HOW INNOCENT INGA BECAME RAP'S MOST DANGEROUS DIVA
By: REED TUCKER

Brooklyn-born Foxy Brown has had as many brushes with the law as she's had hit songs.

August 30, 2006 -- TO say that it has not been a good few days for Foxy Brown is like saying John Mark Karr is not an ideal baby sitter. The Brooklyn-born rapper has missed court dates, been slapped with shoplifting charges and pleaded guilty to assault - and that's just in the past seven days. Somewhere, Courtney Love is reading about Foxy and wondering what's with the freakin' train wreck.

Yet these were only the latest brushes with the law for Inga Marchand, the teenage prodigy from Brooklyn who blossomed into a superstar rapper and scantily clad sexpot. Since bursting onto the scene in 1996 at age 16, Foxy Brown has thrown as many hits as she's dropped - becoming the violent diva who once existed only in her songs.

"Inga is a very sweet girl," says Marvet Britto, Brown's former publicist. "But Foxy is approached and expected to be the Foxy that she raps about."

She grew up not on the tough streets of The Bronx or Bed-Stuy, but in Park Slope - home to more strollers than gats. Little Inga regularly attended Trinity Baptist Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church and got good grades in elementary school.

Her Trinidad-born parents divorced in 1982, but Brown remained close to her father. Inga's mother, Judith, an elementary-school teacher, provided her daughter and two sons with a comfortable and nurturing household. "In our family, we said, 'I love you' every night," Brown told Essence.

Ironically, as a young girl, Brown dreamed of becoming an attorney.

But those legal ambitions changed to visions of mink coats and diamond earrings when Brown entered Brooklyn College Academy and started gravitating towards rap. She started hanging out with Lil' Kim, a friend since childhood, and writing rhymes and competing in local MC battles.

She took the name Foxy Brown as homage to the 1974 Pam Grier blaxploitation film. "I love Pam Grier," Brown told "Essence." "Her whole aura was dope to me. She was in movies naked, and no one called Pam a whore."

In 1995, Brown got her big break when Jay-Z picked to appear on the "The Nutty Professor" soundtrack. Brown also guest-starred on LL Cool J's "I Shot Ya" and Toni Braxton's "You're Makin' Me High."

Gone was self-conscious, church-going Inga. Arriving was an in-your-face, streetwise talent who rapped explicitly about sex, was rarely seen without fur and would eventually appear on the cover of "Vibe" provocatively grabbing her crotch - a pose that horrified Brown's mother.

"I'm charged with teaching other people's children," Judith Marchand told "Essence." "Children themselves were saying to me, 'Don't tell me what to do when you can't even tell your own daughter what to do.'"

Her first solo album 1996's "Ill Na Na" was a smash, entering the charts at No. 7 and eventually going platinum. She was living the life, driving expensive cars, hanging out with Jay-Z and other superstars and dropping cash on expensive clothes.

It was Brown, who, along with Eve and others, ushered in a new class of brash female rappers who unleashed lyrics as sexually explicit as their male counterparts'. Problems or no problems, as an artist, Brown's impact can't be underestimated.

"When she broke on the scene with Jay-Z, it was very groundbreaking to have a young, female MC who could carry her weight with male MCs," says Hot 97's assistant program director and music director Ebro Darden. "Foxy is a very passionate woman who refuses to take anyone's b-------."

Britto says that Brown, like anyone, may have had trouble adjusting to fame at such a young age. "She was thrust into a male-dominated industry at a very young age and has to navigate it basically by herself," Britto says. "And growing up in the public eye, every mistake you make is magnified."

And those mistakes are legion.

The first hint of what someone might politely call an "attitude problem" surfaced in January 1997, when Brown was charged with spitting on two North Carolina hotel workers after they failed to provide her with an iron. She received a suspended sentence, but more incidents followed - most often involving assaults and vehicular mishaps.

She's crashed her Range Rover and ran over a biker on Houston Street, reportedly yelling, "Get out of the way, you dumb white faggots!" She's been arrested for punching a Jamaican police officer and has been accused a fighting with a rival female rapper.

As her recent court appearances prove, it's still brash Foxy Brown who's in charge, not sweet little Inga.

In a court on Monday, where Brown was to answer charges that she assaulted two Chelsea nail salon workers in 2004, Brown showed up ten minutes before the court closed, breezing through the front door with a cell phone on each ear.

While waiting to enter the courtroom she went shifted moods rapidly, giggling one minute, then appearing to turn angry the next. At one point, she wagged a finely manicured finger in the face of her lawyer and told him, "I'm not coming to court today AND tomorrow. That's ridiculous." Then she laughed.

When told by the judge she'd have to undergo regular drug tests, Brown made a face.

She pleaded guilty and then left the courtroom after promising to appear in October for sentencing. This latest chapter may be almost behind her, but what lies ahead remains a mystery.

While not sorting out her various legal woes, Brown has been working diligently in the studio. Although she claims to have gone completely deaf in 2005 from a rare disorder, she says much of her hearing has been restored through surgery. Her new album, "Black Roses," is scheduled to drop in December.

At least there's one thing she won't have to worry about: publicity. She's got that wrapped up already.

-FOXY'S RAP SHEET-

January 1997
Brown is arrested for spitting on two Raleigh, N.C., hotel workers after they have the audacity to tell her an iron is not available. She received a 30-day suspended sentence and was ordered to perform community service.

March 2000
While driving through downtown Brooklyn, Brown crashes her Range Rover, rolling the vehicle and crashing into a fence. She was ticketed for driving with a suspended license.

July 2002
While visiting Jamaica, Brown is arrested for punching a police officer in the stomach at the airport. After she misses a court appearance two days later, the police announce she'd be arrested if she ever returns to the island.

April 2003
Brown appears on WBLS to talk trash about rival Eve, bash label Def Jam and dish about a recent miscarriage.

August 2004
Brown's SUV strikes two bikers who are part of the pre-Republican Convention "Critical Mass" rally. Brown reportedly yells, "Get out of my way, you dumb white faggots," but is not charged.

August 2004
Brown allegedly attacks two Chelsea nail salon employees after a dispute over the cost of a manicure. On Monday, Brown pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in October.

September 2004
The diva is assaulted in a nightclub bathroom by another woman. The assailant tears Brown's earlobe while stealing a diamond-encrusted earring worth $250,000. The thief later turned herself in, and the earring was recovered.

April 2005
Rival rapper Jacki-O claims she and Brown got into a fight at a Miami recording studio. Brown admits there was a verbal disagreement but says the battle never got physical.

December 2005
In a Manhattan courtroom, Brown scuffles with officers and is eventually handcuffed to a bench after sticking her tongue out at the judge to prove she's not chewing gum.

July 2006
Brown's former personal assistant claims the rapper threatened her after she tried to collect back pay. The case is still pending.

August 2006
A West Village boutique owner claims Brown stole two belts worth $400 each. Tony Khayat says the rapper was often prone to diva-ish behavior. He's filed a complaint over the belts.

reed.tucker@nypost.com

Click Here for pictures from Foxy's last court appearance.

8.28.06 - Foxy pleads guilty, No jail!
NEW YORK -- Rapper Foxy Brown pleaded guilty on Monday to misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a fight with salon workers over a manicure.

The plea deal, which spares her jail time, requires her to serve three years probation and take anger management classes, said Edison Alban, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Minutes after the plea, Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, tried to return to the courtroom and withdraw it, claiming she had been rushed into the decision, Alban said. But the judge told her "the plea stands," the spokesman said.

A telephone call to Brown's attorney was not immediately returned.

Prosecutors said the 26-year-old rapper, who once appeared in court wearing 10-centimetre hoop earrings and eight-centimetre stiletto heels, kicked one employee and smacked a second in the face on Aug. 29, 2004, in an argument over payment for a manicure at Bloomie Nails.

Her sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 23.

The case almost was settled in December when Brown, whose albums include Ill Na Na and Chyna Doll, had been expected to enter a plea. But the agreement fell apart, apparently because Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson was unsatisfied with Brown's plea statement.

Prosecutors had said they believed the statement was legally and factually flawed, indicating they believed Brown, known for her raunchy lyrics and revealing clothes, had not accepted enough blame for the nail salon quarrel.

In other Foxy news
Allegedly Foxy flipped out at a Greenwich Village boutique. Brown was wearing cut-off jean shorts, a black tank top and paper pedicure slippers with cotton between her toes and fresh orange nail polish on them at the time she arrived to pick up some lingerie she had left there the previous day for tailoring. This was when the confrontation began. Apparently Foxy got a little Diva-ish when she was told her clothing wasn't ready.

Reports claim that Foxy stole two belts from the store after the altercation, but, today during the Wendy Williams experience, Abdul Sal, the sales clerk phoned in indicating that Foxy didn't steal two belts. He exclaimed, "when Foxy came in she was fine, it was after they told her that the clothes weren't ready that screaming began." He continued saying, "that a deposit was left for one of the belts Wednesday". That belt was purchased upon her arrival prior to the altercation. Allegedly she was so fed-up with the way she was being treated she told them to keep her lingerie and snatched another belt on her way out.

Tony Khayat, the owner of owner of L'impasse on West 8th Street is planning to press charges against the rapper, but, with conflicting stories and a fired employee this case is bound to be dismissed.

7.17.06 Foxy says assistant is a "liar".

July 17, 2006 -- RAP star Foxy Brown says the former personal assistant who's charging her with harassment and abuse is a disgruntled liar. Rasheeda Ellis claims in a complaint filed in Jersey City Municipal Court that Brown fired her for no reason, shorted her on a week's pay and then made a series of threats via cellphone and e-mail when she tried to collect.

But Brown (whose real name is Inga Marchand) told Page Six's Sarah Polonsky: "Rasheeda is a disgruntled young girl that I wouldn't let into my personal life, and she took offense to it.

"I knew her all of two weeks and terminated her on a breach of contract," Brown said. "I caught her red-handed trying to leak my personal e-mails to two gossip reporters when she accidentally forwarded one back to me. "Also, I found out later that all her references were fake. She had her friends pretend to be previous employers on the phone. When I asked the real bosses about her, I found out she had been fired before."

Ellis is said, in a statement from Brown's people, to have had an "unhealthy infatuation with Brown's personal life as well as an inability to respect the boundaries of professionalism in the workplace" - which supposedly placed Brown in "several unpleasant and uncomfortable situations."

According to the statement, "all of the documentation proving this individual's less than favorable actions while employed by Foxy will be presented in court and Ms. Marchand looks forward to the resolution of this trying matter." Brown emphasized that she did not want to involve herself in such a negative matter, especially at this time in her life, having had surgery to cure a condition that temporarily made her deaf.

"I just got my hearing back. It's a miracle," she said. "I literally went from the operating table straight into the studio with Jay-Z. Now I'm looking forward to my new album, which is dropping Christmas Eve."

Neither Brown nor Ellis showed up for a July 11 court date, which was rescheduled to Aug. 23.

Ellis could not be reached for comment.

For more pictures from Foxy's latest court visit, check out the Gallery.

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7.11.06 Def artist Foxy's in a new Jam. Litigation-prone rap diva Foxy Brown, who only last year was in Manhattan Criminal Court being accused of assaulting a New York manicurist, is again in the dock facing charges of bad behavior.

The 26-year-old Def Jam Records artist — a Brooklynite who was born Inga Marchand — is expected to appear this morning in Jersey City Municipal Court to answer misdemeanor charges of harassment.

I'm told that Jersey City resident Rasheeda Ellis, who worked very briefly for Brown as a personal assistant before quitting last month, filed the complaint a few weeks ago, claiming that the rapper shorted her a week's pay and made not-so-veiled threats in E-mails and phone calls after she tried to collect.

My calls to Ellis went unanswered yesterday, and Brown's spokeswoman said she was unaware of the New Jersey case and didn't get back to me by deadline. Brown's last known attorney didn't respond to a detailed voice-mail message.

The harassment complaint is the latest wrinkle in Foxy's melodramatic recent history — which has included successful surgery for total hearing loss from "sensorineural damage," prompting the Chicago Tribune to quip that she'd "gone from deafness to Def Jam."

"I went straight from the operating room to the studio," she told MTV.com last month. "It was really hard. I was deaf for an entire year. Completely deaf. The surgery was iffy. They didn't know if it would be a success, and it was."

Her next album is expected to be released in December — assuming her latest legal adventure doesn't slow her down.