Lil' Kim Notorious K.I.M. CD

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.

Personnel: Sean "Puffy" Combs (vocals).

Audio Mixers: Ed Raso; Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander ; Stephen Dent; Rob Paustian; Richard Travali.

Recording information: Daddy's House Recording Studios, New York, NY; Mirror Image Sound Studios, New York, NY; Purple Dragon Recording Studios, Atlanta, GA; Sound On Sound, Compass Point, Bahamas; The Hit Factory, New York, NY.

Photographer: David LaChapelle.

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.

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."