"I'll Be" is a song recorded by American rapper Foxy Brown for her debut studio album, ''

Ill Na Na ''Ill Na Na'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Foxy Brown. It was released on November 19, 1996, by Def Jam Recordings. It was reissued on September 29, 1997, in the UK with an addition of the song "Big Bad Mamma". Brown began wor ...

'' (1996), featuring Brooklyn-based rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

. It was released as the second single from the album on March 4, 1997, by Violator and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. The song was written by Shawn Carter,

Jean-Claude Olivier Jean-Claude Olivier (28 February 1945 – 12 January 2013), often referred to simply as "JCO", was a French motorcycle racer and president of Yamaha Motor France S.A. from 1992 to 2010. He helped launch the careers of many famous French riders i ...

, Samuel Barnes,

Angela Winbush Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist. To date, Winbush has sold over ...

René Moore René Moore (born Ivan Rene Moore;Bobby Watson Robert Michael Watson Jr. (born August 23, 1953), known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. Music career Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He ...

and

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien (; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedien fi ...

with production by

Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

, and samples

René & Angela René & Angela were an American R&B duo consisting of musical artists and producers René Moore and Angela Winbush. They formed in 1977 and disbanded in 1986. They are most remembered for their 1985 song "I'll Be Good". Career They recorded ...

's 1985 song "I'll Be Good". It was recorded at

Chung King Studios Chung King Studios was a recording studio that operated in New York City under that name from 1986 to 2015. It was founded by producer John King and engineer Steve Ett with financial backing from the Etches brothers, occupying three different locat ...

in New York City, while the mixing of the track was finished at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

. "I'll Be" is a hip hop and R&B song with explicit lyrics that revolve around sex and money. "I'll Be" received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and was a commercial success. In the United States, it peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming both Brown and Jay-Z's highest charting single at the time. On the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart, it reached number two and also peaked within the top 40 in other countries, such as Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. "I'll Be" was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) two months after its release. It has sold over 500,000 copies and became one of the best-selling records of 1997. To date it remains Brown's only solo top-40 single and her only single to earn a certification. "I'll Be" charted for 20 weeks in The United States, 12 Weeks in The United Kingdom, 10 weeks in The Netherlands, 9 Weeks in Germany, 7 weeks in New Zealand, 4 weeks in Scotland, and 2 weeks in Sweden. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was directed by

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several films ...

. "I'll Be" was nominated for Top Hot Rap Single at the 1997 ''Billboard'' Music Awards and was ranked number 52 on VH1's "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs" list.

Track listings

* US CD single # "I'll Be" (LP version) – 3:00 # "I'll Be" (instrumental) # "La Familia" (unreleased LP version) * UK CD single # "I'll Be" (D&A radio mix) – 3:00 # "I'll Be" (radio edit) – 2:30 * US CD maxi-single # "I'll Be" (LP version) – 3:00 # "I'll Be" (D&A Remix) – 4:47 # "I'll Be" (Foxy Brown Mix) – 7:18 # "I'll Be" (DM Club Mix) – 8:38

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Ill Na Na'' album liner notes. * Foxy Brown –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– vocals,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– songwriter * Samuel Barnes – songwriter *

– songwriter *

– producer, executive producer *

Chris Lighty Darrel Steven "Chris" Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music industry executive. He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta Rhymes ...

– executive producer * Steve Stoute – executive producer * Mike Fronda –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

* Bill Essex – mixer *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) ( ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'll Be (Foxy Brown Song) 1996 songs 1997 singles Def Jam Recordings singles Foxy Brown (rapper) songs Jay-Z songs Music videos directed by Brett Ratner Song recordings produced by Trackmasters Songs written by Angela Winbush Songs written by Bruce Swedien Songs written by Foxy Brown (rapper) Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Jean-Claude Olivier Songs written by Samuel Barnes (songwriter) Songs written by René Moore