Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim Still Facing the Rap

Much like "Rapper's Delight," Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim's legal woes just keep on going.

The same day Brown finally pleaded guilty to two assault charges stemming from a 2004 fracas in a Manhattan nail salon, it turned out that the Chyna Doll rapper is now at the center of a shoplifting investigation.

Cops are looking at Brown for allegedly making tracks at L'Impasse, a ritzy Greenwich Village boutique, Thursday with two $400 belts in tow, the New York Post reported Monday.

A surveillance video showed Brown first negotiating with--and then yelling at--the clerk on duty, Abdul Sal, who told the Post that he let the diminutive hip-hop star into the shop an hour after closing, but didn't offer her any freebies.

"Honestly, I never thought she would do anything like that," Sal said about Brown's purported decision to shove the belt in her bag and then grab another on her way out. "I was shocked. Who does she think she is?"

L'Impasse's owner, Tony Khayat, who said that he provided Brown with free merchandise the previous day, was in no mood to cut the "Come Fly with Me" diva any slack.

"I was going to just call her and tell her to get those f-ing belts back--but I guess I'm pressing charges," Khayat told the Post. "I'm very upset. I gave her free clothing the day before yesterday. It's unbelievable. I just want to make an example of this. What gives her the right to take what doesn't belong to her?"

Authorities told the newspaper that they would check out the surveillance footage and decide whether or not to arrest Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand.

Maybe Brown needed something to wear to court. She skipped a hearing last Wednesday, during which she was scheduled to answer to complaints that she, according to court documents, threatened her former assistant with physical abuse and caused the woman to "fear for her own safety."

Judge Cynthia D. Jackson told Brown's attorney, Brian Neary, that his client had better make good on her next court date. A probable cause hearing has been set for Sept. 26.

Neary said outside of court that he intends to ask that the charges be dismissed. "Foxy says she's never had a problem with this woman," he said.

In unrelated legal matters, in lieu of carrying on with the trial set to begin today, Brown opted to plead guilty to two counts of third-degree assault for smacking a nail salon worker in the face in 2004. The altercation supposedly began after Brown received a pedicure but was asked to pay for a mani-pedi combo.

When all is said and done, Brown can still get manicures--just not in that shop. She was given three months probation, ordered to attend anger management counseling, and told to stay away from two of the salon workers, who received orders of protection against the Broken Silence rapper.

Brown was scheduled to plead guilty in December, but the presiding judge called her out for bringing too much attitude to the courtroom and the proceedings were postponed.

While you'd think that Brown has had enough time to figure out how to play this one, she seems to be having trouble letting go of her nail files. About a half-hour after entering her guilty plea Monday, Brown returned to court and asked the judge if she could withdraw her plea.

Because she felt rushed.

The answer was no. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Oct. 23.

Meanwhile, Lil' Kim may not feel any love for Foxy Brown, but now maybe she can muster up an iota of sympathy.

Brown's recently incarcerated rival was sued for plagiarism in federal court last week by a Jamaican singer who is accusing Kim of some "Durty" business.

Reggae artist Tanya Stephens claimed that Kim's 2005 song "Durty," off the album The Naked Truth, is practically a word for word copy of Stephens' 1997 song "Mi and Mi God," which was released in 1997.

Stephens is asking for the rights to the song in question, as well as for all the royalties the tune has earned.

"It's about women's empowerment," Stephens' manager in Jamaica, Andrew Henton, told the New York Post. "She sings about sex, but not in a raunchy way. It's more thought-provoking, more political. I wouldn't say it's like Lil' Kim."

The "Magic Stick" rapper was released from prison July 3 after serving 10 months on a perjury charge.