Check out Roxanne Shanté’s Story on Netflix’s Roxanne Roxanne

Netflix recently released an original musical biopic that tells the story of hip-hop artist Roxanne Shanté.

Roxanne Roxanne features Chanté Adams as rapper Roxanne Shanté, and tells Roxanne’s story from her childhood to making her first hit. This Netflix film also stars Nia Long and Moonlight‘s Mahersala Ali. Roxanne serves as the executive producer of the movie along with Pharrell Williams and Forest Whitaker. Born Lolita Shanté Gooden, Roxanne Shanté from Queens, NY explained how therapeutic it is to have her experiences of her rap career recreated on screen.

“It gave me a visual of the things that I survived, the things that I’ve been through, the things that you can overcome if you don’t give up,” Shanté said. “So, going back to Queensbridge is just a sign of me not giving up, and also allowing other children who may be in that same predicament to look at me and say, ‘OK, she didn’t give up and look at her’ … It’s a beautiful thing to smell your flowers while you’re here.”

During her career, Shanté was battle rapping, beating guys double her age and winning money to support her three sisters and mother. She recorded a freestyle, seven minutes long, over UTFO’s 1984 track “Roxanne, Roxanne.” Taking only one take to record, this freestyle became “Roxanne’s Revenge” and was a radio hit that changed her life and also paved the way for other female rappers after her.

You can watch it on Netflix now.