Back in 1996 Kimberly Jones hit the word with her debut solo album called “Hard Core”. And that album was as hardcore as a blowjob. Lil’ Kim proved the hip-hop world that she wasn’t just a member of the Junior M.A.F.I.A. as well as Biggies female sidekick, lover or whatever, but that this little Brooklyn diva was the most explicit and dopest female rapper.
Four years have gone by since that and a lotta things have changed. Kim became one of hip-hop’s superstars, got copied about a hundred times, finally and lost her best friend and mentor in 1997. This was also the reason why it took Lil’ Kim four years to come up with her sophomore record. Now her new album “Notorious K.I.M.” is coming out of Queen Bee Records, Kim’s own record label. With that move Lil’ Kim expected to have more control over the creativity. But even if Kim is in creative control now she can’t hardly deny her roots and you easily hear why the Puffster is marked as one of the executive producers on the record. And not only the music, but also the lyrics haven’t changed a lot since “Hard Core”. On songs like “How Many Licks” or “Suck My Dick” Kim reveals once again her sexual preferences and proves with rhymes like “Look I ain’t tryin’ to suck ya/ I might not even fuck ya/ just lay me on this bed and give me some head/ got the camcorder layin’ in the drawer where he can’t see/ can’t wait to show my girls/ he sucked the piss out my pussy” that she’s still the # 1 Queen Bitch. On the 18 track record the songs vary from club cuts to even songs with Latin-i nflected rhythms. But still some tracks sound pretty much alike and BadBoy-ish, which is a little disappointing. And exception to this is the tribute to Biggie called “Hold On” featuring vocal performances by Mary J. Blige, where Kim turns away from her typical lyrics and gets very emotional.
After all Lil’ Kims sophomore longplayer isn’t the blast some might have expected after four years but it’s still a hot record and a must for all the heads who liked her past work. And although Kim seems to flirt with a acting career after cameos in Pamela Anderson’s VIP and the motion pictures “She’s All That” and “Scary Movie” it’s still nice to know that she will stay true to the mic and show all the lookalikes who’s the one and only, original Queen Bee.