Roxanne Shanté

In the late 80s/ early 1990s, the most feared battle MC in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenage girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. At the age of 14, Lolita "Roxanne Shanté" Gooden was well on her way to becoming...

Hip-hop's rise from marginalized urban culture to powerful mainstream force is explored alongside its intersections with presidential politics and policies from the 1970s to present day.