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Lil Kim
BORN: July 11, 1975
It's the year of Y2Kim, which is precisely why
Brooklyn's own diminutive diva is massing her musical
troops at the border - preparing for a no-prisoners hip
hop takeover of the multi-platinum variety. Cue sonic
boom and enter the long-awaited "THE NOTORIOUS K.I.M."
"I know it's been a long time since my last album, but
Big's death has affected me in more ways than one,"
writes Kim in her album notes, by way of a message to
her fans.
While it's true her solo output has yet to catch up with
her fast-rising fame, that reality is about to change.
Enter the second release from Kim's own Queen Bee label,
an incendiary second solo album that finds her teaming
with co-executive producer Sean "Puffy" Combs.
"Kim's a true artist," said Combs of Kim in Vibe. "She's
a perfectionist."
The pursuit of that perfection began last year at
Combs's own New York City studio, Daddy's House, and
included input from such serious producer talents as
Puffy's Bad Boy compadre/solo artist Mario "Yellowman"
Winans, with Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Bad Boy studio
team member Nasheim Myrick, Rockwilder, Younglord,
Jerome "Knowbody" Foster, Carlos Broady, Kanye West,
Fury For The New Jeru, Darren "Limitless" Henson, and
Shaft.
The album action gets rolling in the Puffy-produced
courtroom drama-styled "Lil' Drummer Boy," which finds
Kim laying out her defense alongside Cee-Lo of Atlanta's
famed Goodie Mob & Jersey hip hop guru Redman, and
continues with the defiant autobiographical joint,
"Custom Made (Give It To You)," and the new
Brooklyn-centric hip hop theme song, "Who's Number One?"
Produced by the studio duo of Rated R (Coolio) & Mas,
the slow rolling, flamenco-flavored head-anthem, "Suck
My D**k," is Kim's bold new chapter in the book of
feminine power. On the 007-meets-rap Rambo drama of the
Puffy-produced "Revolution," Kim teams with the
one-and-only Grace Jones and Junior M.A.F.I.A.-man/Queen
Bee solo artist Lil' Cease for a true beat-driven
cinemascape - in which she memorably answers Puffy with
the true Kim-ism, "I'll be down in a minute, I'm
drinking a Snapple."
"She was a ball of fire," Kim has said of her work with
Jones. "I went to the Bahamas recently to finish part of
my album, and she was there doing a show. She found me
in the studio, and we partied for the whole weekend."
 On the
Knight Rider-flowing "How Many Licks," Kim delves into
sexual politics amid lollipopping discussions of sweaty
South of the Border antics, to which R&B Romeo vocalist
Sisqo provides a pulsating melodic heart, and an
undeniably funky soul. With the beat-bouncing,
Caribbean-inspired "No Matter What They Say," Kim brings
a smooth vocal delivery to the track's wildly hum-able
chorus as she breaks down the details of the Queen Bee
lifestyle - "I get paid just for laying in the shade/to
take pictures with a glass of lemonade" - and
purposefully takes on all would-be detractors. Saucy and
salacious, "She Don't Love You" stands as Kim's
declaration of total sexual supremacy over all comers.
Yeah, Kim really knows what a girl wants.
In reprising her "HARD CORE" fave, Kim pairs with Puffy
on "Queen Bitch Pt 2," a track that sends the artist one
bold step forward to the front of the rap pack. Jumping
up with a large measure of step-back bravado, "Don't
Mess With Me" brings Pat Benetar into the ring as Kim
kisses, reminisces, and then dismisses - telling all
pretenders, "I'm that bitch!" Calling on her Junior
M.A.F.I.A. comrades for a classic posse cut, she gets
down into the thug mix with "Do What You Like," while
both the Lil' Cease collaboration of "Off The Wall" and
the high-flying "I'm Human" provide the album with some
serious house party dancefloor diamonds. Kim shines
alongside the sweet, soulful vocals of Mr. Carl Thomas
on "Right Now," a record that resides within Suzanne
Vega's "Tom's Diner" in recounting a pulse-speeding
inter-personal close encounter. Given a hand from new
Queen Bee artist Lil' Shanice, Kim brings the
proceedings to a more mellow flow for the reflective
"Aunt Dot," a track about growing up and coping with
those
cyclical pains.
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