Lil' Kim

Kimberly Denise Jones began rapping while expelled from home in her teens, at first freestyling with her friends before writing her own full length raps soon afterwards. It was while she was living on the streets and on her friends couches that she struck up a friendship with an up and coming rapper called Christopher Wallace, whose stage name was The Notorious B.I.G. In 1994, when he was still becoming the legend we know him to be today, he drafted the 19 year old Kim and two of their childhood friends into a hip-hop group called Junior M.A.F.I.A, who released “Conspiracy”, their debut album, the following year. The album, largely thanks to Biggie's involvement and promotion, was a Gold-certified success that made a star out of the 20 year old Kim, who capitalised on the exposure by guesting on a number of hit R&B albums and releasing her debut solo album “Hard Core” in November 1996.

While the Junior M.A.F.I.A album was a success, “Hard Core” was a revelation, and Lil' Kim was suddenly one of the biggest names in hip-hop. One top ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 later in the form of “Crush On You”, and Kim was suddenly a pop star to boot. Of course, being the mid-to-late 90's, being a hip-hop star came with its fare share of controversy, but whatever rise Kim would get out of people, sometimes people within the upper echelons of her own record label, it would never derail her sales or her radio play. After forming her label Queen Bee Entertainment in 1999, her dominance was certified by the release of her second solo album “The Notorious K.I.M”, an album that was certified Platinum four weeks after its release.

Like the vast majority of artists that hit the big time in such a spectacular manner, Kim was unable to stay at that level of commercial success. However, unlike many artists on a commercial downturn, she was still able to release Gold-certified albums while garnering the best reviews of her career for albums like 2005's “The Naked Truth”, and her 2008 mixtape “Ms. G.O.A.T”. Her live shows also remain some of the most acclaimed in all hip-hop, so any self-respecting rap fan would be mad to miss out. For all of that, Lil' Kim comes highly recommended.