Roxanne Roxanne (2017) Movie review!
Channel: The EF Word
Date: 28/03/2018

G reviews“Roxanne Roxanne”

In the 1980’s a legendary hip hop emcee was making her mark in the Queensbridge project scene, her name was Roxanne Shante. Since she was 14 years old she could stand toe to toe with anyone and beat them in a street battle rap for money.  She rose and became part of the Juice Crew in Queensbridge which produced some of the biggest names around like kool G Rap, MC Shan and the legendary Big Daddy Kane! This crew was rivaled by KRS-One’s crew from the Bronx. One could argue that she paved the way for many of the female hip hop artists of today!

The title of this movie is names after her breakout hit “Roxanne Roxanne”. That track made her the first female rapper to have a hit-single.  The movie however focuses more on her struggles making it as a female. Chante Adams plays Roxanne and is joined by the great Mahershala Ali and Nia Long. 

So I am 50/50 here, on the one hand this a really good story about the struggles Roxanne went through, the sexism harassment and neglect a female would go through let alone a female in rap game. It did a good job of showing those dark moments in her life and struggles she went through trying to make it. The cast was well acted and the limited time Mahershala Ali was on screen he stole the scenes and Nia Long brings such a power to role as Roxannes mother who is a complicated character. Chante Adams was awesome, she had such a presence on screen and gravitas that you were drawn to her.  

The issues I have are regarding  the way the movie was structured. I felt it jumped around a lot and didn’t come together as well as I was wanting. There were many powerful moments that were cut short to move onto the next scene and it did feel like it sped up as we got closer towards the end. The biggest thing for me , as a lover of hip hop, was that they never let the audience really get a feel of legendary status. The movie opened great as we find a 14 year old Roxanne who was dubbed “the champ” heading towards a rap battle but then it cut to the next scene without showing us the actual battle. It did that twice before we finally heard her spit around the 20 minute mark, don’t get me wrong it was awesome when she did but I really wished the movie let us see her genius in those earlier moments.
All in  All it’s a decent biopic that does deliver some heartfelt moments and really did show the struggle she went through as well as giving us some great performances but the technical aspects of the film and how it was put together made me wanting more. Still I would recommend this to people, especially those who love Hip Hop!

Have you seen “Roxanne Roxanne”? do you agree or disagree with G? let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button for more videos! 

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