Kimberly Denise Jones Biography

Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1975), better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is a Grammy Award winning, American multi-platinum rapper and singer. She is the first female rapper to have a #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit. In addition, she is also one of three female rappers to have a #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit which was 2001's Lady Marmalade, recorded with Christina Aguilera, Pink, & Mýa.

Biography
Early years
Lil' Kim was born Kimberly Jones in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. At the age of 9, her parents separated, so her father raised her until he expelled her from home, so she lived with friends or on the streets. While struggling through her personal life, Kim met rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who was a key figure in both her personal and artistic life, particularly when Wallace had gained popularity and influence through his relationship with Bad Boy Records.

In 1994, B.I.G. was instrumental in introducing and promoting the Brooklyn based group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which included Lil' Kim (aka "Big Momma" or "The Lieutenant"). The group's first and only album was titled Conspiracy. Three hit singles came from Conspiracy: "Player's Anthem" (peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart), "I Need You Tonight" (#43 R&B, #12 Rap), and "Get Money" (#17 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 R&B, #2 Rap). The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Conspiracy Gold on December 6, 1995, marking sales of 500,000 units. "Player's Anthem" was Gold, and "Get Money" went Platinum (sales of a million units). Another middle school or High School Drop-Out...?


1994–2000
After a year with Junior M.A.F.I.A., Jones began a solo career by making guest performances on R&B albums and recording her debut album, Hard Core, which was released in 1996. The album peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Hard Core was RIAA-certified double platinum on March 14, 2001 after having been certified Gold on January 6, 1997 and Platinum on June 3, 1997. The album's lead single "No Time", a duet with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs (who would later change his stage name to "P. Diddy" and then "Diddy"), reached the top spot of the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The following single, "Crush on You", reached #6 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the rap chart. A remix of the album's track "Not Tonight" saw Lil' Kim team up with Missy Elliott, Angie Martinez, Da Brat and Left Eye of TLC. The song was part of the soundtrack to the Martin Lawrence movie Nothing To Lose, nominated for a Grammy Award, and certified Platinum. In one stockholders' meeting of Warner Records, activist C. Delores Tucker criticized the label "for producing this filth," referring to perceived graphic sexual content in Kim's lyrics.

From 1998 to 2000, Kim continued her road to stardom under the management of B.I.G.'s best friend, Damion "D-Roc" Butler's "Roc Management", touring and modeling for various fashion and pop culture companies including Candies, Versace, Iceberg, and Baby Phat. In 1998, she performed in P. Diddy's "No Way Out" tour. In the same year, she launched her own label Queen Bee Entertainment and even though she hadn't had an album of her own released, she was seen on dozens of remixes and guest appearances on other artist's records. On June 27, 2000, Kim released her second album The Notorious K.I.M. The album marked a new image and revamped look for the rapper. Despite the limited success of its singles, the album reached #4 on the Billboard 200, and #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart selling 160,000 copies in its opening week. It was certified platinum by the RIAA.

2001–2004
In 2001, Lil' Kim teamed up with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Mýa to remake "Lady Marmalade", which was originally written about a bordello in New Orleans and performed by the group Labelle (which included diva Patti LaBelle) 25 years earlier. The song was recorded for the Moulin Rouge! film soundtrack, released in April 2001, and stayed #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks. The song also went to #1 in 50 countries around the world. This was a big accomplishment for female rap, as well as for Kim, who scored her first #1 Hot 100 hit and became the first female rapper in history to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. "Lady Marmalade" also garnered Kim her first Grammy Award.

In 2003, Lil' Kim recorded a new entrance theme for then World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Women's Champion Trish Stratus entitled, "Time to Rock 'n Roll", which was used during broadcasts, until Stratus' retirement. The single was released on WWE Anthology, a compilation of entrance theme music to various professional wrestling superstars.

On March 4, 2003, Kim released her third critically acclaimed album, La Bella Mafia. Highly rated (4.5 mics) by music magazine The Source, La Bella Mafia spawned the hit "The Jump Off" featuring Mr. Cheeks, which climbed to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single "Magic Stick", feat. 50 Cent, hit #2 on the Hot 100 without a video ever being shot.

La Bella Mafia debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. Kim was nominated for five Source Awards and won two ("Female Hip-Hop Artist of the Year", and "Female Single of the Year"). This album also got two Grammy Award nominations: Best Female Rap Solo Performance ("Came Back For You") and Best Rap Collaboration ("Magic Stick"). She was also nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with singer Christina Aguilera for the song "Can't Hold Us Down", from Aguilera's album Stripped.

Greg Thomas, an English professor at Syracuse University, began teaching "Hip-Hop Eshu: Queen B@#$H 101 - The Life and Times of Lil' Kim". Kim herself was a guest speaker at the school. Professor Thomas considered Kim's lyrics "the art with the most profound sexual politics I've ever seen anywhere." David Horowitz criticized the course as "academic degeneracy and decline".

Lil' Kim also made an appearance on the multi-platform videogame Def Jam: Fight for NY. Kim provided voice-overs for her part in the storyline, where the player may fight an opponent to have Lil' Kim as his girlfriend.

2005–2006
Kim released a fourth album, The Naked Truth, on September 27, 2005, whilst serving a federal prison sentence (see below). It earned her a 5 mic rating from The Source, making her the only female rapper to ever accomplish this feat (two 5 mic ratings). The album debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 charts, giving Kim her Third Top 10 debut on the charts. The Naked Truth didn't sell as well as her previous works, selling less than 400,000 copies. Kim has said that her jail sentence left her with no time to promote the project. There have been many rumors about a re-release of Truth but to no avail.

The music video for The Naked Truth's first single, "Lighters Up" was number one on BET's 106 & Park for two weeks. "Lighters Up", was a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The single also reached #76 on the German Single Chart, #12 on the UK Top 75 and #4 on the Finland Single Chart. The second single, "Whoa" was released on February 17, 2006. It reached No. 22 on Airplay. On March 9, BET premiered the show Lil Kim: Countdown to Lockdown, which was filmed before Kim headed to jail. The show became the highest rated premiere in BET history, with 1.7 million viewers.

In May 2006, Debbie Harry released a Lil' Kim tribute song called "Dirty and Deep" in protest of her conviction. The song is available free from the Deborah Harry Home Page.

On June 6, 2006, Lil' Kim The Dance Remixes was released.

2008-present
She is currently planning to create her own autobiographical film and working her 5th studio album, which is expected to be released in the coming months.

Lil' Kim is appearing on the eighth season of the reality show Dancing with the Stars, which began airing on March 9, 2009. She is paired with professional dancer Derek Hough.

On March 10, 2009, the song "Girls" by the Korean singer, Se7en featuring Lil' Kim was released through digital stores for his U.S. debut single. This song was produced by Darkchild. Lil' Kim also appeared in the music video that was released on the same day.

Prison sentence and release
On March 17, 2005, Kim was convicted of three counts of conspiracy and one count of perjury for lying to a Federal grand jury about her friends' involvement in a 2001 shooting outside the Hot 97 studios in Manhattan.

During the trial of her co-manager, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, and her bodyguard, Suif "Gutta" Jackson, a former member of the hip-hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A, she testified not to have known they were at the scene. However, video footage from a security camera placed all three at the scene, exiting the building. This directly contravened testimony before the grand jury.

Butler and Jackson have since pled guilty to gun charges. Jackson was sentenced, in U.S. District Court, to twelve years in federal prison as part of plea bargain in which he admitted to firing at least twenty rounds during the incident. The length of the sentence was said to have been influenced by his previous gun-related convictions.

In July 2005, Kim was sentenced to a one-year-and-a-day, thirty days home detention upon release from custody and three years of probation. She requested to serve her time at prison camp in Connecticut in order to be close to her mother, however, she was ordered to report to the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia instead where she served the entirety of her sentence.

Regarding her sentence, an attorney for Kim stated, "A year and a day is actually less than a year sentence, because according to federal sentencing guidelines, if there's an extra day, time is credited to you". A parole bill was filed that reduced her sentence. She was released on September 19, 2006, after serving approximately 10 months.