"Firm Biz" was the first single to be released by the Hip hop supergroup The Firm from their singular collaborative LP The Album: The Firm. The album was released during a time where all four members, Nas, Foxy Brown and AZ were in pivotal moments of their careers.
Foxy Brown had just released her multi-platinum debut album Ill Na Na (1996), Nas was already two albums deep with Illmatic (1994), It Was Written (1996), garnered towards making Nas a crossover sensation by introducing his alter-ego Escobar, a personality he would explore more on The Album: The Firm. AZ who is often referred to as one of the most underrated MC's of all time, joined the group after releasing his album Do or Die in 1995.
Signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label, The Firm began working on their debut album. Halfway through the production of the album, the fourth member of the group Cormega was fired from the by Steve Stoute, who had unsuccessfully attempted to force Cormega to sign a deal with his management company. He was replaced by Nature.
"Firm Biz" was produced by L.E.S, who based the song's track on a sample of Teena Marie's 1981 hit "Square Biz." The song also featured a chorus performed by former En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson, that was reworked from the original song. AZ raps the first verse of the song, Nas the second, and Foxy Brown the third and final verse. The song never reached any US chart positions, but was a UK Top 20 hit in 1997.
The accompanying music video was premiered on MTV and was directed by Hype Williams.
Although The Album: The Firm was number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, it received mixed reviews. Due to the amount of talent within this group, the album failed to live up to its expected sales, despite being certified platinum, and the members of the group disbanded to go their separate ways.
Still, this song remains one of my favorite Hip-Hop songs of all time. Foxy was bad as hell.