Brand Nubian Returns

The veteran trio -- Grand Puba, Lord Jamar and Sadat X are set out to prove  themselves as a force in Hip Hop yet again with its Babygrande debut, Fire in the Hole.

Due August 10th, the album -- its first in six years -- keeps true to the soul of Brand Nubian.

"It's teaching the truth," Sadat X says. "The rhymes and the music are relevant and current to what's going on right now."

"It's classic Brand Nubian," Lord Jamar adds. "For someone that has never heard Brand Nubian, it's a soulful, thought-provoking album."

According to Jamar, the album's title is "a warning."

"That's what you say when something is getting ready to blow," he says. "It also works because the album is fire."

Foxy's 'Locked Up' *

Foxy Brown is hoping to get back on mixtapes. Fox says she's coming back and may have an album out in time for Christmas. Among her collaborators are the Trackmasters, Jay-Z and Shyne. Foxy has also jumped in the stew with none other than Akon for a remix of his hit "Locked Up." "I just wanted to give the jail thing from a female's perspective," she says.

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. icle.asp?id=4022&o=2">As previoulsy reported, Foxy has a new line of furs and an upcoming MTV show.

Shyne Ignores Proposals!**

Even from prison, rapper Shyne has to beat away the women with a stick. Since he was jailed four years ago, Shyne has had a steady flow of marriage proposals coming through the mail. But he's resisted, preferring to focus on his music and his Hebrew religion. "I declined to get married, which would have given me conjugal visits," Shyne told The Post's Tim Arango in a jailhouse sitdown last week at the Clinton County Correctional Facility in upstate New York. "And some of the most beautiful women in the world were writing me. I didn't even write back."

Credits:Shaheem Reid*

Credits:Tim Arango**