Lil' Kim's Naked Truth

By Ryan B. Patrick
(Oct 5, 2005)
Pride News Magazine

"With my back against the wall/I'm gonna bang my way out" - Lil' Kim

Despite her diminutive 4'11" frame, Lil' Kim is perhaps one of the biggest, most successful female rappers of all time. The fashionable, provocative and overtly sexual Lil' Kim aka Queen Bee is no stranger to controversy.
Last month saw the Grammy-winning Kim head to jail, after being found guilty on three perjury charges, and of conspiracy to commit perjury, for lying to a federal grand jury.

The incident in question was the 2001 gunfight involving the entourage of rap duo Capone 'N' Noreaga and her fierce hip hop rival Foxy Brown, outside the Hot 97 FM radio station offices in New York City. Kim was sentenced to a year and one day for lying at the trial for the shootout. She reported to a Philadelphia prison camp on September 19.

Yet, not even life in the Big House appears to be enough to hold the hip hop diva down.

The irony is that the recent release of her long-awaited fourth solo album, The Naked Truth, will, no doubt, experience stellar sales, even while she's incarcerated.
Kim even shot a reality show (tentatively titled, "Lil' Kim Goes to the Big House") based on her final weeks before she went to prison, and, according to the New York Times, her last weekend on the streets was spent shooting three music videos. She also went on a media blitz prior to her year-and-a-day-long "vacation", conducting media interviews with Newsweek, the New York Times, even recording a sit-down chat with VH1's Fab Five Freddy, for the recent VH1 Hip Hop Honors, which paid tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., among other legendary hip hop artists.

It's clear Kim's a shrewd businesswoman, milking her celebrity in her final days of freedom, instead of staying home sulking.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things, where does Lil' Kim rank as a musical artist?
Love her or hate her, there's no denying her impact. As a recording artist, her uninhibited and sexually-charged style of hip hop has, for better or for worse, forever changed the way we see female rappers.

She has been both admonished and adored for her hardcore lyrics. She has paved the way for other female rap artists such as Trina, Jacki-O and Terror Squad's Remy Ma, and the troubling subtext seems to be: for females to be successful, they need to be served up as eye candy, lyrical prowess be damned.

From her troubled childhood, to the murder of her mentor/lover Notorious B.I.G., to her current stint behind bars - Lil' Kim represents the quintessential hip hop bad girl.

Born Kimberly Denise Jones on July 11th, 1975, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Kim was left under the care of her father after her parents got divorced when she was 9 years old.

A defiant child, living under the strict rules of her father, she eventually ran away from home.
As the story goes, Kim crashed on friends' couches, lived with drug-dealing boyfriends, and even endured a brief stint as a prostitute.

But after meeting up with mentor and father figure, Christopher Wallace - better known as Biggie Smalls and Notorious B.I.G - Jones commenced to turn her life around.
B.I.G. had just signed a record deal with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records and wanted to bring her in on his success.

It was Wallace who encouraged her to hone her now trademark rapping skills and set her up as a member of the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A.

After some initial success with the group (including Top 20 singles, "Playa'z Anthem" and "Get Money") in 1996, Lil' Kim went the solo route and released her controversial debut album, Hard Core.
It was a huge commercial success, but drew heavy criticism for its hardcore, explicit content and the sexy album cover, a first for a female rapper.

Buoyed by the infamous "coming soon" poster (featuring Kim provocatively posed in a spread-eagle squatting position) the album went double platinum and featured Billboard Hot 100 hits such as the album's first single, "No Time" (featuring Diddy), "Crush on You" and "Not Tonight".

Kim's career took a turn when, in the spring of 1997, Notorious B.I.G. was murdered.
She made it known she and Biggie had been in love, and was visibly emotional at his funeral. It's been suggested it was Biggie's death that precipitated Kim's 2000 transformation from an attractive dark-skinned Black woman to a virtual Barbie doll, complete with breast enhancements, omnipresent blonde-coloured weave and plastic surgery and makeup, making her look decidedly Eurocentric.

It is hardly coincidence her new look has corresponded with her growing mainstream popularity, which seemed to blossom at the same time her album, The Notorious K.I.M., went platinum and she had scored a huge hit with 2001's remake of LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade", on which she teamed with Christina Aguilera, Mya and Pink.
The Naked Truth features a racially ambiguous Lil' Kim on its cover, warranting a double take: her skin has been lightened, her pink lipsticked lips in a perpetual China Doll pout, and her trademark blonde hair (weave) seems straighter than ever.
Potential self-hate imagery aside, The Naked Truth definitely sounds like something that was rushed, which it in fact it was, as Jones completed it weeks before her lock-up.
Kim herself admitted, before going off to prison, that this was "the shortest time she worked on a record".
Far from a flop and not quite a classic, the 21-track release, nonetheless, sees Lil Kim near the top of her game. Those expecting to hear a mea culpa in The Naked Truth will instead be treated to a bric-a-brac of glossy pop-rap production, brazen gangsta chatter and the requisite sexy rhymes and dirty talk.
It appears that the raw emotion displayed on this album can be directly attributed to Lil' Kim's incarceration and the fact that she minimizes the party tracks in favour of solid beats and a career-defining opus.
She spouts off on the perils of fame, jealousy and the legal system. The guest stars (T.I., Twista, Snoop Dogg) are kept to a minimum - this is Kim's show.
The obligatory "leave me alone" track, the scathing "Shut Up B--h!", was a middling first single. Yet, she redeems herself (and also demonstrates her range) on the Caribbean-flavoured, Scott Storch-produced, "Lighters Up", where, in-between rousing rhythms and a beaming pride for her hometown Brooklyn, she almost sounds like a bootleg Lauryn Hill.
The island vibe is revisited on "Durty", where Kim bigs up Brooklyn's strong Jamaican presence against a Terrance "Hot Runner" Lovelace's dancehall riddem.
The album falters a bit on tracks such as the unabashed raw sexual energy exhibited on the raunchy, "Kitty Box" (produced by 7 Aurelius), which leaves nothing to the imagination.
She quickly recovers, demonstrating on several tracks why she's known for her lyrical skills, as she practically eviscerates rivals, including 50 Cent ("Spellcheck") and former crew Junior M.A.F.I.A. ("Whoa" and "Last Day"). She saves some extra venom for Foxy Brown on "Quiet", featuring The Game, rapping: "Comin' at me b--h/You're playin' with fire/I ain't gon' come back at you, I'm comin' atcha ghostwriter".
The capper is the final track, "Last Day", where the Queen Bee delivers a heartfelt "I won't give up hope" performance, with lyrics that sound like they were lifted from her diary.
Overall, The Naked Truth is just that, and its solid and authentic New York hip hop production ensures Kim will still be remembered while she's away.
This time next year, she will be out, and it remains to be seen what kind of hip hop world the Queen Bee will be returning home to.
Indeed, before heading to jail, Kim assured family and fans she would be alright, saying, "Today begins a new saga in my life, which I expect to strengthen me and allow me time for reflection. I am blessed to have so many great things in my life - family, friends and God.
"All will be in my thoughts daily. I plan to write music while in prison, read and pray regularly, and will come out a stronger, more confident woman."