Over the years, we have seen a number of female rap feuds emerge in the music industry, from Cardi B and Nicki Minaj to City Girls and Asian Doll — we’ve seen and heard it all, but Foxy Brown and Lil Kim’s falling out back in the ‘90s is probably one of the most epic ones of them all.
Kim and Foxy shared a lot in common; they were both up-and-coming rappers from Brooklyn, New York, who even attended the same high school together. Following their rise to fame in the ‘90s, the two were quickly paired against one another by the media, subsequently leading to a feud that’s spanned more than 20 years at this point.
From subliminal disses on each other’s songs to public threats, Kim and Foxy perhaps had one of the most iconic feuds in rap history — and they still don’t see eye-to-eye to this day! Here’s the lowdown…
Why Did Foxy Brown And Lil Kim Feud?
In the mid-'90s, Foxy landed her big breakthrough her association with the group The Firm, who were formed in 1995. Members of the rap trio included hip hop superstar Nas, AZ, Cormega, and Nature.
Kim, on the other hand, was getting her musical recognition after becoming close friends with The Notorious B.I.G. and his clan Junior Mafia, who were formed together by the late rapper himself.
In 1995, Brown and Foxy appeared on Total’s song “No One Else (Remix),” along with fellow female rapper Da Brat. At the time of the song’s release, however, there were no reports indicating the pair weren’t getting along.
The Total track is the only song both women have been officially featured o.
In 1996, tension started to rise between the ladies as their record labels decided to release both of their debut albums just one week apart, making it pretty clear that Kim and Foxy were to themselves rap competitors.
Kim’s Hard Core went on to sell 6 million copies while Foxy’s Ill Na Na reached platinum status with sales of 1 million, with hits, such as “I’ll Be” and “Get You Home” helping the album’s commercial success.
What also seemed strange was that inside both of Foxy and Kim’s inside cover of their respective album, they were both wearing the same jumpsuit, which many found to be strange.
Why would they both want to sport the same outfit unless they were perhaps being sabotaged by their labels to feud in order to spark controversy and sell records?
Nobody knows for sure, but Foxy and Kim were both unhappy upon seeing the similarities, which were later cleared up by then-editor of The Source, Kim Osorio, who shared, “I’ve gotten mixed versions of the story. One story that I remember was about their album packaging.
“If you go back to both of their debut albums, you will notice they have on the same outfit. I [heard] that one had borrowed the outfit from the other and that led to them not speaking. Whatever the reason, it seemed trivial to everyone around.
While the two were later featured on the cover of The Source, Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen wanted to bring together both women for a joint album titled Thelma and Louise, which they would have received $500,000 for had they participated.
They both declined the deal. While it was wildly reported that Foxy and Brown were no talking by the end of 1997, Kim appeared to throw the first shot at her rap nemesis on Lil Cease’s track “Play Around.”
She raps, “Stop trying’ to sound like her, too.” That continued in 2000 with Kim’s titled track from her second album The Notorious K.I.M., where she says, “This chick running around with this stink a** gap / And them fake a** raps having panic attacks / You ain't a star and your record company know that /How you make all this money, get this far and blow it?”
Brown responded that same year with Capone-N-Noreaga’s “Bang Bang,” explaining that she’s tired of the subliminal disses — if somebody has something to say to her, they should be direct about it.
Then, in 2001, as Kim and her crew were leaving Hot 97’s radio station, the “Not Tonight” hitmaker was involved in an incident that saw firearms being pulled after coming face-to-face with Kiam “Capone “Holley — part of the Capone-Noreaga clan.
An argument erupted and shots were fired. Kim was said to have been furious over Foxy’s diss, which is how the quarrel allegedly started.
Foxy was adamant of wanting to end her feud with Kim after that happened, telling MTV News, “I really don't know how it started. But Russell [Simmons] and I, we got together, and I said, 'Russell, I want to call a truce.
“I want to have a sit-down with Kim. I don't care what it is. Let's just end it. We can even do a collaboration. We're bigger than this. If it has to start with me, let it start with me.”
Kim never responded to Foxy’s remarks. She would later face a year and a day in prison in 2005 for her involvement in the violent shootout.
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