Notorious K.I.M. [Clean] [Edited]

Performer: Lil' Kim
Artist: Grace Jones; Mary J. Blige; Carl Thomas; Lil' Cease; Cee-Lo; Puff Daddy; Mario "Yellowman" Winans; Sisqo; Junior M.A.F.I.A.; Lil' Shanice
Engineer: Ed Raso; Mike Koch; Rasheed Goodlowe; Tony Masserati; Doug Wilson; Dave Wade; Stephen Dent; Roger Che; Jim Janik; Michael Patterson; Shannon Lawrence; Caram Costanzo
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Lil' Kim, Grace Jones, Lil' Cease, Mario Winans, Carl Thomas, Cee-Lo, Puff Daddy, Mary J. Blige, Prestige. Producers include: Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mario "Yellowman" Winans, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool, Roosevelt "Bink Dog" Harrell. Personnel: Diddy, Carl Thomas (vocals). Audio Mixers: Ed Raso; Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander ; Stephen Dent; Rob Paustian; Richard Travali; Troy Hightower. Recording information: Compass Point, Bahamas; Daddy's House Recording Studios, New York, NY; Mirror Image; Purple Dragon Recording Studios, Atlanta, GA; Sound on Sound; The Hit Factory, New York, NY; Trans Continental Studios, Orlando, FL. If the Notorious B.I.G. was the King of Rap, then his female protege Lil' Kim is without doubt the Queen. After postponing the release date of her album for a year, the Queen Bee finally delivered her long awaited sophomore album THE NOTORIOUS K.I.M. As with her debut HARDCORE, Kim sticks to the original bad girl formula that made her famous. With songs like "Suck My D**k" and "Aunt Dot," Lil' Kim kicks rhymes that make the hardest male MCs seem soft. However, she shows her feminine side on the Biggie tribute "Hold On," featuring Mary J. Blige and the sentimental vocals of an almost-in-tears Kimberly Jones. Guest appearances from Redman, Sisqo, Puff Daddy, Junior Mafia, and Grace Jones all make for a well-rounded CD. A long four years after making her big, salacious splash on Hard Core, Lil' Kim returned as a very different rapper on The Notorious K.I.M., and not necessarily for the better. For one, her close friend and collaborator the Notorious B.I.G. had been murdered during the interim. The sad passing heavily informs this glitzy yet ultimately somber album, not only the title but many of the lyrics too. Biggie had played a large role in the success of Hard Core, and his absence here is gaping. Also, the Queen Bitch invites along a host of collaborators to fill the gap left behind by her departed former executive producer. Puff Daddy fills Biggie's large shoes and unfortunately gives the album the same sort of gaudiness that had marred his recent round of releases on Bad Boy Records, namely his own Forever and Mase's Double Up. As on those albums, nearly every track on Notorious K.I.M. is helmed by a different producer, many feature a guest, and most make some sort of pop-crossover concession. Sometimes the pop-rap tactics pay off, particularly on "Custom Made (Give It to You)," where the orgasmic moans of Lil' Louis' house classic "French Kiss" are looped ad infinitum to impressive effect, and on "How Many Licks?," where Sisq� trades off one come-on after another with Kim. [The clean version edits moments of profanity.] ~ Jason Birchmeier

Rolling Stone (8/3/00, p.52) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A suprisingly upbeat party record....[She] still has an admirably tough and nasty mouth on her, and it's good to hear a Queen Bee sting." Q (9/00, p.101) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Hip hop's reigning queen and this tough, funky, star-studded album...can consolidate her supremacy....hip hop has never been sexier." Mixmag (8/00, p.173) - 5 out of 5 - "...With explicit storytelling and roughneck sagas mingling with robotic beats that are heading for a dancefloor near you....Kim proves herself an on-point, hilarious MC; totally filthy and totally entertaining." CMJ (7/10/00, p.31) - "...The Queen Bee still knows how to get a rise out of the hip-hop nation with her XXX fantasy flow and sensually guttural voice..." The Source (8/00, pp.221-2) - 3.5 mics out of 5 - "...The Queen Bee is still incomparible when it comes to delivery, flow and near-comical filthy content..." Rap Pages (8-9/00, p.106) - "...[Her] second offering of sexually-driven content will not disappoint." - Rating: A- NME (Magazine) (6/24/00, p.42) - 8 out of 10 - "...Easily the best record to come out of the Junior MAFIA gang since Biggie's posthumous LIFE AFTER DEATH....proving she's still the queen of rap."

The fiercest, most provocative, and most infamous female rapper of the late '90s, Lil' Kim emerged as a guest rapper on Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G.'s side project, Junior M.A.F.I.A.. Blowing all who heard her away, the petite Kimberly Jones became an instant icon, delivering her hard, gun-toting raps with sex-drenched attitude. Her classic debut HARD CORE found the porn-posed Kim on the cover transformed into the gang banger of the album's lyrics.

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