Foxy Brown

Foxy Brown (born September 9. 1979) is an American rapper and recording artist. She is of both Afro-Trinidadian and Asian descent.

Foxy Brown Career

Born Inga Marchand in Flatbush, Brooklyn, she burst onto the hip-hop scene as Foxy Brown after winning a talent contest in Park Slope. She was invited to rap on stage at a KRS-One concert where she impressed the Trackmasters who were in attendance. They let her rap over the LL Cool J song "I Shot Ya".

as Recording artist

Foxy began appearing on other artist's tracks then in 1996 released her debut album Ill Na Na. The album sold over 109,000 copies in the first week, and debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 album charts. She joined Nas, Az, and Nature to form the hip-hop supergroup The Firm. Her second solo album Chyna Doll made history when it became the first album by a female rap artist to enter the charts at #1, selling 179,000 copies in its opening week. She released her third album, Broken Silence in 2001. It didn't do as well as Chyna Doll but was considered a moderate success.

In 2004, Foxy revealed that she had suffered rapid hearing loss that had left her near deaf.

Broken Silence album (2001)

In 2001, Brown released Broken Silence. Its street single was "BK Anthem" showcased Brown changing to a "street" image and giving a tribute to her hometown, Brooklyn, and famous rappers such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. The first single from the album was "Oh Yeah", which featured her then-boyfriend, Jamaican dancehall artist Spragga Benz.[19] The song "NA NA Be Like on Broken Silence was produced by Kenya Fame Flames Miller and Nokio from Dru Hill. The song "Na Na Be Like" was also on the "Blue Streak Soundtrack'. The album debuted on the Billboard Charts at #5, selling 130,000 units its first week. Like previous albums, Broken Silence also sold over 500,000 records and is certified gold by the RIAA.

In the same year, Brown recorded a song for the action-comedy film Rush Hour 2 called "Blow My Whistle", which is a collaboration with Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, and was written by Utada herself, alongside Pharrel Williams and Chad Hugo. The song is included on Def Jam's Rush Hour 2 Soundtrack, which peaked the 11th spot on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and also the 1st on the Top Soundtracks. Blow My Whistle was produced by The Neptunes.

Ill Na Na 2: The Fever and other works (2002-03)

In 2002, Foxy returned to the music scene briefly with her single "Stylin'", whose remix featured rappers Birdman, her brother Gavin, Loon, and N.O.R.E. Malkam Dior was to be the first single off of her album Ill Na Na 2: The Fever. The next year, in 2003, she was featured on DJ Kayslay's single "Too Much for Me" from his Street Sweeper's Volume One Mixtape. Foxy also appeared on Luther Vandross' final studio album Dance with My Father. That April, Brown appeared on popular New York radio DJ Wendy Williams' radio show, and revealed the details of her relationships with Lyor Cohen, president of Def Jam Recordings at the time, and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. Brown accused both of illegally trading her recording masters. She also announced that Cohen shelved her long awaited fourth album Ill Na Na 2: The Fever over personal disagreements. Therefore, "Stylin'" was released on the compilation album The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits Vol. 6 in December 2002.

Foxy Brown Brooklyn's Don Diva (2007) and future work

Foxy signed to Koch Records in August 2007. Brooklyn's Don Diva, was released as a street album on May 13, 2008 after many delays triggered by her prison sentence. It is compiled of many tracks previously un-released from her shelved albums. The album peaked at #83 on the Billboard 200 chart, #8 on the Independent Albums chart, and #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. She is due to release another LP, Black Roses, sometime around early 2012.

Foxy Brown Legal Troubles

Foxy has suffered a number of minor infractions and misdemeanors over her career, most notably the following:

• On January 25, 1997, Brown spat on two hotel workers in Raleigh, North Carolina when they told her they didn't have an iron available. When she missed a court appearance, an arrest warrant was issued. She received a 30-day suspended sentence and was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
• On March 6, 2000, Brown crashed her Range Rover in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She was charged with driving without a license, since her license had been suspended for not paying two parking tickets.
• On July 26, 2002, Brown was arrested in Kingston, Jamaica for an altercation with a policewoman at Norman Manley International Airport. She missed a court appearance and Jamaican authorities announced that she would be arrested if she returned to the country.
• On August 29, 2004, Brown allegedly attacked two manicurists in Chelsea, Manhattan during a dispute over a $20 bill that she refused to pay. She was not charged for the incident until March 7, 2005. On October 25, 2006, Brown was sentenced to three years probation and anger management counseling. Orders of protection were authorized by the court for the manicurists.
• On December 23, 2005, Brown was handcuffed in a Manhattan, New York courtroom after a verbal confrontation with the judge. Brown was in court to finalize a plea deal stemming from the August 2004 incident.
• On February 15, 2007, Brown was arrested for an incident in Broward County, Florida. According to the arrest report, Brown was applying beauty products in the bathroom of the Queen Beauty Supply store when an employee knocked on the door and told her the business was closed so it was time to leave. She refused and threw hair glue at the employee, the report said. Brown then spat on the man as he called 911, staining his shirt.
• On March 1, 2007, Foxy Brown pleaded guilty to a probation violation for leaving New York state without permission.
• On August 14, 2007, Foxy Brown turned herself in for the felony assault charge resulting from hitting her neighbor with a BlackBerry.
• On October 12, 2007, Brown refused three times to board a Rikers Island bus for a Brooklyn court date related to the BlackBerry incident - once because "she needed more time to primp", authorities said. She finally appeared before the Court on October 16, 2007 and pleaded not guilty.
• On October 23, 2007, Brown was given 76 days in solitary confinement due to a physical altercation that took place with another prisoner. According to the prison authorities, Foxy Brown, was also verbally abusive toward correction officers and refused to take a random drug test.