We were all so proud of Dr. Roxanne Shante's story of "a young female rapper's triumph over the man". In an article in The New York Daily News, 1980's rap star, Roxanne Shante best known for her battles with the "Real" Roxanne, told the world how she convinced Warner Brothers Records to make up for the wrong they had done her by funding her education for life! When I first heard the story it did sound too good to be true. I have some experience working with record execs and I could not imagine any of them footing a $200,000 bill to a "one-hit wonder".

Don't get me wrong, Roxanne Shante' has earned her spot in Hip Hop history but record execs are not about to invest that kind of money in an artist that is no longer working for them. But I figured she wouldn't make all that up now would she? After all she is "conceited, never beated, never heard of defeated" so why would she lie to us?

"Dr." Roxanne Shante said she used the money from Warner Brothers to get her undergraduate degree at Marymount Manhattan College and her PHD in psychology from Cornell University. She told reporters that she had started her own "unconventional therapy practice focusing on urban African-Americans," where 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." All this sounded great to me, Roxanne found a way to do what she loves and help others, a real Hip Hop Doctor!

The only flaw in her tale is it was just that, a fairy tale, complete fiction! Revealing Roxanne Shante as a F*CKIN” LOSER! Recently Roxanne Shante' came forward and admitted that she was not a doctor but did receive a master's degree in psychology from Cornell but according to Cornell there are no records of Roxanne Shante (or Lolita Gooden) ever attending their University. Marymount Manhattan College reported that she did enroll in their university but dropped out in less than four months, earning no degree. New York records show that no one named Roxanne Shante or Lolita Gooden is licensed to practice psychology.

When questioned about her situation Roxanne Shante said: she attended Cornell for a short time but never graduated, Shanté said that she "absolutely" received a B.A. from Marymount Manhattan in 1995. "I didn't attend graduation ceremony; at that time I was …" her voice trailed off. "I had my own reasons for that." Yet she insisted: "Yes, I do have a diploma." Shanté did not respond to a request for a copy, and Marguerita Grecco, the Marymount Manhattan dean who, Shanté claimed fought Warner on her behalf, failed to comment.

Shanté also claimed that she attended College under an alias, because of a Domestic Violence situation" and speculated that she "made a mistake on an application and put my old name so maybe that's the reason for the computer error?" Sound a little fishy to me!

In a prepared statement, Warner brothers said they never had a contractual relationship with Shanté, they explained that "her agreement was with an independent record label known as Cold Chillin' Records." According to court documents, Shanté's record label Cold Chillin' did have an agreement with Warner starting in 1987 to distribute Cold Chillin''s records—a common arrangement between a major company and an indie label. But Cold Chillin' was not owned by Warner, and, in fact, those two companies ended up battling each other in court; in April 2006, a federal judge ordered Cold Chillin' to pay Warner $230,000 for copyright infringement, an amount conveniently close to the amount Shante' claims Warner gave her for her education!

Roxanne spoke to Tawana Brawley of the Juice Crew and gave an "apology" of sorts in which she said that we should not criticize her until we have "walked in her shoes". She said that she has helped many people and apologizes for anyone who she hurt. Maybe we should "treat her like Nell Carter and Give her a Break", what do you think? F*CKIN” LOSER or not?