Foxy Brown Issue #36

Brooklyn's Don Diva (Koch)

By Eavvon O'Neal
Published: August 1st, 2008 | 10:52am

Foxy Brown has been a staple female presence in hip-hop since she first appeared, at age 16, with Jay-Z on “Ain’t No Nigga” in 1996. She's been a part of major movements in music, from Brooklyn’s rise to prominence in the rap community to the Firm’s classic, The Album, but somehow Brown has never managed a smash record on her own — which is mind-blowing considering the amount of experience she can draw upon. Without tainting this review with too much gossip, the girl has known her share of drama. Which is why we should be able to expect a work filled with expression, but instead we get Brooklyn’s Don Diva.

This album is a good listen, not for its musicality, or genius production, but because it is the only safe aspect of Foxy’s life. “We Don’t Surrender” has a solid, Swizz Beatz feel, letting Foxy spit about everything from her thug swagger to her yet-to-sag breasts (the latter of which becomes a repeating theme throughout the album). The single-caliber “When the Lights Go Out" is a solid example of classic Foxy, yet with a mature approach that showcases the artist's acceptance of her own growth. Possibly the most honest track on the album, “Why" speaks on women’s growth in the music industry. This track lays all the cards out about how women deal with the biases of hip-hop, but then afterward it’s right back to stonewall Foxy — her guard forever up.

Hip-hop has never been big on middle ground; it’s only about extremes and how we handle them. Foxy Brown ventured out for only a brief moment to give us a good song, on an OK album. While it’s hard to say where she will be in a few years (hopefully not in Riker's Island prison again), let’s hope that she will be in a place where she feels free to share more, stops trying to be the Don’s Diva, and is instead just Brooklyn’s finest. <tkby>— Eavvon O'Neal</tkby>