Foxy Brown's story is an interesting one. She burst onto the Hip-Hop scene via LL Cool J's "I Shot Ya" (remix) shredding everyone in her path with a vicious flow. Her debut album "Ill Na Na" dropped to much critical acclaim followed by a successful turn with The Firm (AZ, Nature and Nas). Her next two solo albums however, "Chyna Doll" and "Broken Silence", failed to hit as hard as her previous releases. Then came the real trouble for Foxy. She was diagnosed with sudden hearing loss and fell into an array of legal troubles of which she's still battling today.

Back on the scene (and with hearing in tact thanks to surgery), Foxy deliver's "Brooklyn's Don Diva" to the masses. The album begins with what is intended to be one of those "i still got it" anthems, but falters due to a cheesy hand clap beat. Things pick up immediately however with "We Don't Surrender" featuring Grafh as he spits:

"I treat beef like my dick when I'm pissin'/I be holdin' it down"

One of the unfortunate things that is immediately noticeable is the slight change in Foxy's flow and voice. Obviously it's something out of her control but the situation with her hearing has clearly snatched away some of that gritty spitter we once knew. "Dreams Of A Fucking A D-Boy" is an interesting concept as Fox talks about the thing she has for the hustlers. The beat is strong and Foxy's lyrics tell a dope story, however the hook is terrible and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the song.

A few true shining moments on the album include "Never Heard This Before" feat. Dwele, "Too Real" feat. AZ and "How We Get Down" feat. Grafh & Prinz.

Unfortunately "Brooklyn's Don Diva" suffers from a multitude of problems. One of the big ones is the Reggae/Hip-Hop cuts. Foxy used to be the "go-to" person for these kind of cuts as evidenced by such classics as "Come Fly With Me" feat. Sizzla and the monster hit "Oh Yeah" feat. Spragga Benz. But the Reggae/Hip-Hop cuts on this album ("We're On Fire", "The Quan" and "She Wanna Rude Bwoy") all come across as rushed, poorly produced and appear only to have been included to fill the quota. The one lone exception (sort of) is "We Set The Pace" but it's mainly thanks to the guest spot from Morgan Heritage as Foxy brings little to the cut.

It's obvious when listening to "Brooklyn's Don Diva" that there were many more important things going on in Foxy's life during the time of recording other than music. You can't fault her for having a lack of focus on the LP but someone probably should have thought twice before releasing this incomplete album. Let's hope the ill na na has another true banger in her.