‘Roxanne Roxanne’ Joins the Ranks of Hip-Hop Music Biopics

Alex Aronson

Money, fame, and success can lead down a dangerous road of drugs, violence, and betrayal. In Netflix’s “Roxanne Roxanne,” Chante Adams plays Lolita Shanté Gooden aka Roxanne Shante, an MC who helped to define the female presence in the mid 80’s New York City rap scene. Shante was one of the first female MCs to rise to fame with “Roxanne’s Revenge” and “Roxanne Wars.” As the young rapper rises to prominence, real-life issues begin to cloud her initial passion.  

Recent box office hits “Notorious” and “Straight Outta Compton” have achieved great success by marking intriguing and well-crafted profiles on some of the most influential rappers in history. “Roxanne Roxanne” joins the ranks of contemporary musical biopics that serve their stories with confident justice.

Making her way from house to house at only 16-years-old made growing up in the rough Queens borrow of New York City a daunting and exhausting daily struggle. For Shante, she was always able to make her way back to her strict and overworked mother’s house (played by Nia Long). Once back to her roots, Shante began to experiment in rap. Quickly, her track-dropping hobby landed her on the local radio. From there, her fan base and prominence began to swiftly rise.

Writer and director Michael Larnell presents a raw picture that shines a light on delicate human intricacies with energetic rap scenes. In one sequence, Larnell frames Roxanne in a single close-up shot that shifts from sexual intercourse and childbirth to the dilapidation of her abusive relationship. It’s a striking and brief moment that shows Larnell’s confidence behind the camera. The festival auteur previously helmed the 2015 Sundance hit “Coonies.” Producers Nina Yang Vongiovi and Erica Brady of “Fruitvale Station” and “Dope” bring much of the same flavor to the picture.

During her rise, Shante becomes entangled with an older man Cross (Mahershala Ali of “Moonlight”). He showers her with luxury gifts at first but as the two become more involved, and a child is thrown into the mix, he becomes controlling, manipulative, and abusive. Ultimately, Shante’s relationship with Cross turns into an opportunity for her to gain independence in more ways than one.

As the film concludes, a satisfying cameo is made by a young Queenbridge rap legend Nas. It is revealed that one of the minor characters in the film is actually destined to become a prominent name in rap as well. Perhaps the team behind “Roxanne Roxanne” will foray this side character into another origin story spin-off. After all, it is not so uncommon with other successful rap biopics.

It has become quite apparent that Netflix has hit a wall with recent projects falling over the line of quantity over quality. The streaming giant set a massive target for 2018, producing and distributing over 700 original series and 82 original films. With such a large number, Netflix has become a systemized factory for content production. The streamer distributes a combination of festival acquired fare and organically produced content — all of which constitute a Netflix original banner. In the case of “Roxanne Roxanne,” which Netflix scooped up after a Sundance 2017 premiere, the film checks the box for quality, hitting the right marks to appease the intended audience.

“Roxanne Roxanne” premieres March 23 on Netflix.