When she's in the zone, Foxy Brown has no problem opening all the way up. The Ill Na Na was a guest on The Combat Jack Show and basically turned the interview into the happiest-sounding therapy session in hip hop, thanks to her willingness to be so candid.
Daddy issues, loyalty to Jay-Z (she never called him an STD-carrying "tranny-chaser"), hearing loss, Nicki Minaj and jail time were just a small portion of the topics touched.
Every story has a beginning, and for the Brooklyn native raised predominantly by a West Indian mother, life changed after an important man walked out. "Not having my father," she said. "My parents divorced. I was four years old. My dad leaving just left a huge hole."
"He was still my king, he was still my dad," Foxy said speaking on the drug addiction that changed her father's physical appearance. "It didn't matter to me."
Even with such a touchy subject on the table, the "Chyna White" rapper didn't break, laughing her way down memory lane until things took an understandably tearful turn. In 2005, Foxy lost her hearing. While recounting coming clean to Jay at her aunt's funeral, things got emotional. "He tried to tell me something in my ear and I said, 'Jay, I can't hear you,'" she said. "He spoke up."
As a then hearing-impaired Brown was set to eulogize the deceased, Jay "broke down" at his friend's disability. In the end, the experience strengthened her. "I wasn't OK with being deaf, that wasn't going to be the end of my story."
The next chapter of that story was a one-year jail bid at Rikers Island in 2007, where she was "completely deaf" and had a cell adjusted to suit her hearing needs.
Over the years, Brown counted on a solid group of industry supporters, many of whom she praised during the sit-down (including Just Blaze, who she worked with early in her career and was in the building with her during the interview). Besides Hov, Foxy named Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, Lauryn Hill and Minaj as some of the folks in her circle. "I had very strong people in my corner."

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 (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)