Foxy Brown

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Biography

Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand (born September 6, 1978), better known as Foxy Brown , is an United States|American rapping|rapper known for her solo work as well as numerous collaborations with other artists and her brief stint as part of hip hop music group The Firm (hip hop group)|The Firm . Raised in Brooklyn, New York, her father Keith Stahler abandoned the family at a young age to pursue his career at ERAC records. Her albums include Ill Na Na in 1996, followed by Chyna Doll (album)|Chyna Doll in 1999, and Broken Silence (Foxy Brown album)|Broken Silence in 2001. She also performed on the The Album (The Firm album)|1997 self-titled album by the Firm, the only album to be released by that group to date. Throughout her career, Brown has held an extensive arrest record and served some time in jail.

After 2002, she continued recording verses for herself and other artists but did not release any albums; she left the Def Jam label in 2003, thus canceling the release of her Ill Na Na 2 album. However, she returned to the label in January 2005 after Jay-Z signed her back to begin work on her new album Black Roses (Foxy Brown album)|Black Roses . In December 2005, she began suffering from hearing loss , which put her career on hiatus until the next summer, a few months after surgery. A fourth studio album, which originally was a mixtape, was released in May 2008 following many delays spawned by a jail sentence that Brown served for assault.

Music career

(1994-97) Early career, Ill Na Na , The Firm

While still a teenager, Brown won a talent contest in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . Members of the production team Trackmasters who were working on LL Cool J 's Mr. Smith (album)|Mr. Smith album were in attendance that night and were impressed enough to let Brown rap over " I Shot Ya ." She followed this debut with appearances on several RIAA certification|RIAA platinum and gold singles from other artists, including remixes of songs "You're Makin' Me High" by Toni Braxton . Brown was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor (1996 film)|The Nutty Professor , on the songs "Touch Me Tease Me" by Case (singer)|Case and " Ain't No Nigga " by Jay-Z .Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. . Allmusic : c. 1996. The immediate success led to a label bidding war at the beginning of 1996, and in March, Def Jam Records won and added the then 16-year old-rapper to their roster. In 1996, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, Da Brat, and Total got together for the recording of Bad Boy's remix of "No One Else." This was the only track that Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown appeared on together, the two were friends at the time.

In 1996, Brown released her debut album Ill Na Na to mixed reviews but strong sales. The album sold over 109,000 copies in the first week, and debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The album was heavily produced by Trackmasters, and featured guest appearances from Jay-Z , Blackstreet , Method Man , and Kid Capri .Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. . Allmusic The album went on to go RIAA certification|platinum and launched two hit singles: "Get Me Home" (featuring Blackstreet ) and "I'll Be" (featuring Jay-Z ).

Following the release of Ill Na Na , Brown joined fellow New York-based hip hop artists, Nas , AZ (rapper)|AZ and Nature (rapper)|Nature to form the Supergroup (music)|supergroup known as The Firm (hip hop group)|The Firm . The album was released via Aftermath Records and was produced and recorded by the collective team of Dr. Dre , The Trackmasters , and Steve "Comissioner" Stout of Violator Entertainment . An early form of The Firm appeared on "Affirmative Action", from Nas' second album, It Was Written . A remix of the song, and several group Freestyle rap|freestyles were in the album, The Album (The Firm album)|Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album . The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 and sold over half a million records and is RIAA certified gold.

In March 1997, she joined the spring break festivities hosted by MTV in Panama City, Florida , among other performers including rapper Snoop Dogg , pop group The Spice Girls , and rock band Stone Temple Pilots . Later, she joined the Smokin' Grooves tour hosted by the House of Blues with the headlining rap group Cypress Hill , along with other performers like Erykah Badu , The Roots , OutKast , and The Pharcyde , the tour set to begin in Boston, Massachusetts in the summer of 1997. However, after missing several dates in the tour, she left it.

(1998-99) Chyna Doll

Chyna Doll was released in January 1999. It sold 173,000 copies in its opening week. However, its sales quickly declined in later weeks. The album's lead single, "Hot Spot", failed to enter the top 50 of the Billboard pop charts, as did the follow-up single, "I Can't" (featuring Total (group)|Total ). Chyna Doll has been certified RIAA Certification|platinum after surpassing one million copies in shipments.

(2000-2003) Broken Silence and Ill Na Na 2: The Fever

In 2001, Brown released Broken Silence (Foxy Brown album)|Broken Silence . The single "BK Anthem" showcased Brown changing to a "street" image and giving a tribute to her hometown, Brooklyn, and to famous rappers such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z . The first single from the album was " Oh Yeah (Foxy Brown song)|Oh Yeah ", which featured her then-boyfriend, Jamaica n dancehall artist Spragga Benz . The track "Na Na Be Like" was produced by Kenya Fame Flames Miller and Nokio from Dru Hill. "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 was certified gold record|gold by the RIAA .

In the same year, Brown recorded a song for the action-comedy film Rush Hour 2 , Rush Hour 2 (soundtrack)|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 Recordings|Def Jam 's Rush Hour 2 (soundtrack)|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 . on IMDB.com

In 2002, Brown returned to the music scene briefly with her single "Stylin'", whose remix featured rappers Birdman (rapper)|Birdman , her brother Gavin, Loon (rapper)|Loon , and N.O.R.E. Malkam Dior was to be the first single off of her upcoming album Ill Na Na 2: The Fever . The next year, she was featured on DJ Kayslay 's single "Too Much for Me" from his ''Street Sweeper's Volume One Mixtape''. She 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 hostess)|Wendy Williams ' radio show, and revealed the details of her relationships with Lyor Cohen , president of Def Jam Recordings at the time, and Sean Combs|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 (magazine)|The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits Vol. 6 in December 2002.

''(2007-08) Brooklyn's Don Diva

Brown 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.

Personal life

She is of mixed Afro-Trinidadian people|Afro-Trinidadian and Asian American|Asian descent. Around 2001, she was engaged to Spragga Benz . Brown suffered hearing loss from May 2005 to June 2006. During that time, she opted not to wear a hearing aid, and she had someone tap beats on her shoulder while she recorded music. In June 2008, rumors that Brown was engaged to rapper Rick Ross began to circulate after Brown and Ross were together on a cover photo of Hip Hop Weekly magazine. After the publication of that issue, Ross stated that he was not engaged to anyone.

Legal troubles

Assault on hotel workers

On January 25, 1997, Brown spat on two hotel workers in Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh , North Carolina when they told her they did not have an iron available. When she missed a court appearance, an arrest warrant was issued and she finally turned herself in on April 30, 1997. She eventually received a 30-day suspended sentence and was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service .

Obscene language on stage

On July 3, 1999, Brown was escorted off the stage by police at a concert in Trinidad and Tobago for using obscene language, but was neither charged nor arrested. In 2000, she announced she was suffering from clinical depression|depression and entered Drug rehabilitation|rehab at Cornell University Medical College for an addiction to prescription opioid|painkillers , in particular, morphine , at one point stating that she could not perform or make records unless she was on the drug.

Car crash; driving without a license

On March 6, 2000, Brown crashed her Range Rover in Flatbush, Brooklyn and thus was arrested for driving without a license.

Confrontation with police at Jamaica airport

Police threatened Brown with arrest following an altercation at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica from July 26, 2002; she would be arrested if she ever would return to the country. Nicola White, clerk of the Kingston Criminal Court, told the New York Post that Brown illegally evaded a body search at the airport and punched a policewoman in the stomach. Brown's publicist, Marvette Britto, argued that Brown felt that she was being "detained" at the airport. Originally, a hearing for Brown was scheduled for July 28, 2002, but Brown failed to show up. Thus, in late December 2002, an arrest warrant was set up for Brown skipping the hearing.

Assaulting store employee; BlackBerry incident; other 2007 altercations

Brown pleaded not guilty in March 2007 to assaulting a beauty supply store employee. Her other arrests during 2007 included leaving New York state without permission during probation, hitting a neighbor with a BlackBerry , and almost running over a stroller with a baby inside. The New York Times reported that Brown moved from Brooklyn to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey without informing officials, but Brown's lawyer Alan Stutman stated that Brown's mother owned the Englewood Cliffs residence in question.

Assault on two manicurists; jail time

On August 29, 2004, Brown attacked two manicurists in Chelsea, Manhattan during a dispute over a $20 bill that she refused to pay, and in April 2005 pleaded not guilty to assault charges and entered three years of probation effective October 2006. For that incident, she would also take anger management classes. Female rapper Jacki-O , in April 2005, alleged that she and Brown got into a physical altercation at a recording studio in Miami, Florida , saying that Brown came into the studio during her session and expected her to "bow down" to her. The next month, Brown denied any such altercation in an interview with the Miami, Florida hip-hop radio station WEDR . Joseph Tacopina, Brown's attorney, stated on December 6, 2005 that he could no longer communicate with Foxy Brown verbally due to her sudden hearing loss. Judge Melissa Jackson suspended Brown's assault case for two weeks.

On September 7, 2007, New York Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson sentenced Foxy Brown to one year in jail for violating her probation that stemmed from the 2004 fight with two manicurists in a New York City nail salon. No mention was made during the trial by anyone about Brown expecting a baby. On September 12, 2007, her representatives stated the rapper was not pregnant in response to claims by her lawyer that she was. On October 23, 2007, Brown was given 76 days in solitary confinement due to a physical altercation that took place on October 3, 2007 with another prisoner. According to the prison authorities, Brown, the next day after the incident, was also verbally abusive toward correction officers and refused to take a random drug test . Prison authorities reported on November 27 that she was released "from solitary confinement...for good behavior", and Brown was finally released from prison on April 18, 2008.

Violation of order of protection

On July 22, 2010, Brown was charged with one count of criminal contempt , which is a class E Felony#Classification_by_seriousness|felony (the least severe), for violating an order of protection . The charge stems from an incident during the evening of July 21, 2010, in which it was claimed that Brown swore at and then mooned her neighbour Arlene Raymond, to whom she had thrown her BlackBerry, in 2007. Following the BlackBerry incident, Raymond has a restraining order against Brown.

Following her arrest, Brown appeared in court where she pleaded "not guilty" to the charge and was released on a $5,000 bail. If convicted, she faces up to seven years imprisonment.

Discography

Ill Na Na (1996)

Chyna Doll (album)|Chyna Doll (1999)

Broken Silence (Foxy Brown album)|Broken Silence (2001)

'' Brooklyn's Don Diva (2008)

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1998	Woo	Fiancée
2004	Fade to Black	Herself

Notes

Copyright Citations

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