NOTE: It turns out that the facts in this story are uncertain.
“I don't believe that you actually know what the recording industry does. They don't just burn music to CDs and sell it at a reasonable price. They are purely monopolies that control our entertainment. The RIAA just aids in making it illegal for us to have enjoyment.” — Ray Cowles
As you can see, 
I'm not a big fan of the Recording Industry Association of America. Their approach of extorting everyone from kids to grandmothers with threats of lawsuits who they suspect of file sharing is repugnant, and the paltry percentages that their members' contracts provide for the artists who sign with them are exploitative.
But no one knows how little the recording industry cares about the artists who enrich it better than Dr. Roxanne Shanté. She was an early hip-hop star, recording best-selling Roxanne's Revenge in 1984 when she was just fifteen years old. Her success was absorbed by others, however. As she explained to the New York Daily News, "Everybody was cheating with the contracts, stealing and telling lies. And to find out that I was just a commodity was heartbreaking."
Truly Roxanne did have her revenge when she realized she could take advantage of a clause in her recording contract that said her label, Warner Music, had to pay for her education for life. While they initially tried to get out of it, eventually they were forced to make good on their promise, and not only did they pay for her tuition for a Bachelor's degree at Marymount Manhattan College, she then stuck them with the $217,000 bill for her to do a PhD in Psychology at Cornell University. Wow.
When I read her story I admit that I wanted to share it in part because she was a rare example of someone who found a way to turn the tables on the recording industry. And I wasn't a fan of hers growing up; I was listening to things like the Police and a-ha and New Age music during the '80s, and later on got into ambient and dub, not hip-hop. But I also think she's inspiring because she's someone who when faced with adversity turned disadvantages into advantages and found ways to realize her dreams. That's a really powerful story, especially for those of us who are trying to find a way to get through school while working and raising a family, and it's a story that deserves to be more widely told.
Next up, I receive a student loan debt survey.