Search - Foxy Brown :: Broken Silence

***FOXY BROWN....The SILENCE has offically been BROKEN***

brian | Long Island, NY USA | 07/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"**************************** FOXY BROWN IS BACK**********************************We haven't heard her voice in such a long time. She's been up and down at the point to almost no return, but she she's still going on strong with the release of her new, and third album "Broken Silence" This album is definitely her best yet to come. Foxy's lyrics are so powerful and meaningfull-the tracks Broken silence and The Letter...Wow) She means everthing she says. Unlike Lil Kim and and Missy, Foxy doesn't need to feature top artists to help sale her album... FOXY is what makes this album sale. 18 complete tracks featuring mostly family and close friends is what makes the album so hot. Guest appearences stretch from Spragga benz to Young Gavin. Also Baby Cham, Darius, Kori and Wayne Wonder. This album is solid from start to finish. I never heard such a great intro and outro like the ones on this album. Her first 2 singles "BK Anthem" and "Oh Yeah feat" are amazing. Even though BK Anthem didn't recieve as much recognition as I thought it should, her current single "Oh Yeah" is picking up the pieces. Besides these two singles I enjoy hearing "Fallin'" feat Young Gavin, "The Letter" feat Ron Isley, "7:30," "Hood Scriptures," "Broken Silence" feat Darius and "Tables Will Turn"( Tables will turn, a track that sounds different and new...sizzling hot) "Broken Silence" is easily one of the best records of 2001. And Foxy's like a tornado, rippin up the charst and blowing the others away. If you were never really a Foxy fan, pick up this album and soon you'll be hooked. She's the best...one of BK's finest 4 life."

**~~**~The Silence is Broken~**~~**

PKHauntUS | 07/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the numerous car crashes, drug overdoses, suicide attempts and her public lose of love to fiancee (Kurupt of the Dogg Pound) everyone should have known Ms. Brown had enough to talk about on this album. She touches on numerous subjects on the album, but many of these subjects are ones which she touched on before including her recent fall out with Jay-Z and her never ending rivalry with rap sex pot Lil' Kim. She is said to be "unpolitical" in the sense that she address all her situations head on and doesn't back down from the constant criticism that has been aimed at her for nearly 3 years (and counting). You can call it a come back because there is no doubt about it she's back, and she's just as rugged as ever.After her 1999 sophomore release Chyna Doll (which was considered a huge commercial disappointment), I was expecting an album that would make up for its mistake and still provide material that would make this album a success. Sure she has grown lyrically but that's about it. The reggae influenced "Oh Yeah" & the blazing hometown banger "BK Anthem" are the album's first 2 singles and they are hot as all hell. One of the album's best tracks though is "The Saddest Day" featuring guest vocals from dance hall superstar Wayne Wonder. She shows promise on the follow up single "Candy" with Neptunes producing and Kelis singing an irritating hook, but the thing that makes this track intolerable is that is EDITED. She starts off scorching on "Run Dem" but as the third verse comes around she seems to lose her fire. "Broken Silence" is a very touching track, but her attempts to become the "female 2pac" has lead her to sample his most recent work "Until the End of Time" to explain her recent drama, as does 2pac. The "The Letter" with the legendary Ronald Isley is one of the album's more personal tracks. She turns actual suicide notes written to her family into rap verses and then performs them over this piano laced beat. Her best work to date though is "7:30" (street slang for crazy) in which she address every situation dead on. In this song, she touches on her old rivalry with Lil Kim as well as her newest feud with pop rap princess Natina Reed of the group Blaque. The real treat of the album though is her reggae tracks. She shines on "Tables Will Turn" with Baby Cham and rips up "Na Na Be Like" a re-make of her own 1999 classic from the Blue Streak soundtrack. "So Hot" another reggae track is just as hot as the title boasts, and is my personal favorite track on the album. Yet Brown's biggest misses are mistakes of her own. The addition of Kori (or Chyna White) to her record label is a huge mistake, and so is her guest cameo on the irritating "I Don't Care". She uses A LOT of Jay-Z lines through-out the album especially in "Fallin" in which she re-words one of his verses from his smash with Mya "Best of Me" (remix). She spits "the best sh*t ever written" on the haunting "Hood Scriptures" one of the albums biggest treasures, that is sure to be looked over. Another plus is that this album is full length. Unlike typical Foxy album's she only has one interlude ("Broken Silence Intro") which really doesn't count as an interlude since she raps in the song. In this song (originally titled "Why Doesn't Everybody Just Get Off My Back") she spits an amazing 16 bars that sets the pace for the album. Basically if you've been living under a rock, Brown sums everything up in a nutshell on this track. The actual news broadcasts are thrown in here before her rap scorches the track, which is probably what makes it the best. "Run Yo Sh*t" with fellow bad boy rappers and new found friends Capone and Noreaga is the most unusual Brown song to date with a beat that can only be simply described as "Super Mario Brothers". Though Brown doesn't spit her best on this one its still worth the listen for C-N-N's appearance. Another unusual team up is Foxy and down-south screamer Mystical on the sure to blow up "Bout My Paper". Mystical's show stopping cameo is hot to death, as is Foxy's sexual approach on this one.Overall Brown fixes a lot of the same mistakes that made her 1999 album Chyna Doll flop. She has matured and has stepped up to the throne left for her. She doesn't get to deep into the spirits and problems that surround her everyday, yet she rather brushes them off. The album is far from a disappointment, and after waiting around for two years, and fighting past numerous release date push backs I couldn't expect more. Brown really shows the reasons why she decided to come back and proves that she can hold it down (a lot better) without someone writing her rhymes for her. Bottom Line: Guaranteed Satisfaction.Music Vibes: 4 of 5 Lyrical Vibes: 4 of 5 Album Review: 4 of 5"

Get Off Her Back

PKHauntUS | 07/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Foxy Brown was the poster girl of rap in the 90's. Riding high off the popularity of her debut album `Ill Na Na' which throttled her into mainstream consciousness. She was hood, with tight rhymes, club beats and an exotic yet somewhat mysterious disposition. Unfortunately, Foxy's popularity was fleeting; her second effort `Chyna Doll' was incredably weak but landed her at number one on album charts for first week sales due to the single 'Hot Spot.' Though negative word of mouth resulted in a steep second week drop and kept `Chyna Doll' out of the top 50 indefinitely. Controversy ensued with her ex-fiance Kurupt, ex-bestfriend Lil' Kim, a suicide attempt, assault charges and Jay-Z who co-wrote most of her stuff. Word on the street was that `Chyna Doll' would be Foxy's last record. After her share of drama, 21 year-old Foxy is back with her most mature effort to date, `Broken Silence.' It is more than evident when the beats first pound your speakers that Foxy has done a lot of growing up. `Fallin' a blazingly confident track has Foxy rhyming "Lyrically I'm the female Pac" and breaking down her record sales without missing a beat. `The Letter' which is a heartbreaking apology (some say suicide) letter to her family is especially effective song. Tearing up her bad girl image without coming off as hypocritical or begging for sympathy. She's telling her story and you can't help but listen. `Broken Silence' diverse range of musical influences is especially fresh considering the extremely tired albums being pumped out by other rapstresses. The East Indian inspired `Hood Scriptures' and reggae bumpin' `Tables Will Turn' are infectious. For the most part `Broken Silence' is street, except for the obligatory chorus heavy single-in-the-making `Candy' produced by Neptune, which Kelis sings the annoyingly childish two-line hook what seems like 30 times. The other singles `BK Anthem' a thumpin' prop fest to Foxy's borough Brooklyn and the Bob Marley sampled `Oh Yeah' are better representation of the vibe of `Broken Silence.' There is much curiousity whether Foxy burns anymore bridges with rappers she is known to have beefs with. The answer is yes and no. She takes a few shots at Lil' Kim, `Barbie dressed up, your just my successor, I hear your company's holding that budget' but nothing to the extent of CNN's "Bang Bang' which was directed entirely at Kim or vise versa. On the dizzying club track `730' Foxy takes aim at Jay Z, `So what if he wrote some songs? I blew them up the same' but never flat out disses him and also Natina from TLC's creation Blaque, `Specially pop star chicks with the soft image, so what I ain't with him? Girl he's off limits.' `Broken Silence' definitely is gonna initially sell because of the drama, but it's gonna keep selling because it's tight. `Broken Silence' is extremely personal musically diary of a troubled rap star and easily one of the best rap albums I have bought in a long while. It's original, thought provoking and has tight arrangements. Cop this album, you won't regret it."