and make records that cold flop whenever they drop?
Freddie Foxxx – “Stop, Look & Listen“
from Freddie Foxxx Is Here LP (MCA, 1991)
Freddie Foxxx – “Funkin’ Yo Brain”
Freddie Foxxx – “Project Mice“
from Crazy Like A Foxxx Unreleased LP (Sony/Flava Unit, 1994)

Freddie Foxxx is the hardest rapper ever. He names names and doesn’t fuck around. He’s got burns on the hips from the twin glocks. I was going to write a lot about who he’s allegedly pistol whipped, what label execs he’s told to fuck off, but really that’s not very productive. Just know that Foxxx is an OG. And he’s a dope rapper to boot. In short, he’s a hungry motherfucker and his style reflects that.

For all this, his debut solo* record, Freddie Foxxx Is Here was kinda lackluster, (but not lackluster enough to keep heads from paying $50 for it. It was released under the watchful eye of Eric B. and everyone knows that guy was awful when the ghost producers left the studio. He brings those awful R&Bish synth beats that most hip hop records around that time only had like one or two beats of that nature. …Is Here had like 6. Even when flipping classic beats like Barry White’s “Love You Just A Little Bit More” he still managed to make to make it sound corny. “Stop, Look & Listen” was done right though.

One of the most popular ‘Hey I read that Ego Trip book so I really know a lot about hip hop” trivia nuggets is that Foxxx was originally supposed to show up for the “Eric B Is President” sessions but when he couldn’t make it, Rakim was a last minute replacement.

A few years later he hooked up with Queen Latifiah’s Flavor Unit Crew (not the good one with 45 King and Lakim Shabazz, the weird second incarnation that featured Almighty RSO and Black Sheep and Zhanae and other disparate artists who probably never even stood in the same room together). There “Crazy Like A Foxxx” finally got him appropriate production to complement his gruff rhyme style.

That said, the album (or at least the version I have) is still kind of a mess – way too many songs and skits specifically, much of which sounded like what Onyx left on the cutting room floor. There’s some nice shit on it, but I can sort of understand why it didn’t see a release. I’ve ripped two of the tighter tracks.

After a few years of building buzz with Gang Starr, MOP, BDP and OC cameos, his big comeback, Industry Shakedown was pretty much a banger from top to bottom, with stellar production and had him positioned to become one of the hottest underground rappers out. But it’s lackluster follow up, The Konnexion kinda killed that buzz for him. Oh well, he is the Gloria Gaynor of this motherfucker, he will survive.

*Foxxx was originally a member of the group Supreme Force that put out a 12″ on Nia. I don’t have this! I would like to have this.