Netflix Releases Trailer for Roxanne Shante Biopic Roxanne Roxanne

After years of development and a triumphant debut at Sundance in 2017, the new trailer for Roxanne Roxanne has finally arrived. It shows the triumphs and struggles of a young black woman trying to navigate the treacherous world of hip-hop.

The film is based on the ups and downs of legendary female MC Lolita “Roxanne Shanté” Gooden of the Juice Crew. Netflix’s description of the film reads, “In the early 1980s, the most feared battle MC in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenage girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders”

Shante, at the age of 14, became a key figure in hip-hop due to the infamous “Roxanne Wars,” and the beef between the Juice Crew and KRS-One’s Boogie Down Productions. She released a slew of singles and two studio albums before quietly retiring in the early 1990s. Shante re-emerged in the late 1990s through a series of Sprite commercials while making occasional performances and guest appearances.

Roxanne Roxanne’s production was a collaboration between Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions and Pharrell Williams’s i am OTHER, with Michael Larnell having written and directed it. Nia Long and Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali play major supporting parts, with Chante Adams playing Shante in her first film role—she won the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance at Sundance. The film’s soundtrack was handled by actor and Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA.

Roxanne Roxanne will be available on Netflix beginning Mar. 23. See the trailer below.