanne Roxanne, in my opinion was a wonderful film to watch because it truly portrayed the life of an up and coming womxn hip hop artist from the hood. I loved it and I felt as though I understood why she pushed to become a rapper and I felt the motivation and drive behind her lyrics. I also thought it was super cool that she was an inspiration for the artist Nas.