Lil' Kim

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Kimberly Denise Jones was born on July 11, 1974, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, the second child of Linwood Jones, a former U.S. Marine. She attended Queen of All Saints Elementary School in Brooklyn. As a teenager she left home and later dropped out of high school. In 1994 she was discovered by The Notorious B.I.G., who brought her into his group Junior M.A.F.I.A. alongside Lil' Cease. The group's album Conspiracy was released in August 1995, before her solo debut the following year.

Hard Core

Her solo debut, Hard Core (1996), debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, at the time the highest debut for a female rap album, and was certified double platinum. It produced the singles "No Time," featuring Puff Daddy, and "Crush on You," featuring Lil' Cease, and the "Not Tonight" remix, known as "Ladies Night," which featured Missy Elliott, Da Brat, Left Eye and Angie Martinez and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her frank, explicit lyrics and fashion-forward image set a template that many later female rappers followed.

2000s

The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. In 2001 she appeared on "Lady Marmalade" with Christina Aguilera, Mýa and Pink, which spent five weeks at No. 1 and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. La Bella Mafia (2003) was certified platinum and included "Magic Stick," featuring 50 Cent, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In March 2005 she was convicted of conspiracy and perjury related to her testimony about a 2001 shooting; she was sentenced to one year in prison and was released in July 2006. The Naked Truth (2005), released while she was serving her sentence, debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and received a five-mic rating from The Source, the only female rapper's album to do so. Its lead single, "Lighters Up," was a top-ten hit on Billboard's R&B/hip hop chart.

Later Career

Her fifth studio album, 9, was released in 2019 on her Queen Bee label with eOne. As of the most recent sources (2025), she continues to record and perform, including a February 2024 single, "Love For Ya," and a 2025 BET Awards pre-show performance. She remains closely identified with Brooklyn and with the Bad Boy-era sound of the mid-1990s.