News Welcome to the news page I'm sure you have all heard or will soon hear Lil' Kim's new song called "Don't Play". Now you are probably asking why are you talking about Lil' Kim. Well at the end of the song, the music is stopped and Lil Cease or Puff Daddy says, "stop trying to sound like her too." If you know who actually says that line Puff Daddy or Lil' Cease, please email me and let me know. Some people are saying its Puff Daddy and others are saying its Lil' Cease. The reason why it matters, because I always thought Puffy and Foxy Brown were friends. If you notice on Foxy's Thank You's on "Chyna Doll", she sends a shout out to Puff Daddy and his girlfriend, Kim Porter. If that is him saying, I don't know how they stand. So somebody please email me. Thanks to David S. for sending me that info first. Also, Foxy has gotten in another altercation. Here's the official story. This is an account from Honey Gyrlz, who listened to what happened. I was listenin to tha radio last night and Colby said that Foxy was on the radio. Well she said she just got done doin a video wit Total for I Can't. Also, he asked bout her and Kurupt, she said "no comment", and he asked bout her voice soundin like Lil Kim's and she said "If you listened to Ill Na Na she was already sayin ugh" Then asked bout the Calvin Klein ad, and she said "that Kate Moss asked her to do a layout with her" Well she called back last night and she was pissed, cause after she called before after she hung up they said they had a analyst bout what when she said "no comment" sayin she was single, cause of how she said it. Well she heard it and she swore a storm up, so many times I lost count. Well she said that she would get Kurupt after him, he said"is that a threat" and she said "no its a promise". Okay, Foxy is back at it again. She can not stay out of trouble. If she cussing out a radio guy, wait till she gets ahold of Lil' Kim. So folks don't think Foxy Brown isn't going to say anything regarding Kim dissing her, well actually its not Kim. You can start to see she getting a little peeve about people comparing her style to Lil' Kim, her answer are taking on a different tone. So this is not over, so stay tune..... I can vouch for Foxy Brown, she was already saying "uggh" on Big Bad Mamma and The Party Don't Stop. Take a listen to those songs again, and you will hear it. So it just didn't start, even though she uses it more now. March 18th :
Okay good news folks on March 23rd Foxy Brown's next single will be released. It's "I Can't" featuring Total. So hopefully we will be seeing a new video soon.
W Magazine's April issue features Bruce Weber's snaps from
the Everglades trip Kate Moss, Foxy Brown and Kris
Kristofferson took recently. The spread shows Kate and Foxy
vamping in some cheeky bikinis, Kris holding a hoedown, and
Kate's mom, Linda, tenderly stroking the head of her party-hearty daughter. . . . I personally have never heard of this magazine so if you get email with how Foxy looks and all.
For all you that think Foxy is on the low. She has actually been performing, so here is an article.Worlds collided at Tuesday night's Whitney Museum fund-raiser when John Kennedy Jr. and other museum supporters got down with the royalty of rap. Some of the museum's swells reportedly were
a little nervous about the evening's sexy entertainer, Foxy Brown. One board member was heard to ask: "Is she going to have any clothes on?" To their relief, Miss Brown wore a tasteful blue dress when she spouted rhymes for the likes of Leonard Lauder, Ron Perelman and Claudia Cohen, Martha Stewart, Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons, and Tommy Hilfiger. Kennedy and a happier-looking Carolyn Bessette stayed to dance into the wee hours as the party filled with fragrant smoke.
Also check out the NEW POLL Question!
Last, but not least look out for Foxy Brown on that R. Kelly Tour along with Deborah Cox, Busta Rhymes, and Nas. It all starts May 3rd.
March 6th :
First off I ran upon interesting news about Foxy, apparently she is best friends with supermodel Kate Moss. Check out this article.
It has been brought to my attention by Tamika, that Funkmaster Flex has been playing a new song by Nas to death. But come to find out that Pretty Boy along with Puffy produced the track. Yes, Pretty Boy, Foxy's brother, produced the track. Very interesting. Along those lines, AZ appeared on Rap City this week and he made no mention of Foxy, Nas, or The Firm. So, I don't know what is going on with them. No, Foxy will not appear on Nas's new lp.
Have you noticed the love that Foxy Brown has been given by MTV. They just love our favorite hip hop diva. Anyways everyone has seen the commercials for the hiphop week. Also Foxy will appear on Spring Break as a performer, this all starts March 19-21. Also another thing you need to do is go vote for Foxy's "Get Me Home" to be in the TOP 25 Hip Hop videos countdown! Go to Hip Hop Week Press on the picture of Foxy and vote for her video! Also check out the true schedule for when Foxy appears on MTV, that summit with her and Busta Rhymes is actually starting Monday!! So go through the week and find out the true schedule. Just make sure you vote for Foxy's video.
I need for you people to do me a favor. There is a Foxy Brown Board that just has been started. Well I need you to drop by and leave a message saying either how you like Foxy or just how you feel about her in general. This is a cool site and I would like to keep Foxy's board up, so please go by and support it. I'm at this site alot, so we can converse about Foxy a lot on this board. This guy is in the music business and he was kind enough to let me give Foxy love on his site. I'm in charge of the board and I want to see it succeed, so help a brotha out. The board address is Foxy Brown Messageboard So, please do that for me!!
Okay in the latest issue of VIBE, Jay Z vehemently denies having a sexual relatonship with Foxy Brown. According to him all they have is a working relationship! This will be the subject of the new poll, so make sure you vote! I want to see what you think. Has anyone notice lately that VIBE has taken an anti-Foxy Brown stance lately. They have been constantly dissing her in their magazines and everytime they mention her name it is in a negative way. Also, Blaze (subsidiary of VIBE) did not publish a flattering article about her either in the March edition. But, I guess Foxy kind of mess up when she went after Danyel Smith (the editor), because now she gets no love from them.
"Chyna Doll" has been falling out of the charts as of lately, this time it slid from #15 to #30. But don't fret on March 16, according to Def Jam, Foxy will release "I Can't" a commercial song that will boost sales. They is rumor there may be a double release with "JOB" as a single too. These songs are a lot more pop friendly then "Hot Spot", so expect sales to go back up when they are released. Well thats all the news for now! Till next time.
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Interview
She ripped through a hot debut, 1996's Ill Na Na, and a collaboration with Nas and AZ, 1997's The Firm (which landed her a sonic cameo in Jackie Brown), all the while rhyming as badass as the boys while putting a sassy femme touch on it. She's hip-hop's addition to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer generation. Sex is a big part of your package. You're selling yourself along with the rhymes. Everybody has their gimmick. Lauryn is very positive. Missy and Da Brat are sorta fun and hardcore. Then you have Foxy, who is, like, sex. I don't think my s--- is a gimmick -- I think it's real. It's what I am. Every woman has a Foxy Brown in her, meaning just that bad bitch who ain't takin' no s---. But if someone thinks it's a gimmick, you know what my motto is? "Just gimme my check" [Laughs]. Is it sex that sets you apart? I think it's a touch of arrogance that people like because it's a cute arrogance. Like, I know I'm the s---. But you supposed to know you the s---, too! How's your new album different from the last? The last album, I was sixteen and I didn't have a lot of say. I had all men running my career, telling me, do this, do that. Jay-Z came in and said, you gotta say this, and this how you have to be perceived. It was basically mapped out for me. This album I was able to do myself. How did you prepare? I went home. Back to Brooklyn and my little room with a little black and white TV and the posters on my wall of Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D and MC Lyte. I sat there and felt hungry again. After the platinum albums I had to go back to what made me Foxy -- spittin' hard like a nigga. That hunger makes you tight. I went home and it was no jewelry, sweat suit, sittin' on the stoop. It was just real. Whenever I'm stuck, I go right back to my room. Has hip-hop changed a lot since Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac were killed? It's not fun anymore. You can't go hang out in a club; you can't have a friendly dispute on record. You gotta be like, "Lemme just get the check." When MCs are out in clubs, people wanna challenge them. People wanna embrace a singer, but with a rapper, it's "Yeah, let's see if all the s--- you talking on record is real." A singer just sings about love, but when you a rapper, you boasting about how dope you are, and when they see you in person, they definitely wanna challenge that. It's not even fun anymore. And that's real. It's business now. Is that just you or an industry-wide feeling? I think it's the majority of rappers. Being an MC isn't all you dreamed it would be? Not at all. I have a song on my album called "My Life" that best explains it. Basically Kim [Brown's pre-MC'ing-days friend Lil' Kim] and I used to be in the house just dreaming -- "We're gonna be like Roxanne Shante and Salt-n-Pepa; we're gonna have all the guys and the money and the fame." Now I got the platinum Rolie and the [Benz] 600, and I had the illest nigga alive. But it ain't all it seems to be. It's not. The legendary Roxanne Shante is one of your favorites? She was dope! And, excuse my language, but she didn't give a f---. In the Eighties she was rockin' full-length minks. She had the Juice Crew like I have Jay-Z and Roc-a-Fella. I wouldn't say I'm the Nineties version, but what she did back then, I totally revamped it. That was a great time to be an MC. Back then it was so much fun, 'cause you take a dis on a record and you dis 'em back and it just goes on and on and you see each other at a show and give each other five. Now it's like, "OK, I can't say anything back to this person 'cause it's gonna escalate and become extreme." What do you think about that Monica Lewinsky situation? I always say Hillary and Faith [Evans, widow of B.I.G.] are the strongest women in the world. Some woman is like, "Yeah, I slept with your man" in public, and you're able to be like, "I'm not even answering that. I know who's the wife." I like the way Faith bounced back and Hillary never humiliated Bill in public. I really have a lot of respect for Hillary. To see stuff like that really helps me in my personal situations a lot. What would you do if it happened to you? I couldn't handle it Hillary's way. But I guess that's a part of being a woman. Seeing Hillary shows me we all could get played. You could be the first lady and be humiliated, so you just gotta do what's best for you. 'Cause at the end of the day, it's what makes Inga happy. TOURE -- December 28, 1998 from Rolling Stone Foxy Brown Unwraps A 'China Doll' By ANITA SAMUELS for BILLBOARD (November '98) LOS ANGELES -- Rapper Foxy Brown says her sophomore album, "China Doll," is far more "street" than her 1996 debut, "Ill Na Na," which has sold 1.4 million units in the U.S., according to SoundScan. "That one was a little more radio [friendly]. Now I'm taking it back to the essence [of where I started]," says the 19-year-old Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand. "China Doll" is due Dec. 15 worldwide on Violator Entertainment/Def Jam Recordings. "Hot Spot," the album's first single, went to U.S. R&B and crossover radio formats Nov. 9; the song will not be commercially available in the States. A videoclip for the single will be serviced Nov. 16 to BET, MTV, the Box, and local and regional outlets. On the 15-track set, Brown worked with artist/producer Jay-Z and a variety of up-and-comers, such as Swiss, Little Rob, Grease, and Ty. "I felt like they are dope-ass producers, and they needed a shot," says Brown. "It will probably put their foot in the door." Brown was first cast into the limelight for her rap skills on hip-hop singles "I Shot Ya" by LL Cool J, "Touch Me Tease Me" by Case, "You're Makin' Me High" by Toni Braxton, and "Ain't No Nigga" by Jay-Z. "Get You Home," a single from "Ill Na Na" that took its hook and melody from Eugene Wilde's classic 1984 hit "Gotta Get You Home Tonight," helped secure Brown a foothold in an industry that is generally dominated by men. "Ill Na Na" peaked at No. 2 on the Top R&B Albums chart and No. 7 on The Billboard 200. As a member of the rap collective the Firm, Brown appeared on "The Firm --The Album," a 1997 project that included Nas Ecobar, AZ, and Nature. The album peaked at No. 1 on both the Top R&B Albums chart and The Billboard 200. On the new set, Brown fans can expect even more wordplay on "Foxy Brown," the moniker the rapper appropriated from '70s blaxploitation actress Pam Grier. "All my albums are theme albums. In this album, the real Foxy Brown is giving birth to me," says Brown. She adds that throughout the album Grier will be heard talking to Brown over music sampled from two of Grier's films, "Friday Foster" and "Coffy." On the set, Brown says, she still raps about the finer things in life, but she insists that she keeps it realistic. "When I walk outside of my house in Brooklyn, that's what I rap about. I'm the voice of urban youth in America. I rap about relationships and everyday life." JUST ENTERTAINMENT The rapper says one of the biggest misconceptions about her music is that it is only about sex. "People don't need to take things so seriously. They need to look at it as just entertainment rather than take me word for word . . . like, 'Did you hear what she said?' They aren't saying anything when Marilyn Manson urinates on the crowd [at a concert]." Brown says that the key to her longevity lies in branching out into different areas of the music industry. "I want to own things," she says. "I'm starting a new label, called Ill Na Na. I would be the youngest female CEO. I am what makes my career. Only I can mess it up. I'm in charge of how far my career goes." The label deal is still being worked out, says Brown, so no other details were available at press time. Def Jam's marketing campaign for "China Doll" will have several phases, starting with the Def Jam street team, who will hand out fliers, poster boards, and 12-inch singles in early November. The first 12-inch single, "B.W.A.," went to radio, mix-show jocks, record pools, and club DJs on Oct. 30. The B-side to "B.W.A." is "Paper Chase," a duet with Jay-Z. "My Life," a second single, is planned for early January. According to Hythem Bouchuiguir, director of international for Def Jam, the label is planning an international promotional tour in 1999. "We broke her in Europe last year. She was a huge success there," says Bouchuiguir. "It was well-received, and there is much anticipation for the new album in Japan, Australia, and the U.K." According to the label, "Ill Na Na" has sold 250,000 units outside the U.S. The label is planning a U.S. promotional jaunt for Brown in the new year, and is looking to feature her on a multi-act Def Jam tour. Brown will also be part of a four-artist campaign that includes rappers Jay-Z, Method Man, and Redman. In addition to radio and TV commercials for the album, Brown will appear in a special MTV round-table, a two-hour "Ultrasound" called "Women In Hip-Hop," that will air Dec. 13, two days before "China Doll" is released. The rapper will also appear in a December "Rap City" segment for BET. The label is also planning for Brown to be featured on "MTV Jams," "Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat," "Motown Live," "The Chris Rock Show," and "The Roseanne Show." Internet exposure will include the Def Jam World Wide Web site, which has a full page dedicated to the rapper, and an appearance on "88HIPHOP.com," an online hip-hop show, during the week of the album's release. Def Jam label is also planning to develop a Brown site to launch next year. Brown is managed by Steve Stoute. Brown's music is published through Pork Music/ASCAP.
At just seventeen, this Brooklyn-bred rapper more than lives up to her namesake Foxy Brown has achieved more in one year than most MC's achieve, period. She guested on singles with LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Toni Braxton, and Case all before the release of her debut album, "Ill Na Na" in November, which peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Top 200. In spite of the powerful voice and expert rhyme skills that belie her age, much ado has been made of Brown's come hither looks, exposed flesh, and abundantly sexual lyrics. Inappropriate to some, certainly a source of sensate joy to others, she sees her image as an expression of personal freedom, feminism, and blatant self-promotion. Like her namesake, the otherworldly, no-nonsense heroine (played by friend and mentor Pam Grier) in the blaxploitation classic, "Foxy Brown," this Brown is every bit as alluring, excessively straight-forward, and serenely self-confident. Looking back on her first year in the biz, Brown has little to regret. She's too busy. RSO: I hear you're between promotional tours. Foxy Brown: Yeah, I'm about to pack. I just finished a tour up in Canada, and I'm going to Japan next week. Do you know that I just got added to the Lollapalooza tour? They have one rapper a tour and they only want Foxy. So how is it? Is it like alternative groups? I've never heard of it. Pretty much. (Thoughtfully) Okay. That's a whole different market. Do you have any more collaborations on the horizon? Yeah, they're trying to put a song together with me and Alanis Morissette. I *love* her. Her and Courtney Love, but they trying to get that Alanis thing going. Would you teach her to rap? (Laughs) I know, right, that would be the funniest thing ever. Did you have time to finish high school last year? I did, last June. But I couldn't stay there! I was going to school up until Case's video for "Touch Me, Tease Me" was out on MTV, then I started to get stalkers. I had this one crazed person following me. I guess people sit in class with you and then they go home, you're on MTV and they're like 'Yo, what the f--k.' No matter how much you try to keep it real, it was never keepin' it real enough. So I had to quit school for the last 6 months and did a take home class. I didn't even get to walk down the aisle. I just got, 'Here's your diploma, peace in the Middle East.' So how many times have you seen the movie Foxy Brown? Oh, man, I was watching it last night! It's my favorite movie, definitely. You'd be surprised what an impact Pam Grier has had on me. I think she's just the ultimate bitch. She's this sassy, sexy, will like shoot you in a minute, no bullsh-t bitch. In person, she's like my second mother. I know she'll always be there for me. You're friends? She's like my mother. She'll tell you. We just did a Vibe cover together, and it was like Foxy meets the Baby Foxy. She has no kids - so it's I'm like her daughter and she's gonna make sure I'm protected in this industry. For my third video, she's gonna be in the beginning, sittin' at a bar with a cigar. She's gonna say, 'You know what Foxy? I've been watching you, and I think you're ready. Foxy Brown I'm passin' it down to you.' And she'll hand me a torch. It's gonna be real dope. How did you meet? When LL [Cool J] released "I Shot Ya" she was like, "I want to know who this Foxy is." She just called me and said, "Foxy, this is the O.G. Foxy," and we clicked. She's 47, and quick to tell you, but she looks like 20. No kids, still acting -- she's got her own production company. We might do some acting together - [Def Jam CEO] Russell [Simmons] wants me to get on "New York Undercover." But just one thing at a time, I'm in no rush. I have bags under my eyes. Literally. I have a cold too. But I had to do some shopping today. What do people misinterpret about you the most? The stereotypical things about Foxy Brown -- they talk about materialistic subject matters. And my lust for being open with my sexuality. I think they misinterpret that as being raunchy, but I think it's just identifying with yourself. You see, I've had a different success story. For years and years, women had to dress down to be noticed in hip hop. Now that Little Kim and I are doing this whole sex and feminism thing and it's starting to come back to hip hop. People aren't ready to accept it yet, I think. Do you consider yourself a feminist? To the fullest. I've never had to go through like, 'Oh, she's a girl, she's wack,' because I've been accepted, but I just think that if men can say, excuse my language, 'f--k a bitch,' why can't I say, excuse my language, 'f--k a nigger.' You know what I mean? I just want to be accepted, not for a female or a male, just accepted, period. For being me. Do you think that you lose any respect because of the way you dress? Some people call me scantily clothed, but, like I say, on a regular day, I'm all covered up. It's marketing, it's promotion, and no one can ever say they're not in hip hop for the money. Or music for the money. I mean, be real. I'm just real. This is what I want to talk about, this is how I feel. If people can identify with it, then hey. Just look at the females that are winning right now, like Madonna. Some people can do it and some people can't. Millie Jackson, Madonna, even Bessie Smith, back in the' 20s and '30s. And Pam Grier, for instance. I'm not saying you have to exploit yourself and go down to the total dogged-out bitch era with no clothes on, but if that's the way you feel like expressing yourself, there's no problem. Is it strange to be in the public eye at 17? It works and it doesn't. I got pulled over by the cops yesterday, I think just because they saw a '97 Benz with a young girl in it. And I was with my boyfriend. So they pulled us over and I didn't have my license with me. The cop recognized me, and was like, 'Wait a minute, you're 17, you can't even get a license." I tried to tell him I just turned 18. He was like, 'Nah, I'm gonna let you go.' So it works in the way that people feel sorry for you. And you know, I guess I'm more mature than 17. If you sat down with me and we hung out, you would never even think I was 17. I bet a lot of guys don't like to hear that you have a serious boyfriend. Yeah, he's on the road with me now. We got engaged. (Giggling) We got engaged! We've been together almost a year. I've never been open with it, but they've seen us in public now. On Hot 97 they were saying like, 'Foxy has this massive diamond ring.' I've never met anybody like him. He's supportive, he understands. I'll come home one day, be crying, because one day can be the best day in the world and the next can be the worst. He'll be like, 'Well here's what you gotta do, and you gotta stay on top of your this.' He's so supportive. Who would you like to work with in the future? Mary J. Blige, definitely. But she surprised me and put me on her new album. Still, that would be dope. I don't want to do too many more features. I want to just hold my own next album. And I mean, who's left? I guess the next person is Whitney. I have Toni, so the next person is Whitney. I got everybody else. ANTHONY BOZZA for Rolling Stone (Feb.7, 1997)
Foxy Brown brings the feminine mystique back to hip-hop. After hours in a Brooklyn salon around the corner from where she grew up, 17-year-old rapper Foxy Brown points to her big toenail and exclaims "File it down more!" to the pedicurist kneeling at her feet. Brown, a woman with a sweet diva demeanor and a raw, nimble rap style, is prepping for a photo shoot to promote her debut album, Ill Na Na - an activity she despises, mainly because photographers never seem to be able to capture the true tone of her chocolate skin. "I come out this color," she says, tapping the gray tape recorder next to her with a long pearlescent nail. "I'm tired of people saying, 'Oh, you way better in person.' " Brown's appearance demands such close attention because she, along with Junior M.A.F.I.A. rapstress-cum-diva Lil' Kim, has "brought the feminine side back to being a female hip-hop artist." Before them, says Brown, "you had to dress like a tomboy to get recognized." Brown first hit big with fellow Brooklynite Jay-Z on "Ain't No Nigga," which bumped out of city cars all summer with a thump courtesy of EPMD and 7 Minutes of Funk. Riffing off the Four Tops' "Ain't No Woman Like the One I've Got," the song, with its chorus, "Ain't no nigga like the one I got / Sleeps around but he gives me a lot," was controversial among hip-hop heads. Brown laughs it off: "It's not about, 'Go f--k around, just bring me a pair of shoes and I'm happy.' It's about, 'Okay, you're a big rapper now, remember who your wife is.' " "Ain't No Nigga," plus Brown's duets with Braxton, L.L. Cool J, and Nas, drummed up anticipation for her solo work. Ill Na Na (the nickname given to Foxy by Nas) delivers the goods, with intricate samples snaking around Brown's flow on topics from loyalty to Versace to getting down and nasty. If her dirty mouth and love for all things material seem over-the-top at times, Brown says she's just being herself: "If I talk about driving in a 600, I'm driving in a 600; if I talk about Gucci and Prada, I have it." Despite her present luscious lifestyle and snappy success, Brown is realistic about the future. "I don't want to be a 30-year-old rapper. I want to do maybe another album, not ten, go into my own business, and make sure my mother's happy." Inspecting her drying nails, she muses, "I'd rather be on the down-low." -Natasha Stovall for Spin Magazine, December '96. |
At age nineteen, Foxy Brown is already a hip-hop-industry veteran, best known for her love of couture, cash and cleavage exposure. On Chyna Doll, she's still flexing the thug-bitch mentality and hyperbolic materialism that made her 1996 debut, Ill Na Na, platinum-plus. Few can touch the Brown Fox when it comes to dirty, aggressive shit-talking: On "Dog and a Fox," she spits explicit rhymes that match guest rapper DMX's macho growl punch for punch without forfeiting her signature slick enunciation. Chyna Doll is nothing if not diverse; Foxy may have felt pressure to be all things to all people on this record. But thanks to a strong cast of featured guests and an impeccable collection of begging-for-airplay beats, she never spreads her skills too thin. One minute her thick, throaty voice is setting off Total's R&B harmonizing ("I Can't"), the next it's switching up to a double-time Dirty South flow with Eightball, Juvenile and MJG ("Ride [Down South]"). And her duet with her main man, Jay-Z, "Bonnie and Clyde Part II," finds her and the Jigga gleefully plotting some gangsta shit and pledging their loyalty to one another. Still, Foxy sounds like she's speaking from the heart only on "My Life," an endearingly vulnerable track that touches on everything from her history of unbalanced relationships with cold men to the bullshit that came between her and her former homegirl Lil' Kim.
The only thing that really detracts from this star-power package is Chyna Doll's gratuitous negativity: Baby mamas are ridiculed, player haters are raked across the coals, and women who are dumb enough to give up the na-na without getting a Prada bag in return, watch out. It could be that Foxy is so eager to prove she can run with the tough guys in her clique that she goes overboard disrespecting her fellow females. Or, if you like, just chalk it up to normal teenage insecurity. |
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