Brooklyn born Kimberly Jones was a rap fan who had the luck to meet upcoming rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. Their personal relationship blossomed into a professional one after Wallace heard Jones rap one day. The alliance of Wallace and Sean “Diddy” Combs gave Jones the stage name Lil’ Kim and a career as a new hip-hop artist. She made a memorable appearance on the Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Get Money” in 1995 and worked with them for a year before starting a solo career. Hardcore would come in 1996 and Lil’ Kim’s saucy rhymes about sex and money posed her as the Queen Bee in control of her mafioso style castle. “No Time” was the album’s lead single and the video established her love of luxury and sexual fearlessness. “Crush On You” would be the next single to thrust her into pop culture with guest vocals from B.I.G. and Lil Cease. The 1997 remix of “Not Tonight” was another exceptional moment for Kim with the addition of Missy, Angie Martinez, Da Brat and Left Eye the song became a part of the “Nothing To Lose” soundtrack. Her next album The Notorious K.I.M. would come four years later and disappoint musically and image wise. The absence of Wallace made a big difference in the sound and fans could not reconcile the old Black Kim with the new “White” Kim sporting blonde hair, self-proclaimed insecurities and plastic surgeries. La Bella Mafia would restore her reputation with the Timbaland produced “The Jumpoff” and “The Magic Stick” with 50 Cent. In 2005 Lil’ Kim went to prison for conspiracy and perjury for lying to a Federal Grand Jury about her friends’ involvement in a shooting. Later that year her album The Naked Truth came out and was a critical success. “Lighters Up” was the first single and it addressed gossip about Kim and became a top ten hit. Naked’s low sales were overshadowed by her BET show “Lil Kim: Countdown To Lockdown.” Fascination with her prelude to prison broke a record for being the highest rated premiere in BET history at the time. In 2009 Kim appeared on “Dancing With The Stars” and ranked at number five out of 13 contestants. Kim is working on a new album to be released in 2010. Fans can only hope she will revamp her image that has taken a beating from the blogs and that she will reach higher lyrically.
