{{short description|1984 single by Roxanne Shante}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox song | name = Roxanne's Revenge | cover = File:Roxanne's Revenge single.webp | caption = | alt = | type = single | artist = Roxanne Shante | album = | B-side = Roxanne's Revenge (Vocal) | released = 1984 | recorded = 1984 | studio = | venue = | genre = Golden age hip hop | length = 4:20 | label = Pop Art Records | writer = Lolita Shanté Gooden, UTFO, Full Force<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/480186985|title=ASCAP Repertory entry for this song |work=ASCAP|accessdate=June 29, 2021 }}</ref> | producer = Marley Marl | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Runaway | next_year = 1985 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|0eckRNcHCKA|"Roxanne's Revenge"}}}} }} "'''Roxanne's Revenge'''" is the debut single by American hip-hop emcee Roxanne Shante. It was produced by a then-unknown Marley Marl and released in 1984 on the independent label Pop Art Records. In the song, a 14-year-old Roxanne Shanté, whose real name is Lolita Shanté Gooden, responds to UTFO's hit song "Roxanne, Roxanne". In addition to her feud with UTFO, this also caused between 30 and more than 100 answer songs<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Goufas |first=Nathan |date=2020-04-28 |title=Roxanne Wars: Is This How Diss Tracks Started? |url=http://www.liveinlimbo.com/2020/04/28/entertainment/roxanne-wars-is-this-how-diss-tracks-started.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=LIVE IN LIMBO |language=en-US |archive-date=August 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240812202153/http://www.liveinlimbo.com/2020/04/28/entertainment/roxanne-wars-is-this-how-diss-tracks-started.html |url-status=live }}</ref> from different hip hop artists to be produced at that time (according to different statements), in what would be called the Roxanne Wars.
The song spent 12 weeks on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart, reaching {{Abbr|No.|number}} 22 in March 1985 and becoming Shanté's most successful song as the lead artist on that chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/roxanne-shante/chart-history/BSI|title=Roxanne Shante Album & Song Chart History: R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Prometheus Global Media|access-date=2021-07-27}}{{dead link|date=December 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> "Roxanne's Revenge" sold more than 250,000 copies in the New York area alone.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=Source for sales figure?}}
The song also bubbled under the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 109.
"Roxanne's Revenge" is frequently regarded as one of rap's best dis tracks, both of the 1980s and in general.<ref name=VH1>{{cite web|url=https://www.vh1.com/news/8lvtzy/10-most-brutal-lady-diss-tracks-in-hip-hop |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201020105/https://www.vh1.com/news/8lvtzy/10-most-brutal-lady-diss-tracks-in-hip-hop |url-status=live |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |website=VH1.com |date=September 20, 2013 |accessdate=October 5, 2020 |title= Pitch Slapped: The 10 Most Brutal Lady Diss Tracks In Hip Hop}}</ref><ref name=billboard>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/hip-hop-diss-tracks-from-the-80s-roxanne-shante-8223239 |magazine=Billboard |date=March 1, 2018 |accessdate=October 5, 2020 |title= A Look Back at the Best Hip-Hop Diss Tracks From the '80s: 'Roxanne's Revenge,' 'Jack the Ripper' & More}}</ref><ref name=Complex2>{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2018/10/the-50-best-hip-hop-diss-songs/mc-lyte-10-dis-1988 |website=Complex |date=October 31, 2018 |accessdate=September 27, 2020 |title= The 50 Best Hip-Hop Diss Songs}}</ref><ref name=Eminem>{{cite web|url=https://www.xxlmag.com/eminem-favorite-diss-tracks-12-days-of-diss-mas/ |website=XXL |date=December 26, 2018 |accessdate=October 5, 2020 |title= Eminem Lists Ice Cube's "No Vaseline," MC Lyte's "10% Diss" and More as His Favorite Diss Tracks Ever}}</ref>
==Background==
Roxanne's revenge is regarded as an inspiration for emcee Nicki Minaj’s song “Roman's Revenge.” “Roxanne's Revenge” was the first female hip-hop diss track.{{fact|date=February 2026}}
==Single track listing== === 12" Vinyl=== ====A-Side==== # Street version (4:20) # Street version (Instrumental) (4:31)
====B-Side==== # Radio version (4:52) # Radio version (instrumental) (5:01)
==Personnel== * Marley Marl—producer * Elai Turbo—engineer * Gooden, UTFO, Full Force—songwriters
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{MC Lyte|state=autocollapse}}
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Category:1984 singles Category:American hip-hop songs Category:Diss tracks Category:Songs about revenge