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.