Jailed rapper Foxy Brown asked a New York for permission to be released in order to get treatment for an ear condition she fears could threaten her hearing and singing career.

Brown, who is currently serving a one-year jail sentence stemming from an assault charge, wrote a letter to the Manhattan judge who locked her up, asking to be released from prison earlier because her hearing aid is malfunctioning and she needs to get it fixed.

"I am terrified of not hearing a fire alarm go off, or being locked in a cell, and someone not being kind enough to let me out, since not everyone understands the severity of my condition," wrote the troubled rapper, whose real name is Inga Marchand.

"Yes, I've made some bad choices and stupid mistakes. But please understand that sitting in a prison with murderers and criminals is not rehabilitating or what I need to deal with my inner issues," the 29-year-old said in the four-page letter to Judge Melissa Jackson.

"Up until now, you've only heard about Foxy Brown the artist. I'd like to show you Inga Marchand the beautiful person that my mom raised me to be. Jail has shaken me to my core, and my time away has impacted me greatly," the hip-hop star, who underwent surgery on her right ear in January 2006, added.

A lawyer for Brown told the judge that there may be "one or two places" in New York that do cochlear implant adjustments, but Marchand needs to go to Hollywood if she wants to properly repair her "progressively deteriorating hearing loss."

"Her condition is worsening in jail since she cannot obtain at Rikers the proper treatment," her lawyer argued.

The Brooklyn native was sentenced in September to a year in jail for violating probation.

A judge put her on probation after she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of two manicurists at a Manhattan nail salon in August 2004.