MTV Interview (January 1999)
JOHN: So, the big day, finally here.
FOXY: The big day.
JOHN: Do you feel like it's been a long-time coming, waiting for this record to be out?
FOXY: Yeah, it's funny, 'cuz when I meet people now, they're like, 'hey Foxy!' I'm like, 'January 26th!' (laughs) I'm like trained to that now. So I'm just like, it's here, and I just always think, ok, tonight, it's gonna' be over.
JOHN: So are you excited, feeling good? Or a little nervous, or both?
FOXY: You see this smile?
JOHN: The clenched teeth.
FOXY: Yes, I'm happy, just to be able to do it again, 'cuz the lifespan of a female rapper is a year, or one hot single, and to be able to do it again and get the same love is like, incredible.
JOHN: In general, how do you think "Chyna Doll" differs from "Ill Na Na," for everybody that knows the first record.
FOXY: It differs in maturity, definitely. I think that I've grown as a person, not only as, you know, having love for inner self, it shows through your records. [On] my first album, you can tell, everything was successful, but knowing that it was rushed, and knowing that it was somethign that I always had to do what everybody else said, it was kinda hard and difficult. Now this time I have a lot more leverage, I have a lot more say, I have a lot more control. So this is all me, this is Foxy Brown. I executive produced it, it's Ill Na Na / Def Jam. It's just my baby project.
JOHN: Do you feel like you had to go through that level of success, being directed by someone else, to reach the level of control you've got now?
FOXY: Yeah, you've got to crawl before you walk, definitely. So I don't feel bad. I don't have any regrets about anything that I've done, you know. I'm not perfect, I'm human. I've made a lot of mistakes, and there's a lot of things that I don't know, but I'm not afraid to learn, and not afraid to say that I don't know something. So, in the last two years, I've learned a lot, as far as the business, being on top of like, I didn't know what publishing and royalties meant, you know? I was ignorant to the fact that I was supposed to stay on top of my accountants and stuff, I just wanted to rap and make a hot record.
JOHN: Well, who would be at 15 or 16?
FOXY: Yeah, so you know, I didn't know those things, but you have to, whether you be 12 or 13. You have to stay on top of your business and you have to be surrounded by good people or else you'll drown.
JOHN: So how important is a really amazing high chart entry for this album?
FOXY: Well, it's funny 'cuz I'm an artist who thinks of their first week as incredible. So I have to do great out the door. I'm just praying. It's hard to please rap fans, they're the most critical. To please them [is] hard, but if you do that, it's great, 'cuz it's my sophomore attempt, and that's always the hardest.
JOHN: But they're also, if they're loyal, they really turn out and they buy the record.
FOXY: The thing about hip-hop fans, they are loyal, but one fluke record and you're outta' here. The history of rap artists [suggests] you have to stay hot or change with the times.
JOHN: Talking about your input being greater on this record, does that apply to the lyrics as well?
FOXY: Well I mean, when Babyface writes for Toni Braxton, it's not an issue, it's not like, 'Oh! Babyface wrote that, you're not an artist.' I mean, she sings, I rap. So it's a job and I do write. For everybody who doesn't think Foxy Brown writes, that's what made Jay-Z pick me to be his sidekick. So I definitely [wrote], and he definitely catches me when I'm falling.
JOHN: So for instance, when you go to an in-store, do you feel an obligation to look like what people expect Foxy to look like?
FOXY: Well yeah, when you go to an in-store, cuz it's only fair, that they see what they see on the CD cover, you know, you're not gonna come in there with a head-scarf, but I mean, on a regular day, when I'm shoppin' and I'm in a mall or I'm with my man, I'm just like, very regular, and it's like, hey fox, I'm like, 'hey girl, what's up' and it's like you know, it's just real with me.
JOHN: Speaking of Foxy, the original Foxy Brown, Pam Grier, puts in an appearance on the record. How did that come about?
FOXY: One day I was in my apartment and I got a call from somebody and I'm like, 'hello' and she's like 'yeah, can I speak to Foxy' and I'm like 'Who is this' and she's like, 'this is Foxy¹ and I'm like 'f***, who?' she was like 'OG Foxy' and I was like 'Pam!' And we just, ever since then, she's been like a second mother to me.
JOHN: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Foxy Brown and who she is?
FOXY: I don't know. There's so many. Maybe [that] she only talks about sex, or she sells sex ONLY. That her lyrics are explicit. I just feel like I've never been someone to shy away from my sexuality. To me, there's nothing wrong with what we're doing, nothin' different than what Madonna has done, nothing different from what Pam Grier has done in movies. It's just bananas. There's so much negative things out here, people are killing people, it's like whatever! It's entertainment. I think when people understand that it's the music industry or the rap game, that's why it's called the rap game, 'cuz it's fun.
JOHN: Is Foxy a character?
FOXY: Foxy is very much a character, very much. Sometimes my friends will go alright, Foxy, can you be Inga please? Like, 'Where's Inga?' Or Kurupt'll say, 'Ok, you're being Foxy now baby.' And I'm like, 'Ok, ok, ok.' Now that's another difference between Inga and Foxy, I don't party. And it's funny 'cuz I know every one of my fans is gonna' be like, 'She don't party?' No, I really don't, that's never been me. If I do go to a club, it¹s something related to somebody's album release party or something and I¹m like in a corner, all alone, 'cuz I'm more of a home person, I like to kick back and watch movies and ice cream and kick it with my girls. [I like to] go shopping, do normal things. I don't like to always be up in the limelight all the time.
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