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The Hip-Hop world was excited and united to bring praises to one of its pioneers, Roxanne Shante. Shante gained admiration and a slew of compliments after revealing to the Daily News in New York that she’d used her contract with Warner Music Group to pay for her education. She exclaimed to the paper that the label was so supportive of her post-career moves that they agreed to pay for her education, for the rest of her life. The Hip-Hop leader claimed she received a bachelor’s degree from Marymount Manhattan College and a PHD in Psychology from Cornell. Unfortunately for her a website took interest in the story and revealed that the claims were completely false. As previously reported Slate.com completely discredited Shante’s story and proved that she never received either degree.

Now embarrassed and exposed, she’s doing the right thing and apologizing for her “mistake”. She’s released a letter of apology about the incident asking people to forgive her for the mix up.

She begins the letter addressing her fans and thanking them for their support and offered apologies for the “ruckus” stemming from her story.

I would like to thank my long time fans and supporters for your continued support. I am humbled and grateful to all of you for that. Without going into all of the details as of right now, I would like to apologize that this story regarding my post recording career has caused such a ruckus. The entire story will be revealed at a later time.

 

She gets further into detail about the incident asking people not to judge her and try to “walk in her shoes.”She also adds that she hopes her entire career will not be judged solely based on her error.

 

Throughout my career and life, I have been faced with many challenges, both professionally and personally. Like all of you, I am human, and may have not made the correct decision all the time. And, like anyone else, I would like to think that my entire life or career is not judged by one error or mistake.

 

It is very easy to criticize someone and I have left myself open to criticism. That is fair. There are plenty of people that will attest that I have done a lot for them. It seems though, that negativity gets more attention than positivity.

 

All I can say to that, is before you level any further criticism and cynicism, walk in my shoes. I am making this statement to apologize to the people that truly care about me for any angst that this situation has caused, and to thank them for their continued support. I am proud of what I have been able to do for so many others, and would like to let those persons know that I will continue to be there for them no matter what.

 

She ends the letter sending shout outs to the iconic female Hip-Hop artists that followed in her rhyming path.

 

“I am proud that during my twenty plus years as a pioneer in the Hip-Hop industry, to have opened doors for those who came after me, such as MC Lyte, Salt N Peppa, and Queen Latifah to name a few. I will have no further statement in regards to this matter at this time.”

 

The fact that she owned up to her “mistake” is great but why lie in the first place? What was the point? It’s a shame what some people will do for relevancy.

 

This just proves that  if you if lie, there’s a good chance it will catch up with you.