Throwback Friday- UTFO “Roxanne Roxanne”

Having recently covered some hip hop events, I’ve come into contact with some classic hip hop artists.  I had a “Shoo girl! You gettin old!” moment the other day when I was talking to a friend who was completely oblivious to groups like UTFO.  So I feel this week I need to drop a little knowledge and get Generation Y caught up with some of earlier hip hop that paved the way for what they hear today.

UTFO was no exception.  The song “Roxanne Roxanne” was a hit back in 1984 and spawned a hip hop battle as people set out to find the real real Roxanne.  Roxanne Shanté worked with Marley Marl to produce “Roxanne’s Revenge” and the battle raged on.  You can read the detailed account in wikipedia (“Roxanne Wars“).

At Raekwon‘s Only For Cuban Linx Pt II album relase party back on September 8, 2009, I had the pleasure of meeting the main man in UTFO who you hear rapping “Roxanne Roxanne” Kangol Kid.  I’m not sure the entire crowd, even the press, got as geeked up about that moment as I did, but it was an honor to meet the guy whose tune I taped off the radio and played on my boombox back in the day in my bedroom or enjoyed at the skating rink with my shoe skates (remember those??).  It was a song that people used to know all of the words when it played in the club.  One of my favorite sections was this:

You Kango, I don’t think that you’re dense
Buy you went about the matter with no experience
You should know, she doesn’t need a guy like you
She needs a guy like me, with a high IQ
And she’ll take to my rap, cause my rap’s the best
The educated rapper MD will never fess

Here’s this week’s Throwback Friday post “Roxanne Roxanne” by UTFO (produced by another classic group Full Force).

Related Links

Ifelicious Thoughts- check out all of my Throwback Friday posts by clicking this link

Bonus footage

Kangol Kid gives Ifelicious a shout out at Raekwon’s Album Release Party.