Foxy Brown: Brooklyn's Don Diva

After losing her hearing, a record deal, court cases, and her freedom, the one thing Foxy Brown was able to keep was her New York swagger. On Brooklyn's Don Diva there is less of the Ill Na Na's staple sexual seduction and more of her gritty grammar. Foxy is fresh out the pen and fresh with her pen on this album. It's hard to determine if Fox wrote her lyrics (with some of the writing credits going to her as well as other wordsmiths), but who ever did provide the lyrics on this album brought their A game.

The title track finds Fox spitting over a raw template, provided by producer Street Radio, while Fox's vulgarly witty verse is interrupted by sound bytes from various news channels that covered her legal issues over the past few years. "When The Lights Go Out" is reminiscent of Diddy's "Last Night," with a sprinkle of Prince-esque eccentricity on top. It's an instant summer time smash. If it goes under the radar and doesn't hit the mainstream, it would be like having a brand new Hummer and keeping it in the garage all year.

On the creative side of things, Fox Boogie gets explicit on "Dreams Of F***in' A D Boy." Fox vividly describes 69 ways to make your neighborhood King Pin a sex toy and channels the thoughts of a young hood chick infatuated with a fast lifestyle and a little bit of thug loving.

The production on Brooklyn's Don Diva is brilliantly buzz-worthy. Foxy takes a chance, not only by using some up-and-coming producers, but she also uses some budding singers. Newbies like Jay Rush and Kira rip through hooks like a fish going for bait. And speaking of taking chances and ripping, AZ makes a return on "Too Real," showing us he still has that "Sugar Hill" skill.

Some reggae-infused tunes like "We Set The Face," We're On Fire," and "The Quan," often find Foxy trying a little bit too hard. It's all good to embrace your roots, but the ridiculous Jamaican accent Fox uses sounds silly at times. Not to take away anything from those three joints, because the production is keen and they will satisfy your stereo speakers. Grafh and Fox deliver "We Don't Surrender," as they spit back and forth verses like the 2008 Bonnie and Clyde. It's a hard hood anthem with lyrics potent enough to outshine the instrumental.

Foxy Brown signing to Koch records is like going from doing live shows with Jay-Z to a karaoke night with Jin. Lets be real, Foxy needs a major label with major time on their hands. Brooklyn's Don Diva is acceptable, but not incredible. Foxy has been out of the spotlight for so long (at least musically), that she would have had to deliver a Ill Na Na Part Two to regain her fans. Comebacks are tough and this one is an honorable attempt. If Foxy can get in her '96 state of mind and reunite with Jay and Nas, it could be a potential problem. But as of now, her career is in limbo.

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