[3][4] In 1984, the hip-hop trio U.T.F.O., produced by the R&B group Full Force, released a single titled "Hanging Out", which did not perform well.

[5] Soon after, 14-year-old Lolita Shante Gooden was walking outside of the Queensbridge housing project in New York City when she heard Tyrone Williams, disc jockey Mr. Magic and record producer Marley Marl talking about how U.T.F.O.

The original "Street Version" was entirely freestyled by Gooden in one seven-minute-long take and recorded on tape in Marl's apartment.

The recording was pressed onto 100 initial copies that were rushed into distribution on the streets in late 1984, with Gooden billed as Roxanne Shante.

[8] It was confrontational and laced with profanities, but it became an instant hit that sold more than 250,000 copies in the New York area alone.

[9] Select Records claimed copyright on the instrumental track, which led Pop Art Records to negotiate an agreement whereby all future copies of "Roxanne's Revenge" would feature a different track.