When Full Force produced UTFO’s 1984 song “Roxanne, Roxanne,” the six-man production crew didn’t realize its potential impact. In fact, it was upset when deejays began playing the song that featured UTFO members Doctor Ice, The Educated Rapper and The Kangol Kid unsuccessfully pursuing a girl named Roxanne.
“That was the B-side of a song that we thought was the A-side, which was ‘Hanging Out,’” Bowlegged Lou says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “DJ Red Alert was the first deejay to grab it and start playing it. We were kind of pissed off at him and were like, ‘What are you doing playing the B-side?’ He said, ‘I like the B-side. I think that should be the A-side.’ He refused to play the A-side and the rest is history.”
“Roxanne, Roxanne” became a bona fide hit for UTFO and spawned what was dubbed “The Roxanne Wars,” a series of response records that carried on the Roxanne storyline.
One of the most prominent responses was Roxanne Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge.”
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As Full Force — brothers Bowlegged Lou, Paul Anthony and B-Fine, and three of their cousins, Shy Shy, Curt T-T and Baby Gerry — worked on its Full Force: With Love from Our Friends album, which was released yesterday (August 25), it decided to revisit the song that jumpstarted its career.
“Roxanne Roxanne (The New Chapter),” which is available as a stream below, features Lou$tar interacting with UTFO. Roxanne Shante also makes and appearance on the song, bringing the Roxanne phenomenon full circle 30 years after its debut.
“‘We thought it would be great to pay homage to that on this type of album, with so many people on it,” Bowlegged Lou says. “We have so many artists that we’ve worked with on this album also, so were were like, ‘Let’s reunite UTFO and put it together.’ We feel it fits in great with the rest of the album.”
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