Queen Latifah’s Feud With Foxy Brown, Explained

Queen Latifah made her stamp as a woman in hip-hop who demanded respect. Since the start of her career, her lyrics speak to female empowerment and are filled with uplifting references to forward moving, unity, body positivity, and more. In the ’90s, a shift occurred where most women in hip-hop focused on celebrating their sexuality, no matter how much criticism they faced. One of the female rap pioneers who owned her sexuality was Foxy Brown. And apparently, she and Queen Latifah had a nasty feud. But it had nothing to do with being oversexualized. As tales would have it, Brown accused Queen Latifah of making a pass at her. It’s not been until recently that Queen Latifah has acknowledged she’s a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Queen Latifah released a diss track titled “Name Callin’ Part 1 & 2,” which took aim at Brown. The song shut down Brown’s claims that Latifah made an unwanted advance toward her. In the song, she rapped, “I’m not trippin, I heard you rippin/But I’m into breaking bitches/And sendin’ em back to their first career-strippin.’” The song was featured on the Set It Off soundtrack, a film in which Latifah starred. Brown’s accusations further fueled questions about Queen Latifah’s sexuality. Brown responded with her own track titled “10% Dis” where she continued making claims about Queen Latifah’s sexuality and also claimed the fellow rapper was jealous. In “Name Callin’ Part 2,” Queen Latifah expressed her distaste for Brown’s image, noting she felt Brown relied too much on sex appeal.

Hip-hop fans lauded Queen Latifah as the winner. Things died down, and by the early 2000s, she and Brown made peace and even took a photo together at an event. 

The Oscar winner wasn’t her only target. Brown had a longstanding feud with Lil’ Kim. Amid her feud with Queen Latifah, she got into a physical altercation with Queen Latifah’s friend, Queen Pen.