Foxy Brown featuring Jay Z "I'll Be"

Album: Ill Na Na (Violator/ Def Jam; 1996)
Songwriters: Samuel Barnes, Inga Marchand Jean-Claude Olivier
R&B Peak Position: #5

"Straight out the gate y'all we drop hits/ Now tell me-how nasty can you get?"

Partners both professionally and personally, singer/ songwriter/ production duo Rene Moore and Angela Winbush (a sort-of lesser-appreciated Ashford & Simpson) scored a handful of Top 40 R&B singles throughout the early-80's when they weren't sculpting hit records for the likes of Janet Jackson and Stephanie Mills. Following a move to Mercury Records in 1984, the couple really hit it big with the release of Street Called Desire, an album that pushed out five radio successes, found them gaining momentum on the pop and dance charts, and even spawned one of the first major R&B and rap collaborations with the Kurtis Blow-featured chart topper "Save Your Love (For #1)".

They achieved their biggest mainstream success with the album's second single, a (then-)state-of-the-art lil' funk ditty called "I'll Be Good" produced by Bruce Swedien (Thriller) and Rufus bass player Bobby Watson. Anchored by an enormous, digitized bass groove and synth sparkles that cast the tune in a futuristic, Martian disco glaze, "I'll Be Good" brought the duo's romance scripts to the dance floor in a major way.

Built around a couple's desire to make their newfound union the longlasting love that never came to be in previous flings, Moore and Winbush pull out some robust vocal performances that rival the hardened edge of the beat. Rene does a fine job, but as on most of their joint work, it's Angela who steals the show here; her textured tones feel like they are being delivered through gritted teeth, sounding heavy with a steely determination to make this partnership work.

Ironically, it didn't. By the time Desire had run it's full course, Rene & Angela's marriage was done; and while his career eventually petered off, she enjoyed a huge solo career that kept strong well into the mid-90's.

In 1996, "I'll Be Good"'s hard-hitting groove was revisited with a new male/ female combo on top of it.

Rene & Angela - I'll Be Good
Uploaded by PeteRock

DL: "I'll Be Good" (YFH)

Turning heads everywhere as a raunchy-mouthed, barely-clothed 16-year-old, Foxy Brown (born Inga Marchand) ushered in new era of female rappers fueled by XXX banter and materialistic needs. Before her debut album, Ill Na Na, had hit stores in late '96, Brown was already a fixture at radio, guesting on a slew of R&B/ hip hop smashes alongside big names like LL Cool J and Jay-Z. Her chemistry with the latter proven to be quite magical on the summer anthem "Ain't No Nigga", Fox and Hov re-teamed yet again on what would become Ill Na Na's biggest record, "I'll Be".

Over the Trackmasters' sleek re-interpretation of the Rene & Angela jam, Foxy's husky tone and hard spitting style bore a manly presence, but the subject matter of her rhymes catered to a womanly passion for wealth and glamour. With claims to be the modern-day hip hop version of '70's beauty Lola Falana ("...dripped in Gabban"), Foxy proudly showcased an open sexuality, which when paired with rise-to-the-top ambition ("I push to be not the backseat girl"), presented her own take on the strong Black female personae that had influenced her stage name.

Aware of the controversy from hearing a teenager talk so brazenly about her bedroom skills and how it could easily be misconstrued and lead to many thinking of her in a demeaning light, Fox strives to inform listeners that she's in fact wielding the power, and not just some 'round-the-way slut. When Jay approaches her on some crotch-hugging macho tip, Fox quickly dismisses him, asserting that she has no interest dallying within his dated pimp/ ho beliefs ("That shit ain't happened since 'The Mack' was out/ Dig me?").

While some couldn't get past what they viewed as an ignorant, "self-exploitation-as-feminism" stance and others de-credited Marchand's writing chops (her close association with Hova, a widely known ghost-writer, didn't help), Brown ended up with the last laugh, selling over two million copies of her debut album and nabbing her a Gold single (along with never-ending club spins) with the still crisp-sounding "I'll Be".

Best Moment: Jay's hook (Oh...and that hot choreography in the video).

Foxy Brown feat. Jay-Z - I'll Be
Uploaded by dinidin

DL: "I'll Be" (YFH)