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ILL NA NA (731454243520)

Foxy Brown (Rap)
1 disc

Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 5424352
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Personnel: Foxy Brown (rap vocals); Blackstreet, Khadijah Bass (vocals); Havoc, Method Man, Jay-Z, Kid Capri (rap vocals); Rich Nice (spoken vocals, keyboards, drum programming); George Pearson (keyboards).
Producers include: Poke, Tone, Havoc, Rich Nice.
Engineers include: Mario Rodriguez, John Shriver.
Recorded at The Hit Factory, Chung King and Battery Studios, New York, New York.
Between her appearances on Toni Braxton and LL Cool J remixes, and her anthemic duets with Jay-Z, Foxy Brown (who shouldn't be confused with the reggae singer of the same name) made a name for herself even before dropping a record of her own. Her lengthy resume and hit-making potential helped her land a deal with Def Jam Records. She now runs with the influential hip-hop crew The Firm (which includes Nas and AZ), but her debut, ILL NA NA, proves she can easily stand on her own feet.
ILL NA NA finds Brown flowing over both hard-core beats ("The Promise," courtesy of Mobb Deep's Havoc) and smooth R&B tracks ("Get Me Home," featuring the harmonies of Blackstreet). Other songs are meshes of the two genres, an approach that has enabled many rappers to cross over. Labelmate Method Man contributes the chorus to the title track.
Critic Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (12/13/96, p.82) - "...Many of the beats are familiar...but Brown's seductive, confident presence almost makes it her own." - Rating: B+
Q (2/97, p.94) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...her slinky, streetwise maturity combined with Trackmasters' minimalist production of blaxploitation, '80s soul and gritty atmospherics...makes this...a powerful debut..."
Vibe (2/97, p.104) - "...Foxy Brown's focus delicously shifts....[E]very cut on ILL NA NA bangs to the point where even Foxy Brown's mythical obsessions and predictable mafioso drug-smuggling theme go virtually unnoticed."