Chyna Doll (album)

Background and recording

Chyna Doll is the follow-up to Foxy Brown's 1996 platinum debut album Ill Na Na and was recorded in 1998. The album features guest appearances by DMX, Mýa, Total, Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Eightball & MJG, Juvenile, Too Short, Pretty Boy (Gavin Marchand, also known as Young Gavin and Nino Brown), Mia X, Tha Dogg Pound, Gangsta Boo, and Noreaga. It also features a special appearance by Pam Grier, the actress who played the original Foxy Brown in the 1974 blaxploitation film. About this album, Brown said, "I wanted to captivate everyone. I wanted to get all the crowds. I wanted to get the Down South crowd, West Coast crowds, East Coast crowds, all the dopest MCs from each part of the world – and we just did our thing. It was dope, it was real hot. I'm very proud with this album."

Recording for her second album began in the summer of 1998. In September 1998, it was reported that Foxy Brown would remake Janet Jackson's classic "What Have You Done for Me Lately" for the upcoming album, as well as an update to N.W.A.'s "Real Niggaz Don't Die", calling it "Bitches with Attitude" featuring Southern female rappers Mia X and Gangsta Boo.

During the recording process of the album, alternative rock singer Fiona Apple agreed to make a guest appearance on the album after an invitation from Brown, but due to scheduling differences, the session could not be arranged in enough time to make the final cut. Foxy Brown had also asked Madonna to collaborate on the album, but due to unknown circumstances, nothing ever became of it.

Originally, the album was going to be called Femme Fatale and was originally going to be released on November 17, 1998, but Brown decided to delay the release of the album to give her enough time to make sure everything was the way she wanted it.

Critical reception

Upon initial release, Chyna Doll received mixed to positive reviews. AllMusic's journalist Jose F. Promis rating the album 2.5 stars. He cites, "...for the most part, this album is full of unappealing, pornographic raps, lame beats, and pathetic gangster posturing. The sophomore slump is evident here...". Entertainment Weekly Matt Diehl described the album as "beguiling fantasy life of limos and champagne", commending some of the lyrical content that "hints at how painful maintaining the fantasy can be".

In a review for Rolling Stone, Kathryn Farr praised a "strong cast of featured guests and an impeccable collection of begging-for-airplay beats", along with Foxy Brown's vocal performance, criticizing her for "[going] overboard disrespecting her fellow females". Akiba Solomon of The Source called Chyna Doll "a roadmap through the mind of a Black girl whose self-esteem seems to lie largely in money". She complimented introspective tracks such as "My Life", but was dissatisfied with the rest of the album. "Chyna Doll certainly rocks the body. But it also insults the mind and taxes the soul," concluded the journalist. Soren Baker, in a negative review for Los Angeles Times, described the lyrical content of the album as "whiny and uninspired raps". The critic believed that on this album Foxy Brown sounds "remarkably similar" to Lil Kim, while her "hedonistic content pales in comparison to that of such female rappers as MC Lyte and Lauryn Hill". He also panned the production on the album, which he believed "lack[s] the flair, power and distinctiveness of her earlier work".

Commercial performance

Chyna Doll was released on January 26, 1999, and debuted on the Billboard 200 charts at No. 1, making it the second time Foxy Brown conquered the chart's top position. On March 24, 1999, the album was certified platinum for shipments of over 1 million copies in the U.S.

Promotion

Three singles were released to promote the album. "Hot Spot" was the album's lead single released October 26, 1998 as a promotion single then later releasing commercially November 10, 1998. It peaked at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100.

December 5th, of 1998 Billboard made rule changes to the Hot 100 which affected many artist including Foxy Brown. Many "mainstream hits" didn't even chart due to the new rules of 75% airplay / 25% physical sales "retail" for radio only songs to be included onto the Hot 100. This made it so if an artist who had strong physical sales, but low airplay their single had a low probability of charting onto the Hot 100 due to album cuts now being able to chart just on airplay, We can see this with Foxy Brown's single Hot Spot to I Can't not charting, but still performing well on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs Chart.https://www.billboard.com/pro/hot-100-rule-change-1998-airplay-singles/

The second single was "I Can't" featuring Total. The single failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

The third and final single was "J.O.B." featuring R&B singer, Mya. The song was given a vinyl single release and also failed to chart. An alternate version featuring British girl group Honeyz was also released, but only in France.

In March 1999, it was announced that Foxy Brown would tour with R. Kelly on the "Get Up on a Room" tour featuring Busta Rhymes, Nas, Deborah Cox, and Kelly Price. The tour did face date cancelations due low ticket sales, so venue changes occurred, more dates were added and the tour still went on. However, after a fatal stabbing in Miami, and Rhymes pulling out of the tour, Brown then pursued her own North American Chyna Doll Tour that began in August 1999 and stopped at 22 cities in America.

Track listing

• Inga Marchand

• Benjamin Bush

• Carl Clay

• Jawaan Peacock

• Roy Ayers

• Stephen Garrett

• Timothy Mosley

• Marchand

• Robert Kirkland

• Marchand

• Deric Angelettie

• Kanye West

• John Phillips

• Michelle Phillips

• D-Dot

• West

• Marchand

• Irving Lorenzo

• Robert Mays

• Irv Gotti

• Lil Rob

• Marchand

• Earl Simmons

• Kaseem Dean

• Marchand

• Shawn Carter

• Charly Charles

• Gwen Guthrie

• Marchand

• Calvin Broadus

• Delmar Arnaud

• Ricardo Brown

• Marchand

• Carter

• Tyrone Fyffe

• George Michael

• Marchand

• Carter

• Fyffe

• Angela Winbush

• René Moore

• Marchand

• Dwight Grant

• Malik Cox

• Bernard Parker

• Marchand

• Marlon Goodwin

• Premro Smith

• Terius Gray

• Marchand

• Gavin Marchand

• Todd Shaw

• Bernard Parker

• Marchand

• G. Marchand

• Shaw

• Anthony Moody

• Marchand

• Mia Young

• Lola Mitchell

• Irving Lorenzo

• Robert Mays

• Andre Young

• Colin Wolfe

• Dino Fekaris

• Nick Zesses

• Eric Wright

• Lorenzo Patterson

• Tracy Lynn Curry

• Tracy Nelson

• Irv Gotti

• Lil Rob

• Marchand

• Fyffe

• Gabriel Roth

• Philippe Lehman

• Victor Axelrod

• Marchand

• Victor Santiago

• Kirkland

;Unreleased songs

• Star Wars (featuring Busta Rhymes) An unreleased song from the Chyna Doll sessions that did not make the final release of the album. The song has remained unreleased.
• Unknown Title (featuring R. Kelly) MTV reported that Foxy Brown collaborated with R. Kelly for Chyna Doll. Although it is not confirmed, the song could have possibly been "Dollar Bill", which appeared on R. Kelly's "R." album.
• Lately A remake of Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately". The song featured a sample of Janet Jackson's voice and she did not make an official appearance on the song, as was reported. The song did not make the final version of the album.
• Fuck ‘Em (featuring Noreaga) Released prior to the album on mixtape circuits from the Chyna Doll sessions that did not make the final release of the album.
• Maria (featuring Pretty Boy) Released prior to the album on various mixtape sessions. Rumoured to have been on the album however ultimately didn’t make the final release.
• Rolls Royce (Cream Drop) Also known as "S.O.F.T.". Although the song did not appear on the album, it was released through the mixtape circuits in New York City as a buzz single for the album.

Samples

• "Chyna White" contains a sample of "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes
• "J.O.B." contains a sample of "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But the Rent" by Gwen Guthrie
• "I Can't" contains a sample of "Everything She Wants" by Wham!
• "Bonnie & Clyde Part II" contains a sample of "Secret Rendezvous" by Rene & Angela
• "Tramp" contains a sample of "The Champ" by The Mohawks

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

References

1. "Ill Na Na Entertainment".
2. Records, Guinness World. (2000-05-02). "Guinness World Records 2000". Bantam.
3. MTV. (January 21, 1999). "Foxy Brown Goes Coast-To-Coast For "Chyna Doll"". MTV.
4. MTV. (September 4, 1998). "Foxy Brown To Cover Janet Jackson And N.W.A.". MTV.
5. MTV. (January 19, 1999). "Foxy Brown-Fiona Apple Collaboration Scuttled By Schedule, Apple Eyes Work On New Album". MTV.
6. Promis, Jose F.. "Chyna Doll – Foxy Brown". [[All Media Network]].
7. Christgau, Robert. "Chyna Doll – Foxy Brown".
8. Diehl, Matt. (January 31, 1999). "Chyna Doll". [[Time Inc.]].
9. Baker, Soren. (January 30, 1999). "Foxy Brown's 'Chyna Doll' Seems to Use Recycled Material". [[Los Angeles Times]].
10. Farr, Kathryn. (March 4, 1999). "Material Girl".
11. Hüttmann, Oliver. (February 3, 1999). "Foxy Brown – Chyna Doll".
12. Solomon, Akiba. (April 1999). "Record Report: Foxy Brown – Chyna Doll".
13. Oliver Wang. (1999). "Chyna Doll". Amazon.
14. "Foxy Brown".
15. MTV. (May 19, 1999). "R. Kelly/Nas/Foxy Brown Tour Cancels More Dates". AllMusic.
16. (February 13, 1999). "European Top 100 Albums".
17. "Foxy Brown – Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart history".
18. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999".
19. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1999".
20. "RPM 1999: Top 100 CDs". [[RPM (magazine).
21. Concepcion, Mariel. (June 9, 2007). "A bad rap?".