Roxanne's Revenge

Photo Courtesy of Watts / DAILY NEWS

In 1984, at the age of 14, Roxanne Shante, a single teenage mom raised by one parent, hailing the projects of Queens, released "Roxanne's Revenge," a response to rap group UTFO's mega-hit "Roxanne, Roxanne." She was signed by Warner Music, released two albums and by the time she was 19, she'd been chewed up and spit out of the beast. Disillusioned, broke & living back in Queensbridge, she remembered a very small yet very important clause in her recording contract - Warner Music would fit the bill for her education. For life.

Well, fast forward to 2009, Ms. Shante (born Lolita Gooden) holds her PhD in Psychology from Cornell University. By all means, if you're going to get a doctorate degree, you might as well go Ivy League, right?

It wasn't easy to get Warner to cough up the dough, but Roxanne had some help from women like Marguerita Grecco from Marymount Manhattan College.

Today, Roxanne awards $5,000 scholarships to female rappers through the non-profit Hip Hop Association.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/08/23/2009-08-23_rapper_schools_record_label_qns_ma_makes_warner_music_foot_bill_for_phd.html#ixzz0P7wOWGDh

Roxanne's first video:

Roxanne + Biz in 1986



Roxanne + Biz in 2008 at Big Daddy Kane's 20th Anniversary Show

And the B.E.A.T. Goes On...Continued!

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday NYC Lladies! I've got another amazing panelist to introduce you to: meet Kathryn Diehl.

Kat was born oversees and is a bonafide citizen of the world. The journey started in Germany with stops in Virginia, D.C. and for the last 8 years, good old New York City. With interests as broad as her talents, her career has shifted and transformed in every imaginable way since she touched down in New York immediately upon finishing school for Recording Engineering. Over the last eight years she has built a reputation and standard of integrity within the music industry for her ears and unique perspective on sound. Diehl has in that time worked with the likes of G Unit, Busta Rhymes, Diplomats, Grandmaster Flash, Alicia Keys, Bjork, Anthony Hopkins, Swizz Beats, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel and Wyclef among others. She is a valued freelancer with CBS working on Post Production audio for film and television. Her production company, Meowmix Productions, has seen placements on projects with Reef the Lost Cause, the ‘Get Rich or Die Trying’ Soundtrack, the Byrdgang album, Jim Jones DVD and Casual Skateboards.

In early 2006, Diehl founded Katalyst Clothing. Since a young age, she has found herself surrounded with artists of all types and commented, “It’s my opportunity to provide a platform for all of the talented geniuses in my life. It all started out of love, everyone involved is family or a dear old friend.”

Currently Kat is recording her first album with her band The Industry Party.

Check her out at meowmixproductions.com and follow her on Twitter!

Remember, Wednesday July 29th is the date, Cornichon Cafe is the place, 7 pm is the time....RSVP at RSVPNYC@ladieslotto.com

July/Music Spotlight Part I

In preparation for the Ladies Lotto New York July/Music conference on Wednesday, July 29th, I'd like to introduce you to our featured panelists. First up, we have Karena Cameron of Nylon Studios.

Karena Cameron is an Australian in New York with a colorful career spanning music, advertising, media and fashion.

From 2000, Karena worked as the Promotions Manager at seminal youth radio broadcaster Kiss FM and in '02 donned the hat of Marketing and PR Manager at indie record label and distributor Stomp Entertainment. A hiatus in the rag trade followed for the next two years where she specialized in the creation of seasonal brand campaigns and producing runway shows for Fashion Weeks' around the globe. Despite the exponential growth of her wardrobe, her passion for all things musical lured her back into the industry.

In 2005, Karena joined label giant Sony BMG as Marketing Manager. It was a very interesting time to be involved with a major label during this time - essentially at the height of the record industry's fall - but it was probably the most rousing in terms of evolution. Strategy re-entered the mind-set of marketing as did a need to off-set traditionally high marketing costs with external funding. OPM (other peoples money) became key to getting your artist's music heard, so while producing video clips, album artwork and working on promotional tours, Karena worked on several key commercial rights deals linking brand and bands.

In 2007, Karena joined Nylon Studios and relocated to New York to set up their US operation. Nylon is a music production boutique specializing in original composition, licensing and music content for brands. To date, the company has been a great success (particularly by recession standards) with a continual increase in client base and areas of specialization. To wrap 2009, Karena plans to launch a dot com (surprisingly non-music related) as a small side-project and continue spreading the Nylon word throughout New York.

Check out Nylon Studios to see examples of their work!

And of course make sure to hit up the July conference at the Cornichon Cafe in Brooklyn, at 7 pm!

RSVP to RSVPNYC@ladieslotto.com