As Roxanne Shanté was igniting the “Roxanne Wars” of the era, business was also booming for Dapper Dan. Naturally, the teenage MC made it a priority to shop at his store, where she could cop one-of-a-kind counterfeits of the trendiest upmarket brands of the day.

Roxanne Shanté had her eyes dead set on winning the WWF-style championship belt that came with winning the “Battle for World Supremacy” at the Marriott Marquis. It wouldn’t be easy, but Shanté knew she had the stripes to do it.

Photographer Janette Beckman was just adjusting to her new life in New York City when a teenage Roxanne Shanté exploded on the New York City Hip-Hop scene. This is the story behind the photograph snapped outside of her studio.

Marley Marl wanted to record a response to UTFO's “Roxanne, Roxanne” from the point of view of the fictional woman. As fate would have it, he wouldn’t have to look beyond his own block inside the Queensbridge projects.

Battling remains a core tenet of Hip-Hop. While this form of one-upmanship may seem like it’s unique to the culture, history tells us that this verbal assault was a remix of past traditions.