At the dawn of hip hop, an unlikely star emerged as the reigning MC of the notorious Queensbridge battle rap scene – 14-year-old Shante Gooden, better known as Roxanne Shante. Born the eldest of four girls to a single mother, Shante used her fierce battle skills, honed during street battles with local MC’s for cash, and become rap’s first female star MC with the release of her 1984 hit, “Roxanne’s Revenge.” Her take-no-prisoners verbal assaults as part of the famed Juice Crew shot her to the top of the underground rap scene before an abusive relationship with an older man almost ended her career before it could take off. On this episode of UNSUNG, Shante shares her story from humble beginnings in the projects, to the height of her career as first lady of the legendary Cold Chillin’ Records and reveals why, at only 25-years-old, she walked away from it all.
Last week’s premiere episode of UNSUNG featuring Dru Hill reached 805K Unique Viewers 2+ on its premiere night. Competitively, UNSUNG Dru Hill was the #1 cable telecast in its timeslot among African Americans: P25-54. Additionally, the premiere was the #4 primetime cable telecast for the weekend among African Americans: P/W25-54 and African Americans: P/W18-49.*
The season continues with memorable stories of influential artists including singer/actor Christopher Williams; funk and disco band Skyy; the "Mother of Freestyle" Shannon; Grammy Award-winning crooner behind the 1972 number one single "Me and Mrs. Jones," Billy Paul; vocal powerhouse Betty Wright, best known for the 70s hit single "Clean Up Woman;" multi-Grammy Award-winning musician Al Jarreau; and Atlanta hip hop quartet Goodie Mob.
UNSUNG, winner of the 51st Annual NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News/Information- (Series or Special), celebrates the lives of trailblazing musicians whose full stories and journeys have yet to be explored. Through first-hand accounts, interviews with family and friends, and archival footage, each episode weaves a tale of the highs and lows of a life in the limelight.
UNSUNG is executive produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions' Arthur Smith and Frank Sinton with Executive Producer Mark Rowland and Co-Executive Producer Kysha Mounia. For TV One, Jason Ryan is Executive Producer in Charge of Production, Donyell Kennedy-McCullough is Senior Director of Talent & Casting and Brigitte McCray is Senior Vice President of Original Programming and Production
*Source: Nielsen, L+SD, 2/23/2020; No network/program exclusions. Further qualifications available upon request.
