Lil Kim

Kimberly Jones, professionally Lil Kim (also called The Queen Bee and The Lieutenant) is an American rapper who was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant[?] neighborhood of New York City on July 11, 1976. She first appeared in the music industry in the early 1990s, as a member of the East Coast hip hop group, Junior Mafia[?]. Kim's songs have a reputation for being graphically sexual and explicit. Kim made her film debut in She's All That[?] (1999). She now lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Kim began her career as a solo artist with the 1996 release of her debut solo album, Hard Core[?]. Hard Core was well-received critically and commercially; sales were buoyed due to her association with the Notorious B.I.G. Its first single, "No Time", featured Puff Daddy on the chorus and became an instant hit on hip hop radio. In early 1997, the second single, "Crush On You," featured fellow Junior Mafia[?] member, Lil Cease[?], and was an even bigger hit, thanks in part to the track's memorable and colorful video.

During the summer of 1997, Kim released a remix of "Not Tonight" a very explicit track off of Hard Core, for the movie.... The remix featured a sample of the disco song "Ladies' Night" and was a girl-power anthem, featuring rhymes by Angie Martinez[?], Da Brat, TLC's Left Eye[?], and Missy Elliott, in addition to Kim. As was the case with "Crush On You," the song and video were both hugely successful.

In 2000, Lil Kim returned, after an absense from music, with her second full-length album, The Notorious K.I.M.[?] It was not as commercially successful as her debut album, but it spawned two moderate hit hip hop singles, "No Matter What They Say" and "How Many Licks," which featured Sisqo on the chorus and a pretty risque video that only had limited play on MTV.

In spring of 2001, Lil Kim teamed up with Pink, Mya[?], and Christina Aguilera, on a remake of Patti Labelle's "Lady Marmalade". The track was produced by hot hip-hop producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott and was featured in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge. The song's video was memorable because it featured the four singers dressed in very skimpy clothes and heavy makeup, like women who appear at the "Moulin Rogue" would typically be dressed. The video was a huge hit on MTV, VH1, and MTV2, and was Kim's first and only major pop radio hit.

Most recently, Kim has released a single and video for "The Jumpoff" which features rapper Mr. Cheeks. She also appeared in the video for Aaliyah's latest single, "Miss You", where she, Missy Elliott, Brandy, Tweet[?], DMX, Montell Williams[?], and several others pay tribute to the deceased hip-hopper.

In the past, Kim has been featured on hit songs by Ray-J[?], Mobb Deep[?], The Lox[?], and the posthumous Notorious B.I.G. track, "Notorious B.I.G." which contains an extremely blatant sample of Duran Duran's 1980s hit, "Notorious".

In addition to being recognized for her music, Kim is notorious for her avant garde style. In what is probably her most memorable public appearance, Lil Kim showed up at the 1999 MTV VMA[?]'s with an entire breast hanging out and only a tiny piece of fabric over the nipple. Kim's outfit became even more controversial later that night, when she appeared on stage with Mary J. Blige and Diana Ross to present an award, and Ross proceeded to squeeze Kim's bare breast. In 2001, Kim did a remake of Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" with Mya[?], Pink[?] and Christina Aguilera; the song was a hit. Her latest album is 2003's La Bella Mafia[?] with 50 Cent, Mr. Cheeks, Swizz Beatz[?] Missy Elliott and Timberland[?].

Discography

• Hard Core[?] (1996)
• Notorious K.I.M.[?] (2000)
• La Bella Mafia[?] (2003)